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Kidney disease can qualify you for disability benefits, but only if you prove that your health will stop you from working any job for 12 months or more.
This is a high bar to clear. Many people get denied Social Security Disability benefits.
If you received a denial letter from Social Security for your kidney disease claim, don’t despair. Work with an Upstate New York disability attorney who knows how to make your kidney disability claim stronger.
Lachman & Gorton Law Office has helped thousands of people in Elmira, Binghamton and across Upstate and Western New York win benefits they deserve for more secure lives in the face of serious health problems.
Getting denied disability benefits is discouraging. You thought that you had a financial lifeline, but now it’s been ripped away.
Let us help with your appeal. Many people go on to win benefits after getting denied once or even multiple times.
Our team will guide you through the entire process, and you won’t pay an attorney fee until your kidney disease disability claim is approved.
Millions of people suffer from some form of kidney disease, but many of them can work a substantial amount and support themselves. They wouldn’t qualify for financial assistance from Social Security Disability.
How do you show that your kidney disease is different? How do you show that kidney disease stops you from working almost completely?
A measurement known as “residual functional capacity,” or RFC, will be key to your disability claim.
Your RFC is the total of the physical and mental capabilities you still have despite the symptoms of your disease.
Social Security divides different types of work into different categories—sedentary, light, medium, heavy and very heavy—based on how mentally and physically taxing they are.
A disability claims examiner may acknowledge that you can’t work a heavy, physical job anymore, but your RFC might clear you for office work or something less taxing.
Many people get denied disability benefits because Social Security thinks they can still do some form of sedentary or light work.
But your kidney disease could cause mental fog, headaches, nausea and a variety of other symptoms that make it difficult to concentrate and work in just about any capacity.
How do you get that across to a claims examiner in a Social Security office who you’ve never met? How do you adequately describe the limitations your kidney disease causes you?
Work with our Binghamton disability appeals lawyers and let us help you build your case and show that you can’t work because of your health.
Get started with a FREE evaluation of your kidney disease disability claim.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) won’t just take your word when you say that your kidney disease stops you from working.
You’ll need objective evidence from independent sources, including plenty of medical records from doctors and health care centers.
This includes:
It’s also important that you know how to talk to your doctor and get the information you need.
The Upstate NY disability lawyers at Lachman & Gorton have developed methods of communicating with doctors who assess your limitations and getting the kinds of evidence that Social Security looks for in a claim.
A detailed and accurate representation of your capabilities can make a big difference.
Around 55% to 60% of initial disability claims get denied in New York. It’s practically an expected part of the process.
You can win on appeal, but you need to be ready to respond to the SSA within 60 days to get your appeal started.
Step #1: Review your letter and see why you were denied.
Whether you were denied for not having enough medical evidence or because you made an error with your paperwork, your letter should give you a reason for your denial.
Knowing why a claims examiner denied you can help you make your claim stronger on appeal.
Step #2: Keep the 60-day deadline in mind.
Sixty days isn’t a lot of time. You need to be prepared to act quickly and respond to Social Security after they deny you.
It’s also important to note that this deadline applies at each stage of appeals. Each time you get denied you have 60 days to take your appeal to the next level.
If you fail to respond, you may have to start over with a new application for benefits.
Step #3: Update your medical evidence.
If you’ve had new tests done, any new developments in your condition, or any other updated medical evidence to offer, make sure that information is in your claim when you start your appeal.
If there were gaps in your initial application for benefits, now’s the time to fix them.
Step #4: Ask for reconsideration with the help of a lawyer.
The first step of your appeal is reconsideration. You’ll ask Social Security to have another examiner look at your claim and come to their own conclusion about whether you deserve benefits.
Chances of approval are low during reconsideration, but this is still an important time to start building a more convincing kidney disease disability claim for a better result later.
Our disability appeal lawyers can help.
Appealing a denied disability claim is always difficult. There are tight deadlines to abide by, and the appeals process gets more complicated and legalistic as you go on.
Even if you think you learned a lot from your denial and now you’re ready to make your case to the SSA, it’s tough to recommend appealing on your own.
But you don’t have to. Our Binghamton Social Security Disability lawyers can help you at all stages of the appeals process.
Our team can:
When you work with the team at Lachman & Gorton, you’re working with actual lawyers who can handle every part of the appeals process.
We’re known for appealing disability claims to the federal level. Other lawyers even refer these kinds of cases to us.
You need to act quickly if you’ve been denied disability for kidney disease, so schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with a team who can help you with every part of your appeal.