Tick Tock! Tick Tock! Your claim for Social Security Benefits has been denied. Are you going to walk away from the money you are due or are you going to appeal the denial? Are you going to wait till the very last moment to appeal?

Don’t wait till the last moment! The Social Security Administration (SSA) requires an appeal be filed within 60 days. You actually get 5 more days for mailing. The SSA rules require that you file your appeal be submitted to SSA within 65 days. If your appeal letter is postmarked on the 65th day you are cutting it close but you are ok.

I recommend that you send your appeal certified mail, return receipt requested so you have proof that your appeal was timely submitted. This is for your own protection because if your appeal is lost in the mail and you can’t prove your mailed your appeal timely, you get to start all over.

Remember that you just can’t call your local SSA office and tell them you are appealing the denial of your claim. Your appeal must be in writing and timely filed. Tick Tock, Tcik Tock, don’t be late! For more information, and for more help with your claim, click here or call 727-894-3188.

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Age is an important factor in the application of the Grids. If you are under 50, the key is winning your claim for Social Security Disability is an inability to do both a wide range of sedentary and a wide range of light work.

Social Security Regulation (SSR) 83-10 defines sedentary work as lifting no more than 10 pounds at a time and occasionally lifting or carrying. You can only stand or walk up to 2 hours out of a 8 hour workday and sit a total of 6 hours out of a 8 hour workday. Good use of your hands and fingers is required. For more information, and for more help with your claim, click here or call 727-894-3188.

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You can’t work because of you disability but how do you prove that to the Social Security Administration (SSA)? Most cases are decided by the SSA at Hurdle 5: Other Work. SSA applies a Grid evaluation process that looks at your age, education, transferable work skills, and your residual functional capacity (RFC).

Your doctor will hopefully write in your medical records what you can physically do despite your disability. Not all doctors understand the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) and the Social Security regulation definitions of medium, light, and sedentary work. Perhaps your disability cross over the physical requirements of light and sedentary work. What happens?

The Social Security regulations say that SSA can’t apply one of the Grid rules to your case, unless you are capable of doing a “full or wide range” of work at the exertional level that applies to the applicable Grid. In other words, you must be capable of doing a full or wide range of work at the sedentary, light, or medium level.

You or your representative must understand the definitions of sedentary, light, and medium work so the proper Grid is applied to your case. For more information, and for more help with your claim, click here or call 727-894-3188.

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Once you have proven you can’t do your past relevant work (PRW), you move to the last and highest hurdle, Hurdle 5: Other Work.

This is a complicated hurdle. You must prove that you are unable to do other work that exists in significant numbers in the national economy taking into consideration your level of physical functioning, age, education, and work experience. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has a tool called the Medical Vocational Guidelines which is also known as the Grids.

The Grids are biased toward older individuals, those with less than a high school education, or non-English speakers. In less than 5 seconds, we can look at the Grids and tell you if you would meet Hurdle 5. If your profile matches the Grids, the court must follow the Grid. That could mean you are not disabled based on a rote application of an impersonal process.

However, if your profile differs from the profile in the Grid, the Grid is not binding. It is only a “framework” for the disability decision. If your exertional level falls between sedentary, light, or medium, you don’t meet the framework. If you can’t do the full range of sedentary work, you don’t meet the framework. If you have mental, sensory or skin impairments, postural or manipulative limitations, or environmental limitations, you don’t meet the framework.

A key to winning your case is to develop the necessary evidence to show you don’t meet the Grid framework. This will require the assistance of your doctor and testimony from you about your limitations. For more information, and for more help with your claim, click here or call 727-894-3188.

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