Social Security recently released their approval rates for Fiscal Year 2018 (October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018) at the Initial and Reconsideration stages. Unsurprisingly, the approval rates for Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida fell on the low end of the spectrum. The approval rate for initial claims in Alabama was 31%. In Mississippi, the approval rate was 25.3% at the initial level and only 8.1% at reconsideration. In Florida, it was 34.3% at the initial level and 13% at reconsideration. The national approval average was 35% at the initial level and 12.6% at reconsideration.
Another way to look at this data is to say that more than 65% of all claimants around the Gulf Coast are denied their disability benefits when they first apply. Many people don’t realize that they can challenge their denial and ask for a hearing on their case. An experienced disability attorney can assist you in filing your appeal, representing you in the hearing before the Administrative Law Judge, and in getting your medical records and opinions from your doctor. All of these things can help improve your chances of getting the Social Security disability benefits you deserve.
If you are interested in filing for Social Security disability benefits or if you have been denied, contact an experienced Social Security disability attorney at Gardberg & Kemmerly, P.C. Gardberg & Kemmerly, P.C. represents Social Security disability claimants in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Louisiana at all levels of the disability process from initial application to appeals to Federal Court. Gardberg & Kemmerly, P.C. has been helping Social Security claimants with their disability claims for over 40 years.
Note: Alabama has been a prototype state since October 1999 and has not had the reconsideration processes since then. Reconsideration will be reinstituted in Alabama in October 2019.
