Cedar Park Social Security Attorney
Many of the hard-working Texas residents who live and work in Cedar Park know that they pay money into the Social Security system. Social Security taxes are taken out of each and every paycheck that these workers receive. As a result, these workers assume that Social Security benefits, including disability benefits, will be there for them if they should ever need them because they have spent years paying into this system.
Unfortunately, cashing in on these disability benefits when the need does arise isn't usually as easy one might hope. In fact, most Cedar Park workers should consider the services of a Cedar Park Social Security Disability attorney prior to filing a claim for Social Security Disability benefits.
Cedar Park’s economy benefits from diversity. Some of the industries that fuel the economy of Cedar Park include the heavy manufacturing, government, health, construction and distribution services. Some of the city’s top employers include PDME Enterprises, Complete Book and Media Supply and Native Land Design – all Inc Fortune 5000 companies. Other companies that provide jobs to area residents include the City of Cedar Park, National Oilwell Varco and CoreSlab Structures. The median household income for Cedar Park is approximately $69,000 per year. The cost of living index is 6 percent lower than the national average.
Cedar Park is home to approximately 26,000 Texas residents. In the State of Texas, approximately 3.4 percent of the population receives Social Security Disability benefits. The average disability payment that is paid to a disabled Texas worker is $1,050.30 per month. While this extra income can significantly offset some of the financial hardship that can be caused by a long-term or permanent disability, the truth is that it will take most Cedar Park disability applicants more than two years to receive their first disability payment from the Social Security Administration.
Applying for Cedar Park Social Security Benefits
Why does it take so long for Cedar Park Social Security Disability applicants to begin receiving disability payments when the initial application process should only take three to six months to complete? The extensive processing times are due to the fact that the majority of disability claims are denied by the Social Security Administration during the initial stage of the application process. These applicants who are denied must then add their appeal to the more than 750,000 disability cases that are already backlogged in the Social Security system.
When a Cedar Park disability applicant appeals a denied disability claim, they usually have to attend a disability hearing in order to overturn the SSA's decision to deny their disability payments. The office that is in charge of scheduling the disability hearings for Cedar Park disability applicants is located in Dallas, Texas. It takes this office an average of 339 days to schedule a disability hearing from the date that a request for such a hearing is filed. Once that hearing has been conducted, it takes a Cedar Park disability applicant another two to three months to be notified regarding the outcome of that hearing.
Hiring a Cedar Park Disability Attorney
If you want to avoid the need for a disability hearing and would like to have your disability benefits approved in a matter of months rather than years, your best bet is to work with a Cedar Park Social Security Disability lawyer. These professionals can help you in the preparation of your Social Security Disability claim, ensuring that you fill out all of your application paperwork properly and provide the SSA with the medical evidence that will be needed to prove your disability to the adjudicator who will be reviewing your file.
If, for some reason, your application for benefits is still denied (or if you were denied benefits because you failed to retain the services of a Cedar Park Social Security attorney prior to filing your claim), there is still hope. A Cedar Park Social Security lawyer can represent you through each stage of the disability appeal process, increasing your chances of successfully overturning the SSA's decision to deny your disability benefits.
The first stage of a disability appeal is called a Request for Reconsideration. Your attorney will have to file this request within 60 days of your denial of benefits. It is important to remember, however, that this request will more than likely be denied. In fact, fewer than 20 percent of reconsideration requests are granted by the Social Security Administration. Once this request has been denied by the SSA, you and your lawyer will be able to request a disability hearing before an administrative law judge.
The good news is that nearly two-thirds of disability cases are decided in favor of the disability applicant when their case is heard by an administrative law judge. However, your chances of your particular case being won depend on your hearing strategy as well as the administrative law judge who your case is assigned to. You will definitely want a Cedar Park disability attorney working with you at this hearing. Statistics show that applicants who attend a hearing with proper legal representation are much more likely to be awarded benefits than applicants who choose to represent themselves.
If you are interested in obtaining a free evaluation of your Social Security Disability case, or to get more information about hiring a Cedar Park Social Security Disability attorney to assist you in your disability claim, click here.
