Alabama Social Security Disability Guide - by The Forsythe Firm - (256) 799-0297.

Medicare is a health insurance program for the elderly and disabled.  There are two ways in which an individual may qualify for Medicare coverage. The first way is by reaching age 65.  You are entitled to receive Medicare on the first day of the month of your 65th birthday.  You can receive reduced retirement benefits from Social Security as early as age 62 but this does not qualify for Medicare.   The second way to obtain Medicare is to be disabled prior to age 65.  Medicare will begin at the earliest of the following dates:  the date you become 65 years of age, OR 24 months after you qualify for Social Security disability payments. For example, if you were found to have first become disabled under Title II on February 15th, you would not receive payment for the first 5 full months, the waiting period.  Your first date eligible for payment would be August 1st.  24 months later you would become eligible for Medicare (assuming you did not tur...

In a Social Security disability hearing, we often get down to the 5th and final step of the sequential evaluation.  Does there exist any work that the claimant could perform, given his/her specific limitations?   If there is, the individual is not disabled under Social Security rules. Nearly always, the vocational expert present (called by Social Security) will find jobs that the claimant could perform.  One of those jobs that I find particularly irritating is "surveillance system monitor." It is an unskilled sedentary job with low requirements for reading and math.The expert will point out that it requires little or no walking, no lifting, and no bending. In fact, a person can sit down all day and do this job, or alternate betwen stand/sit as he wishes.  The job was last updated in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) in 1986, 28 years ago!  So any information given by the vocational witness is out of date! The DOT actually refers to the job a...

advocate, (n) - someone who stands for another and pleads his case; someone who argues in favor of another's point of view, as an attorney or defense counselor A disability advocate is a trained professional capable of dealing with the US Government on behalf of disabled individuals who have applied, or wish to apply, for Social Security disability benefits. Why is an advocate needed?  First, because the laws and regulations regarding Social Security benefits are so massive and complex.  Social Security disability claims are governed partly by the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 404.  They are also governed by the Social Security Act itself, including dozens of amendments.  If your application does not meet the specific requirements established for disability, it will be denied.  70 percent of all disability applications filed in Alabama are denied by Social Security. Another reason you need an advocate is understanding the procedural order of t...