Why do I have to start a new Disability claim?

0:02 Hey, everybody, this is Attorney Anthony Reeves and as always I'm going to give you my again my legal beat tip of the day. Here's a common question that people ask me, what do you mean I have to start over with my Social Security disability case? All right? Depending on what state you live in, you may have two steps in order to fully go through the disability process in terms of when they consider you to have to start over.

0:26 First, if you're in a state that has one level of appeal, that means you file your application, you get denied once, and then you have to go before a judge. The second type of place is a place that has two levels of appeals. That means you actually file an application, you get denied once, you appeal that get denied twice, and then you actually have to file what's called a request for hearing before judge. Both instances, whether it's one level of appeal or two levels of appeal, is exactly the same. Once you go before a judge and a judge des sides that you are not disabled under the regulations, you technically have to start over again.

1:06 I want you to listen carefully because I don't want people to think are you saying that I can't appeal a judge's decision. That's not what I mean. When a judge renders a decision, you typically have two options. You can either accept that decision, or you can appeal that decision. If you choose to appeal that decision for purposes of social security, the period of time from the date of that judge's decision going backwards has been decided upon. So let's say you decide to go and file a brand new application, which you're well within your rights to do so while that old one is pending. Well, what happens is that when they ask you if you're disabled, and you say when your disability began, even though you know your or you believe that your

1:48 disability began long before the judge's decision, they can only look at the period from the day after the judge's decision. Okay, they can only look at that particular period time. So let's kind of follow me on this once again. Let's give me. Let me give you an example. Let's say, for instance, you get a decision from the court on January first of twenty ten, but you say that you were disabled back in two thousand and eight.

2:15 Well, the judges already looked at all of your medical records from at least from the period of January first, twenty ten, going backwards. So you go and you file a new application, and you go on January second, you appeal January first to the judge decision one January second, you go and you file a brand new application. What a date can you indicate you became disabled? Well, you know that you became disabled back in two thousand and eight. Well, there's already been a decision on that. So if in theory, you can only go back from when January second, now somebody are going to be like, that sucks. I've been disabled the entire time.

2:51 Why am I only limited to that date? Because in the eyes of the Social Security Administration, the date the judge renders a decision, it is typically treated as if from that date, going backwards, that that judge had the ability to review all of your medical records before then and could not determine that you were disabled at any point in time before that date. So what does that mean for you? Well, when you go and you file a new up application, in theory, they're going to treat chairships you started, You're starting from scratch. That's important to know because sometimes what you have is people who will say they want to rely on all the old records that the judge previously relied upon when they go to file a new application. Unfortunately,

3:30 that's not how it works, because remember the way the regulation works. They look at it as if the judge has already looked at those records and said you're not disabled. You don't get the luxury of having to file again and get somebody else to look at those records again and say, oh, the judge got it wrong. Now here's a couple of other weird times that pop up where this whole notion of you starting over again kind of comes into play when you file an application and you get denied. I always tell people go through the process, but not everybody does it. What they end up doing is they get a denial, they'll go and they'll start all over again.

4:05 Well, what happens is when you start all over again, if you do it within a year from that last denial, they're just gonna treat that as a new apple. They're gonna basically open up the old application and look at it going backwards again. Let me give you another example for those of you who may have gotten lost with what I said. Let's say you filed an application on June first, you got denied on September first, Well, you get the denial, so you figure, well, I'm just gonna start over again. Get you file a new application on October first. Does that mean they're gonna look primarily at October first going forward. No, they're gonna look at the fact that you applied again within a close proximity to your last denial

4:45 the say within a year, and they're gonna treat this as if your application actually goes back to that June application. In other words, they're reopening it. Well, what happens and next seeing people do this where you're sitting here and you apply, you get denied, and then you wait a couple of years, and then you decide to go again. Then you want to say, well, I'm disabled now, but I was also disabled back when I filed that earlier application. You can ask for Social Security to reopen, but there's a catch if you do it within a year of that initial denial.

5:15 And that's the the key trait, your initial denial, your first time you're ever to deny, they'll open it up for whatever reason. Meaning if you applied on June first, twenty ten, you get denied in August twenty ten, you reapplied September of twenty ten. As long as you applied, they're automatically reopened that June application. Hey, you could file again in May of twenty eleven and they'll give you back to June twenty ten. But let's say, for instance, you did it like I was showing you before, You waited two years, and then you decided to do it again. Maybe you get approved the second time around, and you're like, wait a minute, I was as bad now as I was back then. Why are you not considering that? Social Security is going to ask you one question, Do you

5:58 have a good reason for why you did not continue appealing that earlier application, Because the only way you can go back and get the benefit of when you applied two years earlier is you have to ask for what they call good costs and people. Because you got tired, or you were bored, or you got frustrated, or you forgot those are not good reasons. Okay, it has to be something sufficient. Maybe you got denied and you didn't know, so you went and reapplied, because no one you never got a decision.

6:29 That's a good cause. Okay, maybe you got you have a cognitive problem, you have memory loss, something like that, but you got to be able to demonstrate it. Just you're saying it alone is not going to be enough. So keep that in the back of your mind. Now, one other thing here, just kind of keeping you going forward so that you're aware of this. It's important to recognize that even when you're going through it and you start over again, it's not going to be the same timelines both time around. Meaning this you mean what, well, let's say you filed your first application and you went through the process real really really fast. Don't automatically assume that when you start over again that that's going to happen the exact same

7:11 way. It may take longer, it may take quicker. Like I always tell people, these are a case by case basis. Keep that in the back of mine and you'll always understand how this process works. This is Anthony Reeves. This is your legal beat tip of the day, and if you have any questions call us at www dot dot www dot Reesfirm dot com, or you can always hit me up till free at eight eight eight nine sixty two zero zero zero seven. If you go to the res firm website, we have a chat function so you can actually speak to someone and I hope this helps you out. For more questions that you want to just see answered, go to Legalbett Anthony Reeves dot com and you have a wonderful day