After being award Social Security disability benefits, many clients ask how long they will be able to keep receiving their benefits. The simple answer is that if your medical condition has not improved, you will continue to receive your Social Security disability benefits. However, all recipients of Social Security disability benefits are subject to periodic continuing disability reviews. This review is called a Continuing Disability Review (CDR). During a CDR, Social Security will ascertain whether you have had any improvement in your medical condition that would allow you to return to work. If there has been no improvement in your medical condition, you will continue to receive disability until the next review.
The frequency of a CDR depends on how Social Security categorizes your long-term prognosis. There are three categories:
- Medical Improvement Expected: Social Security will review a case 6 to 18 months after benefits start
- Medical Improvement Possible: Social Security will review a case every 3 years
- Medical Improvement Not Expected: Social Security will review a case every 5 to 7 years.
The Notice of Award that is received after being found eligible for benefits will normally have a paragraph called “Things to Remember for the Future.” This paragraph will say how often Social Security will perform a review. When it is time for Social Security to review a claim for benefits, they will ask for updated information about your condition including what doctors and treatment you have been receiving. If the claim is for SSI, Social Security will also review a person’s income, resources, and living arrangements to determine if the person continues to meet those requirements.
If Social Security determines that a person’s condition has improved, they can stop his or her disability benefits. However, if the condition has remained the same or gotten worse, benefits will continue. If a person’s benefits are stopped after a CDR, that decision can be appealed and a person can ask for benefits to continue while the appeal is pending.
For more information on Social Security disability, contact an experienced Social Security disability attorney at Gardberg & Kemmerly, P.C. at (251) 343-1111. 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.