Moundsville Heart Disease Lawyer

If you have a heart condition and cannot work in Moundsville, West Virginia, a heart disease lawyer with Berger and Green can help you seek Social Security Disability benefits. These payments can go a long way toward helping you make ends meet while you manage your illness, but getting them can be easier said than done.

Our Social Security Disability lawyers can put our law firm’s 40-plus years of legal experience behind applying for benefits or appealing denied claims. Let us do the work needed to get the benefits you deserve, leaving you free to focus on your health and family. To learn how a heart disease lawyer with our firm can help your case, you can call us today.

Our Heart Disease Lawyers Can Help You Access Your Social Security Disability Benefits in Moundsville, WV

Social Security Disability (SSD) is an umbrella term for two U.S. programs that provide financial benefits for injured or sick individuals. SSD includes:

• Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). SSDI provides payments to injured workers who have earned work credits through their years of employment. Claimants usually need a minimum of 20 credits (around five years of work in the last ten years) to become eligible, though older workers may need more, and younger workers may require fewer. Monthly SSDI benefits can vary widely and will depend on how many work credits you have. Our SSDI attorneys can tell you more about your unique situation. You can also obtain an estimate using the Social Security Administration (SSA) Benefits Calculator.
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSI pays monthly benefits to disabled individuals who have limited income or resources. Eligibility does not rely on work credits. According to the SSA, the federal SSI benefit rate for 2023 is $914 per individual or $1,371 per couple. Unlike some states, West Virginia does not offer state-supplemented SSI.

Our Moundsville heart disease attorneys can identify the disability benefits program you qualify for and help you apply for Social Security Disability benefits. Some individuals may concurrently qualify for SSDI and SSI, but you must apply for each separately.

Heart Diseases that May Qualify for Social Security Disability Benefits

To qualify for SSDI or SSI, you must have a severe medical condition that keeps you from working for at least one year. The SSA maintains a list, known as the Blue Book, of injuries and illnesses it recognizes as disabling. Heart disease is under the Blue Book’s section outlining cardiovascular impairments. Heart conditions in the book include the following:

• Ischemic heart disease
• Symptomatic congenital heart disease
• Peripheral arterial disease
• Chronic heart failure
• Chronic venous insufficiency
• Recurrent arrhythmias
• Aneurysm
• Heart transplant

If you have a heart problem that the SSA doesn’t list in the Blue Book, it does not mean you cannot receive SSD benefits. You can still apply for benefits but must provide medical evidence proving your condition is as severe as those listed.

Does Heart Disease Interfere With Your Ability to Earn Income in Moundsville?

The SSA will evaluate how heart disease affects your ability to earn income when determining whether your condition is disabling. You qualify for SSD if:

1. You cannot engage in substantial gainful activity (SGA). The SGA limit for 2023 is $1,470 per month. If you can earn this much or more on average, the SSA does not consider your heart disease a disabling condition.
2. You cannot perform your current job or adjust to new employment because of your heart disease.
3. Heart disease will affect your ability to work for at least 12 months.

Even though you can only receive SSD once your condition persists for one year, you can and should file a claim immediately. Applying for Social Security Disability benefits as soon as you cannot work puts your application in the best position possible for when you become eligible. It can also help you prove your established onset date (EOD) when seeking back pay.

Our Moundsville Heart Disease Attorneys Can Appeal Denied SSD Claims

The Social Security Office of Retirement and Disability Policy reports that nearly 70 percent of initial SSDI applications receive denials. So, you are not alone if you do not receive a favorable determination, but you have options. Our Social Security Disability lawyers serving Moundsville, WV, can determine why the SSA denied your benefits and strengthen your claim on appeal. Common reasons for denial include the following:

• The SSA believes you earn above the SGA limit.
• The SSA does not consider your injury disabling.
• The SSA does not think your injury will last 12 months.
• The SSA does not know how to contact you.
• You made clerical errors on your application.
• You did not submit the correct documents or provide enough medical evidence.
• You refuse to cooperate with the SSA (e.g., release records or submit to a consultative examination (CE)).
• You refuse to follow your doctor’s treatment orders.

The Four Stages of Appeal

If the SSA denied your benefits claim, our Moundsville heart disease lawyers can appeal the unfavorable determination. Our law firm will guide you through the following four stages of appeal:

1. Reconsideration. You can ask for reconsideration of your claim for medical reasons or reasons not connected to your heart disease. During this stage, a new person from the SSA will review previously submitted evidence and any new evidence our SSD lawyers introduce to support your case. However, few claims receive approval at this stage.
2. Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) hearing. Our attorneys will represent you throughout this official proceeding. We can prepare your court claim, introduce new evidence and prepare you for questioning.
3. Appeal. We can appeal the ALJ’s decision through the SSA Appeals Council. The Council can affirm or contest the ALJ’s ruling, issue its own decision, or refer your claim back to the Judge.
4. Federal court. This is a claim in U.S. District Court if all other options are exhausted.

We encourage you not to delay your appeal. You have only 60 days from receiving an unfavorable determination to request a reconsideration. From there, you have 60 days between each stage of the process to advance your appeal if necessary.

Call Today to Work With Our SSD Heart Disease Lawyers Serving Moundsville, WV

Berger and Green’s Social Security lawyers can help you get the SSD benefits you deserve. You do not have to accept a denial from the SSA. We serve clients in Moundsville and across Marshall County, West Virginia.

Contact us today for a free consultation and connect with us today. We can work on your case at no charge and only recover a payment if you receive benefits.