Many clients come to see the experienced Social Security Disability (SSD) attorneys at Kalfus & Nachman after their application for SSD benefits already has been denied by the Social Security Administration (SSA). The basis for the denial often is that, even though the person may no longer be able to perform his or her past relevant work due to a medical condition that otherwise meets the SSD requirements to qualify as a disability, SSA decides that there are still other jobs that exist in the national economy that person can do even considering his or her disability. This then means the person does not qualify for benefits and, consequently, is left without a source of income even though he or she is medically disabled. Rest assured that if you have an experienced Virginia SSD attorney on your side, this is not the end of the story. The attorneys at Kalfus & Nachman have assisted numerous individuals whom the SSA has attempted to misclassify as able to perform positions they are unable to do.
The SSD Benefits Process and the SSA’s Analysis as to Your RFC and Your Past Work
The first part of the analysis the SSA goes through in determining whether or not you are entitled to SSD benefits is to determine whether you have a medical disability or not. Once this prong of the inquiry has been satisfied, the SSA will determine what they call your residual functional capacity, or RFC. This is what you can do even considering your disability. They will then use a vocational expert (VE), someone experienced in determining what skills individuals can perform and what jobs that individual may be able to do, to testify what jobs someone with your RFC could perform and whether there are significant numbers of such jobs available in the national economy.
This is one of the little known secrets of applying for SSD benefits. The SSA will also look at your past work history to see your past work positions and compare those with your RFC to see if, considering your past work history, skills, and RFC even with your existing disability, there are jobs you did in the past you could do today or else, considering your age, educational level, skills, and RFC, there are any jobs that exist in significant numbers in the national economy that you could still do. However, the SSA often gets this wrong in a variety of different ways.
Can You Challenge The SSA’s RFC Findings or a VE’s Conclusions?
Absolutely. This is one reason it is so essential to have an experienced SSD attorney representing you in connection with your claim for SSD benefits. At Kalfus & Nachman, our attorneys are experienced at successfully establishing that our clients are unable to do any job that is available in significant numbers in the national economy. Whether it is an inaccurate RFC determination, overinflating our clients’ skills or education or the demands of their past work history, the SSA often makes mistakes when making decisions on SSD Benefit applications. We are here to make sure that does not happen to our clients.
Talk to The Experienced Social Security Disability Attorneys at Kalfus & Nachman
The experienced SSD attorneys at Kalfus & Nachman know how to place a treating physician opinion that one of our clients is disabled in the proper context for the SSA in order to increase the chances of a client’s application for SSD benefits being granted. If you live in the Norfolk, Hampton, Newport News, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach or Roanoke, Virginia, areas and need assistance determining if you qualify for the SSD benefits, what your expected monthly benefit would be if you qualify for benefits, filing your SSD application, or filing an appeal, please contact Kalfus & Nachman PC by phone at (855) 880-8163 or through the form on this page to schedule a free consultation.