A study by Jody Schimmel Hyde, April Yanyuan Wu, and Lakhpreet Gill of the Mathematica Think Tank revealed that few Social Security disability applicants aged 51 and over return to substantial gainful activity after being denied benefits. The study found that the employment rate for applicants 51 or older who were denied by the Social Security Administration for disability was under 20 percent in each of the 5 years after denial. The study also found that applicants who did return to work after being denied had earnings below the substantial gainful activity level.
Interestingly, the study did find that most denied applicants were eventually awarded benefits after appealing their denials or filing new claims with 56 percent of applicants eventually receiving Social Security disability and 28 percent filing new claims. The study also revealed that other applicants who were denied disability aged into early retirement eligibility with a large percentage of those who were not awarded SSDI taking early retirement.
If you have been denied Social Security disability benefits and have not returned to work, contact an experienced Social Security disability attorney at Gardberg and Kemmerly, P.C. at (251) 343-1111. Gardberg and 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 in Federal Court.
