TIP: READ THE DENIAL LETTER

Many people read like I do.  They skim the first paragraph to find what they want to know, then throw away the rest of the letter.  In a denial letter from Social Security, however, it may pay you to read the entire decision notice.

Somewhere in the letter, usually toward the last page, it will tell you WHY you were denied.  This can be very important in preparing an appeal.  If you know why you got denied, you can potentially fix the problem and have more success in the next round--the appeal.

For instance, I once had a claimant who was denied because Social Security had assigned him the wrong functional capability.  They contended that he could do light exertion level work, when the truth is he could only perform sedentary level work.  He was extremely limited in his ability to stand or walk for long periods of time.

Upon appeal, I was able to successfully argue that the residual functional capacity (RFC) used by Social Security was wrong and that when the correct sedentary level was applied, the claimant was disabled under Social Security rules.  The judge agreed and awarded full back pay.

Further, you can dig into the record to obtain the determination worksheets that the Disability Determination Service used in their reviews of the application.   These will tell you the process used to make a decision on your claim, including how each piece of medical evidence was evaluated.  Ask for the entire file on an electronic disc and review it carefully.  (Your representative will do this if you have an attorney or non-attorney representative working on your appeal).