Monday, January 30, 2017

Now Non-Medical Appeals Can be Filed Online

Social Security Disability lawyers get swamped with calls from claimants who need help contesting non-medical decisions.  These non-medical decisions include overpayments and reduction of SSI benefit determinations.  Unfortunately, most private Social Security Disability law firms can't help claimant's with these type of appeals.  As general rule, we help claimants prove their cases from a medical perspective and can't provide assistance in overpayment or reduction of benefit cases.   

Until this past December, claimants had great difficulty filing non-medical appeals on their own. Many had to go to SSA field offices in person and wait in line to file their appeals.  Now, the SSA has added a feature in its website that allows claimants to file an electronic appeal on a non-medical issue.  

The website address used to start a non-medical appeal is:

 https://secure.ssa.gov/iApplNMD/start

The person affected by Social Security's decision or someone else on his or her behalf can use the website to file the non-medical appeal.  I am under the impression that in the past many non-medical appeals were lost through the cracks and claimants had great difficulty being heard.  The new electronic system should improve the process and make it easier for claimants to point out common errors such as miscalculations of benefits or correct the input or wrong information on a persons work record.