Denial of Minnesota Social Security Disability Benefits?

Your best chance to prevail in your Social Security Disability Case is at the Hearing Level after your initial application is denied and has also been denied after Reconsideration. Your hearing will be held before an Administrative Law Judge who will make an independent decision on your case. This hearing is not based on your previous denials.

At the hearing, you will have the opportunity to tell the Judge about all of your medical problems, either mental or physical, and how these impairments prevent you from doing your past job or any other work in the regional or national economy.

It is important to have legal representation at this stage because the Social Security Administration will have a vocational expert and most times a medical expert to testify. The medical expert will review all of the medical records in your file and listen to your testimony at the hearing. The medical expert will testify and give his opinion as to what he believes are your impairments and the severity of those impairments. He will also give an opinion as to whether or not your impairments may meet or equal one of the Listings in the Listing of Impairments set forth in the Social Security Regulations. The Listings set forth medical criteria which must be met in order to find a person “disabled.” The medical expert is comparing the medical findings from your medical records and matching those findings with the criteria of the applicable Listing of Impairment. If your impairment or combination of impairments meets or equals the Listings, then you are found “disabled.” The Administrative Law Judge always makes the final decision at each step of the evaluation of disability.

If your impairment does not meet or equal the Listings, then the medical expert will give an opinion as to your residual functional capacity or RFC. Your RFC is an assessment of what you can do and what you cannot do, taking into account your physical and mental impairments.

Once the Medical Expert has testified, the Administrative Law Judge will pose several hypothetical questions to the Vocational Expert. These hypothetical questions will include the person’s age, education, work experience, and RFC including all limitations in the record and from the testimony at the hearing. The Vocational Expert will testify as to whether or not there are any jobs available for the person described in the hypothetical with those specific limitations. If there are jobs available, the Vocational Expert will name the jobs and how many are available in the national and regional economy. It does not matter if an employer would hire you or not, it only matters that there are jobs available within your restrictions and limitations that you would be able to perform that job.