This feature appears from time to time as a means of illustrating the challenges that applicants for social security disability benefits may experience, in their efforts to be approved. These challenges include the many levels of decision-making for a social security disability claim (Initial application, Reconsideration, Hearing, Appeals Council, Federal Court), the issues raised by use of alcohol and illegal drugs, the need to demonstrate that you cannot do past work or sometimes, any work at all, and the like. Cases are derived from actual clients I have represented but their names, details and key facts are changed to protect privacy.
“I had my whole life ahead of me.”
“Suddenly, it felt like my whole life was over.” At only 30, Matthew was a very organized and accomplished young man. “I was only 2 years into my medical residency in Los Angeles and I could barely make it to the hospital in the morning. I felt exhausted and ill all the time. Maybe it was just the stress I was under, but it felt like a lot more to me.”
“I tried only working part-time so that I could get additional sleep and rest, but after only three months it was obvious I couldn’t work at all. I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, but even after they figured out what was wrong the treatments still weren’t working. Even moving home where I had support from my family wasn’t enough. I finally became desperate and decided to seek help at Johns Hopkins.”
“We had to take him to the airport in a wheelchair” noted Matthew’s mother, Mary. Mary had worked as a social worker for most of her life but decided to retire to take care of Matthew when he became ill. “He was so exhausted and sick he couldn’t even hold himself up. Going to Johns Hopkins was difficult, but it helped. It was so wonderful to see him walk off the airplane when he returned to Portland. No need for a wheelchair!”
“I seem to be back on track,” said Matthew. “I am working part-time again at a friend’s clinic here in Portland and it has been really good. But I still can’t forget how sick I was for that year and a half where I couldn’t work.”
The Lawyer’s View
Matthew’s case posed some difficult challenges:
1. He is young and has had many years of education. This means that social security is going to determine whether he can do a wide range of jobs outside of his past work as a doctor. Will they consider his chronic fatigue syndrome severe enough to keep him from being able to work in any job?
2. He is no longer disabled: Matthew is earning more than $1,100 a month working at the clinic. However, he still was unable to work for over a year, the minimum amount of time required in order to receive benefits. As such, he may be eligible for a “closed period” of benefits. Will the judge find that Matthew was disabled for that year, so that he can receive benefits for a closed period?
An Explanation of “closed period”
Sometimes an individual may be completely unable to work for a period of time, then recover and return to work. If that period exceeds a year, you can apply for benefits just for that time period, and it is known as a “closed period” of benefits, meaning that you will be found to have been disabled then but no longer disabled now. If you are awarded benefits for a closed period, you will not receive ongoing benefits.
What happened?
At the hearing:
1. We obtained a letter from his treating physician attesting to the diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome and the severity of the condition. The doctor also noted that Matthew was compliant with his treatment throughout the duration of his disability, which can be an important factor when determining whether a person was disabled.
2. Mary, Matthew’s mother, wrote a letter that described the severity of his chronic fatigue during the closed period as well as its impact on his daily activities.
We were able to win benefits for Matthew for the period when he was unable to work. In a future column, I’ll discuss what happens when, after winning a closed period of benefits, an individual’s disability returns and makes her unable to work.