We will decode the legal terminology to help you receive the benefits and treatment you deserve and help you find the best legal options for your case.

National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR)

The law office of Jeffrey Flynn, P.C. of Atlanta, GA is here to help you obtain the benefits you deserve. There are two ways in which individuals receive Social Security benefits: the Social Security disability insurance program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. To obtain these benefits, an individual must be incapable of working due to a medical condition. This condition must last at least a year or cause death.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a Federal income supplement program funded by general tax revenues (not Social Security taxes). It is designed to help aged, blind, and disabled people, who have little or no income; and it provides cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter.

Social Security pays disability benefits to you and certain members of your family if you have worked long enough and have a medical condition that has prevented you from working or is expected to prevent you from working for at least 12 months or end in death. Social Security pays benefits to people who cannot work because they have a medical condition that is expected to last at least one year or result in death. Federal law requires this very strict definition of disability. While some programs give money to people with partial disability or short-term disability, Social Security does not. 

• Initial filing of your claim: You can use an attorney or file your claim in person at the Social Security office or online. (There are some restrictions on who can file for Social Security Disability online.)
• Reconsideration: Most claimants are turned down the first time they file, in which case reconsideration must be filed. Reconsideration is a complete review of the claim by someone other than the person who made the original decision. The request for reconsideration must be made in writing within 60 days of the date the initial decision was made.
• Hearing before the Administrative Law Judge: If you are denied at reconsideration, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) will conduct a hearing at which you will present your case in person.
• The Appeals Council: If your case is denied before the ALJ, you must appeal the case to the Appeals Council (a review board within the Social Security Administration), which may issue its own decision, send the case back to the ALJ for another hearing, or allow the ALJ's decision to stand.