Mark Hinkle, a spokesman for the Social Security Administration (SSA) says that his administration has made substantial progress in getting disability payments to the thousands of Americans who apply every year. Unfortunately, he also admits that the SSA has a long way to go in smoothing out the system and getting people the benefits to which they are entitled.
Filing for Social Security Disability payments should be a straightforward process. You should be able to simply fill out a few form, bring documentation from your doctors saying that you are unable to work and then receive your benefit payments. However, because of rampant fraud, the system is set up to deny almost all initial claims and the backlog for getting your benefits can be as long as five years. As a result, applicants need the help of a skilled Social Security Disability attorney to get through the draconian system.
Fortunately, SSD lawyers generally do not require that you pay anything out of pocket up front. Once you are approved for SSD, you will likely be paid a lump sum for the time that you were waiting, typically amounting to thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of dollars. Your attorney will generally receive their payment from this lump sum. In most cases, you keep the majority of the lump sum as well as the subsequent monthly payments.