Each time a hard-working Milpitas, California resident receives a paycheck from his or her employer, that employee pays taxes to the government. Some taxes go to the state while other taxes go to the federal government. Another portion of these taxes are Social Security taxes, which pay for benefits that are provided by the Social Security Administration.
Because disability benefits are some of the benefits that the Social Security Administration provides, these workers often assume that disability benefits will be provided by the SSA if they should ever face a long-term or permanent disability. Unfortunately, the Social Security Administration does not always pay these benefits as they should. In fact, more often than not, a disability applicant must fight to obtain the disability benefits that they are entitled to.
The truth is, nearly 70 percent of Milpitas disability applicants are denied when they first submit a claim to the Social Security Administration. If you are applying for disability benefits in the Milpitas, California area, a Milpitas Social Security Disability attorney may mean the difference between a fast and hassle-free approval of your benefits or a long and drawn out disability appeal.
About the City of Milpitas, California
The city of Milpitas benefits from a diverse economic foundation. The computer industry provides the largest number of jobs in Milpitas. The education sector also plays a role in the area’s economic well-being. Some of Milpitas’ largest employers include Cisco Systems, Great Mall, KLA Tencor, Flextronics, SanDisk, Linear Technology and the Milpitas Unified School District. The median household income in Milpitas is approximately $84,000 while the cost of living index is 52 percent higher than the national average.
Applying for Milipitas Social Security Disability Benefits
Milpitas is home to more than 63,000 California residents. In the State of California, approximately 2.9 percent of the population receives Social Security Disability benefits. The average disability payment that is given to a disabled worker in California is approximately $1,083.80 per month.
While this monthly benefit can definitely help with the financial struggles that are faced by many disabled workers, the truth is that most California Social Security Disability applicants will wait nearly two years before receiving their first payment from the Social Security Administration.
Why does it take a Milpitas, California Social Security Disability applicant so long to receive their first disability payment from the Social Security Administration? The extensive claim processing times are due to the fact that the SSA denies approximately 70 percent of the initial claims that it receives each year. The applicants who are denied benefits during the initial stage of the application process must then pursue a long and complicated Social Security Disability appeal.
This appeal process usually consists of two stages which include a Request for Reconsideration and a Disability Hearing. Because there are a limited number of administrative law judges working for the Social Security Administration and because these judges can only hear so many disability cases, it takes the ODAR offices in charge of scheduling these hearings well over a year to get a disability applicant in front of an administrative law judge.
For more on disability benefits in California, see How To Qualify For Disability In California.
Hiring a Milpitas Disability Attorney
The office that is in charge of scheduling the hearings for Milpitas, California Social Security Disability applicants is located in Downey, California. On average, it takes this office approximately 426 days to schedule a disability hearing. It is important to remember that this time frame does not include the amount of time that it takes the applicant to file his or her initial disability claim or to pursue a Request for Reconsideration.
To make matters worse, once the hearing date has been scheduled and the hearing has been conducted, it still takes the disability applicant another two to three months to be notified regarding the outcome of the hearing.
If you want to avoid the frustration of pursing a long and drawn-out disability appeal, you will want to consider retaining the services of a qualified Milpitas Social Security Disability lawyer. These professionals can help you prepare your disability claim properly, gathering all of the objective medical evidence that you will need in order to prove your case to the Social Security Administration.
This will increase your chances of receiving an approval from the SSA during the initial stage of the application process, thereby reducing the chance that you will have to endure the frustrating experience of waiting for a disability hearing.
If you do need to pursue a Social Security Disability appeal, a Milpitas Social Security attorney is your best chance of success. While nearly two-thirds of disability hearings are decided in the favor of the disability applicant, your chances of actually winning your appeal will vary depending on a number of different factors.
These factors can include the medical evidence and testimony from medical experts and vocational experts you are able to obtain, the strategy of your hearing, the laws that pertain to your case and the administrative law judge who is assigned to your disability hearing. Some administrative law judges have higher award ratios than others.
Because the appeal process is very complex and a hearing involves issues of law that an attorney is experienced in, you need to carefully consider a decision to represent yourself during this stage of the appeal process and you must understand that doing so can hurt your chances of a successful appeal outcome.
