Losing a job because of a disabling medical condition places a worker under tremendous mental and emotional distress. Without any income coming into the household, how do you make financial ends meet? The answer is to submit a claim with the Social Security Administration (SSA) for financial assistance.
Receiving Virginia Social Security disability benefits helps you pay medical bills, as well as recurring expenses such as rent and car payments. However, the SSA denies a majority of disability claims. This means you should understand the disability appeal process, which starts by submitting a request for reconsideration.
Filing An Appeal For SSD Benefits In Virginia
If you received a denied disability letter from the SSA, you have a right to submit a disability appeal application that begins with a request for reconsideration. As the first stage of a four-step disability appeal process, a request for reconsideration represents a step that resubmits your original claim for financial assistance.
You submit the same application, as well as the medical evidence that promotes your case for gaining approval of the initial claim. By working with an attorney, you improve your chances of receiving Virginia Social Security disability benefits by completing the first step of the disability appeal process.
The SSA assigns a different medical specialist from Disability Determination Services (DDS) to conduct a second analysis of your original disability claim. Including a statement from your doctor that describes in detail the extent of your illness or disease can boost the strength of your request for reconsideration.
Virginia ALJ Disability Hearings
Just like an original disability claim, a majority of appeals for reconsideration come back as denied disability claims from the SSA. This means you move on to the second step of the disability appeal process, which consists of presenting your case in front of an administrative law judge (ALJ). As the only phase during the disability appeal process that allows you to present your claim in a live setting, an ALJ hearing unfolds like a case filed in a civil court.
Nonetheless, the atmosphere during an ALJ hearing should never turn confrontational. The ALJ hearing your disability appeal asks questions to determine whether the medical examiners at the SSA that reviewed your claim committed an error in interpreting the facts associated with the case.
Virginia Office of Hearing Operations Locations
2nd Floor
1470 Pantops Mountain Place
Charlottesville, VA 22911
Telephone: (866) 613-2969
Fax: (833) 659-0418
Office Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
One Skyline Tower, 12th Floor
5107 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA 22041
Telephone: (703) 605-7555
Fax: (833) 516-0390
Office Hours: 6:00 am to 6:00 pm
3rd Floor
5850 Lake Herbert Drive
Norfolk, VA 23502
Telephone: (866) 931-9167
Fax: (833) 659-0420
Office Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Suite 225
1100 E. Main Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Telephone: (877) 405-3665
Fax: (833) 949-2150
Office Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Second Floor, Suite 200
612 South Jefferson Street
Roanoke, VA 24011
Telephone: (866) 592-3548
Fax: (833) 659-0415
Office Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Get Help from an SSD Attorney Who Helps Virginia Claimants
Hiring an attorney to fight for Virginia Social Security disability benefits may help you collect and organize the medical evidence you need to present the most convincing case. Your lawyer may help you obtain the results of diagnostic tests, as well as a detailed description submitted by your physician that describes your treatment programs and physical therapy sessions.
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