Waiting for a Disability Hearing: What Now?
The Social Security disability process is a long and arduous struggle for most people. Before you can get your day in court, you will be denied twice and then have to wait an exorbitant amount of time before you get to see a Judge. In the regions surrounding the Louisville, Kentucky area ("Kenutckiana," as we call it here) the wait for a hearing can be anywhere from 11 to 15 months. I don't know about you, but I know I would have a hard time surviving that long without an income. So by the time the day comes, you want to be prepared to present your story- and know what to expect for the Big Day.
INITIAL PREPARATIONS FOR THE HEARING
At Schad and Schad, we spend a great deal of time prepping for a hearing. The wait for one may take 11-15 months. That's a long (long) time to go without having any face to face contact. This is why we schedule a dedicated in-office appointment for you six months after the request is made. During this appointment we will obtain any new records that have not been previously reported. We'll also pull a copy of your file from the SSA's website so that we can see exactly what their reasoning was in denying benefits. This is a great tool for determining where we are at and where we need to go before the hearing.
WHEN A HEARING IS SCHEDULED
The hearings office will call our office to check our schedule before they set a firm date for your hearing. Once the hearing date has been determined, we'll let you know of it's time and location. We'll also set up an additional final appointment for you to come in and discuss the issues involved in your claim.
At the same time, SSA will also send out a "Notice of Hearing" to let you know all the relevant details. In the Notice of Hearing, you will receive a Acknowledgement, which needs to be signed and immediately sent back to the SSA.
YOUR FINAL APPOINTMENT AT SCHAD AND SCHAD
Your final appointment at Schad and Schad is vital to the success of your claim. We cannot stress enough (!!) how important it is to appear for this visit. If you believe you won't be able to make it, please call!
We'll try to schedule this appointment at least two months prior to your hearing so that we can begin to put the finishing touches on records requests, letters from your doctors, and any other supporting information that might help your claim. You will sit down and spend time with the person who will actually be with you at the hearing. We hear horror stories all the time about how people don't get to meet their representative until the day of the hearing. At Schad and Schad, we do everything in our power to make sure that your are familiar and comfortable with the person who will attend your hearing.
Throughout the hearings process, it is vital that we hear from you, our client. We need to know about changes of address, new medical treatment and attempts to work (yes! it's OK to try!).