I cannot believe I was denied. I know I was told I should expect it, by my attorney but I just knew they would get to looking at my record and say
"oh, there is no way this woman can work" ha,ha,ha -well I am going to go cry in my Pepsi for a while Grins, Tamp

I cannot believe I was denied. I know I was told I should expect it, by my attorney but I just knew they would get to looking at my record and say
"oh, there is no way this woman can work" ha,ha,ha -well I am going to go cry in my Pepsi for a while Grins, Tamp

Yeah, Florida isn't a prototype state and they still do recons, which, I agree, is a really stupid step in the appeal process. Continue to the judge!

I have a lawyer and am waiting for a date with the judge - it just really is a bummer to get turned down when you know if it came to starving and working I would be starving - I am just blessed that I am not going to homeless because I am not the bread winner in my house - even their doctor indicated that I could not work with my multitude of illnesses but---------
thanks for responding Peace Tamp
out of curiosity - what is the deal with Florida

Florida is not part of Social Security's "prototype", which is basically an experiment to expedite disability claims processing. In prototype states, DDS claims examiners, and not physicians, are the decision makers and often write up cases without physician input. Also, the reconsideration step in these states was eliminated (with some exceptions), so that claims denied at the initial level go directly to the ALJ. Don't ask me how they chose the prototype states. I would say that they picked the best states, but I think New Jersey is a prototype state and their DDS is the 2nd worst in the nation in terms of processing time (whereas the DDSs in Pennsylvania, another prototype state, are quite good). I think the participating states volunteered.

Unfortunately, the prototype is set to end. Someone here implied the prototype is a failure because there are higher initial decision errors in prototype states. This is NOT TRUE (see http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02826t.pdf). SS's DQB - their quality assurance branch - does not find more errors in initial cases processed by prototype states. Why someone would want a DDS physician to be the decision maker on his or her claim is beyond me. In my experience, DDS physicians are much more unaware of the program rules than the claims examiners. Most are doctors retired from practice who are just looking for "easy" work to earn a pension or additional income. Many don't really appear to care about the claimants, I suspect, in part, because they are so far removed from them as they never even speak with them like the claims examiners do.

The main problem with the prototype is that there is a bottleneck at the ALJ which SS cannot effectively handle.

Wow Star - I did not know any of this - I did know there was some experimenting going on with dropping reconsideration but that is about it -
I never spoke to a claim's representative - I guess I feel so beat down by all of this that I just want it over with - thank you for all the info - I bet you have educated a bunch of us - do you think things are worse in Florida
Grins Tamp