It pays to be persistent when applying for Social Security disability benefits. According to SSA, only 38% of the applications for disability benefits are approved. Less than 20% of those who file an appeal called "Request for Reconsideration" are successful.SSA statistics show that over 75% of cases denied at Reconsideration are approved when the claimant appeals the Reconsideration denial and appears before a federal Administrative Law Judge.

In 2007, 16 thousand people died while waiting for their disability claims to be approved. The backlog of cases awaiting the scheduling of disability hearings before Administrative Law Judges is over 750,000. The average wait time for a Social Security hearing in over 500 days. This article can provide strategies for expediting your hearing.

If you are receiving Social Security Disability benefits, you should be aware that your claim will be reviewed periodically. Will you be ready for that review? Here are some important tips to remember. The best preparation is continued treatment and communication with your doctors concerning your symptoms and limitations. You should make sure your doctors are aware of your continued problems with your impairments.

Filing an SSD (social security disability) reconsideration appeal with SSA is not a particularly difficult or complicated process, and in most cases claimants are able to file the appeal without any help from a disability attorney or non-attorney claimant's representative.

If your doctor is supportive of your case for disability, it can certainly improve the chances of a favorable outcome in your bid for social security disability (SSD) or SSI disability benefits. However, contrary to certain misperceptions, your personal physician does not decide if you get disability benefits. And even if he or she encourages you to file a claim with social security, you should not assume that you will be approved based simply on this.

For those who aren't aware of how the federal disability benefit process works (and to some extent this includes even individuals who have filed for disability, been denied, and had to appeal, as the social security administration does not do a good idea of explaining the overall process to claimants), it basically works like this: An individual who wishes to file for disability will typically contact their local social security office and request that a disability application be taken.

It's that time when the Social Security department releases the list of top baby names in the prior year. For the top baby names 2009 list (which is really for 2008), Emma ousted Emily as America’s favorite name for a baby girl. Meanwhile, Jacob held on to the top spot for baby boy names for the 10th year in a row.

It has been shown (and probably experienced by all of us) that performing worse than our peers on a particular task results in negative self-esteem and poorer subsequent performance on the same task.

Factcheck.org made a huge error in reporting inaccuracy on Obama's Social Security.

U.S. presidential nominees Barack Obama and John McCain have been campaigning in some of the states where the November election is likely to be decided. Both took time Saturday to address a meeting of an influential organization that represents senior citizens. VOA's Kent Klein reports from Washington.

Monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits for more than 53 million Americans will increase 3.3 percent in 2007, the Social Security Administration announced today.

House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) issued the following statement this morning marking the day in which the first member of America's "Baby Boomer" generation will become eligible to apply for Social Security benefits: