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Increase your odds of winning

Now that you have an understanding of how the system works, here are some tips on how you can  maximize your chance for success.

1.  Appeal every Denial—It bears repeating, DO NOT QUIT after receiving a denial. Now you understand you must get to a hearing. Up to that point SSA and the odds are overwhelmingly against you—receiving a denial may be cause to celebrate because you're a step closer to a hearing.

2.  Retain a Disability Attorney—Retaining an attorney who specializes in disability law should substantially increase your odds of winning. Most claimants have no idea what they need to prove to win their case. Practically all disability attorneys work on a contingency fee—you only pay a fee if you win your case. Also, Federal law sets the maximum amount the fee can be in your case. An attorney will develop your case by obtaining the necessary medical and vocational records and opinions from your doctors that are critical in proving disability.

3.  Completing Social Security Forms—You will complete a dizzying array of forms requesting all sorts of information. Be honest and very brief when completing forms. You won't win your case with the information you give on the forms but you could lose it.

4.  Involve your Treating Physician—Your treating physician is critical to success. Judges give a treating physician's opinion regarding a patient's disability tremendous weight. If your physician is not sympathetic to your claim you may want to make a change to one who is.

The purpose of this article is to convey hope that you can win your case and obtain benefits with perseverance and knowledge of the system. Please do not give up. . . appeal and keep fighting!

See the article "Social Security Disability Benefits, Fibromyalgia and CFIDS: What you don't know could be fatal to your claim!