4636 Lebanon Pike, #186 Hermitage, TN 37076-1316 Phone (615) 787-7170 Fax (615) 952.

9094

101 W. Kingston Springs Road Kingston Springs, Tennessee 37082 Phone (615) 787-7170 Fax (615) 952.9094

How Can I get an Expedited Disability Hearing?

by Andrew N. Egan One of the most frequent questions we receive is about how to speed up the review process. The Office of Disability Adjudication and Reviews (ODARs) Office of Appellate Operations (OAO) designates a case requiring special processing as a critical case to ensure that they take more prompt action on the case. We emphasize more, because there is still a waiting period, although it is shortened signifigantly. How do I know if Social Security will designate my case as critical? Six situations warrant instituting critical case processing procedures: 1. Your illness is alleged to be or is identified as terminal. 2. Your claim is for any military service personnel injured October 1, 2001 or later, regardless of how or where the disability occurred, whether in the United States or on foreign soil, provided that the individual was on active duty when the injury occurred. 3. Your claim has been identified as a Compassionate Allowance (CAL) case. 4. You are without, and are unable to obtain, food, medicine or shelter (dire need case); 5. There is an indication that the you are suicidal, homicidal, or potentially violent; 6. Your case has been delayed an inordinate amount of time and there is a public, congressional, or other high priority inquiry on the case. (The Congressional and Public Affairs Branch (CPAB) uses current OAO workload data to determine the inordinate delay timeframe.) How do I know if I have a Compassionate Allowance Claim?

A critical case involving a Compassionate Allowance (CAL) claim requires additional special handling. The most common CAL is a Dire Need Case. Dire Need Case A dire need situation exists when a person has insufficient income or resources to meet an immediate threat to health or safety, such as the lack of food, clothing, shelter, or medical care. You must allege specific, immediate circumstances: (1) lack of food (i.e., without and unable to obtain food); (2) lack of medicine or medical care (e.g., you expresses that you need medicine or medical care but you are without and you are unable to obtain it; you do not have any health insurance, or indicate that access to necessary medical care is restricted because of lack of resources); or (3) lack of shelter (e.g., shut-off of your utilities such that your home is uninhabitable, homelessness, expiration of shelter stay, or imminent eviction or foreclosure with no means to remedy the situation or obtain shelter). Absent evidence to the contrary, SSA must accept your allegation that you do not have enough income or resources to meet an immediate threat to your health or safety. Never exaggerate. The truth is always the best approach. If you need assistance with a Social Security Disability case or would like to learn more about your options for getting Social Security disability benefits, please call us at 615-787-7170 or visit us at http://www.musiccitydisability.com/. We are Social Security Disability attorneys in Nashville and Kingston Springs, Tennessee. Posted in Disability Appeal, How Can I get an Expedited Hearing? | Tagged Disability, Disability Appeal, Disability Appeal | Tagged Attorney, disability attorney, disability attorney Dickson Tennessee, disability attorney Kingston Springs Tennessee, Nashville attorney, NPR disability story, odar, Social Security, ssdi |