Social Security Disability What you see is what you get

0:01 All right, everybody, my name is Attorney Anthony Reeves, and welcome to another legal tip, legal be tip. That is today's legal be tip is called what you see is what you Get. Now. I know that's gonna sound funky and it sounds like I'm talking about a song, but I want you to follow me when I start to say this. A lot of times when people apply for Social Security disability benefits, they list a list of different medical conditions that they have that they believe renders them disabled. In some instances, during the course of this, it's not uncommon for Social Security to make a determined determination based on one part of your claim. Here's what I'm talking about. Let's say, for instance, you apply for disability and you say

0:44 you have a bad back, But when you apply, there's indication in the medical records that your condition relates to some of your mental health condition is very severe as well, and maybe even be more severe than your back. Sometimes people will say, I don't want disability benefits on my back. I want it, I mean on my mental condition. I want it on my back, And this is what I tell them. So Security is responsible for evaluating the combination of your impairments, whether they be mental, physical, or both, but for purposes to disability. Of this, If you're applying for disability because you can't work and they make a determination that you're disabled because of a condition that you didn't realize was as severe as you thought, why are you

1:27 grumbling if you're going to get approved. Sometimes people say, well, I don't want disability because of the assets. So let me get this straight. If they say it's because of your mental health condition, you don't want it, but you'll wait two years for them to come later to tell you maybe your back is not that bad and not get it at all. Hmmm.

1:46 Let's do the logic on that. If the goal of getting disability is to demonstrate that your condition is preventing you from being able to work, the idea is if Social Security makes a determination there is a medical condition that keeps you from working and that's what they rely on, or if they determine that it along with something else. Let's say they say your back is bad but not as bad, but that along with your mental health condition, or maybe that along with diabetes or your obesity, you're definitely disabled. Don't sit here haggling over the fact that you feel that you want them just to find you disabled on this one particular thing. So when I tell people, what you see is what you get, keep this thought in mind. When Social Security is

2:30 trying to decide whether you're disabled, they're looking at all of your medical conditions. So if by some chance a combination of your impairments determines that you're disabled, or maybe something you didn't consider, if the focus is to get on disability and it gets you on disability, be happy, don't grumble. Now here's the other thing that you need to be aware of when you're applying for disability benefits. I always tell people, don't throw in the kitchen sink.

2:54 Don't talk about how I got bronchitis for a couple of weeks. Oh I had no lead the other day. Oh you know, I got the flu. The key question is whether you have a condition or conditions that is physical or mental or both that prevents you from working twelve months or more. So keep that thought and process in mind. What medical conditions do you have that keeps you from working? And then let's go for the final rumpshaker, because this is the one that I see people to ask about all the time.

3:23 Let's say you get on disability and then something else happens that makes your condition worse. Let's say you've got a bad back, and then you get an auto accident, you get this back of a second, let's say that you got a bad back, and you got it the disability benefits because of that bad back, and then all of a sudden, maybe a few months later or even a couple of years later, while you're on disability, you get in the nasty car accident and you blow out your knee. Can you go tell social Security? I said? I always tell people social Security is an all or nothing thing. There's no It's not like the VA benefits where there is degrees or percent of your disability impairment. Social Security isn't all or nothing.

4:02 Either you are disabled or are you not disabled. If you are disabled, telling them that you have a condition that that enhances that they're not going to find you more disabled. In other words, they're not going to give you additional money because you have a condition that makes you even more disabled than the time you were found disabled the first time. So keep that thought in mind as well. And let me add to that, because some people will say, well, are you saying I should never bring it up. Well, no, that's not what I'm saying. Let's say, for instance, because every three to five years you have a continuing disability review, Let's say, for instance, that it's determined that your prior condition of your back prevents

4:42 you from has gotten it has improved, because that's what the continuing disability review process is. Your medical condition has improved to the point where you're no longer disabled. Well, let's say for some reason, you have an auto accident during that time period. Well, it's possible that Social Security may say, well, at this point in time, your old condition has improved, but we now determine that you have a new condition that renders you disabled going forward.

5:04 That can happen. I've seen that happen. That happen a lot, but it can't. Or you can say that maybe they both happen around the same time period. They may continue your disability because maybe you're underlying original condition may not be where it was before, but your new condition keeps you disabled.

5:21 So that's where that tends to come in. But at the bottom line, just remember this when they find you disabled. If something happens, you're not going to be found more disabled, which means you get more money because of that new condition. But it may be a possible it may be possibly relevant if by some chance they're reviewing your case to determine if you are still disabled, you may be able to demonstrate that you are still disabled as a result of this new condition. So it's kind of funky, but this is probably the best thing I tell people. If you've got a representative, they can help you with this if along the way. But the best thing is this, at the start of the disability process, when you're trying to get

6:01 disability benefits, you only want to focus on the conditions that keep you out of work twelve months or more. When you get disability benefits, you don't get more disability because you have an extra disabling condition that comes later. And then if they're looking to terminate your disability benefits, you want again or show them all the conditions you have that keeps you disabled so that if you have something new that happened that may be relevant towards the disability determination. I know that's a lot everybody, but if it gets confusing semi comments samny questions, hit me up at legalbeatt Anthony Reeves dot com, or visit me at www dot reesfirm, dot com, and I hope this helps have a wonderful day.