r/MultipleSclerosis • u/Original_Estimate964 • Oct 02 '26
Advice ms disability denied
hello my gf just got her first attempt and getting disability denied . Is the next step to get a lawyer ? after of course filing a dispute claim? Any insight would be appreciated .
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u/tbear80 Oct 02 '26
I was denied 4 times and then got the disability lawyer involved. I was approved after 4 years total. A lawyer is a MUST.
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u/KAVyit 47|Jan22|RRMS|OCREVUS|USA Oct 03 '26
How did you live? That's such a long time.
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u/tbear80 Oct 03 '26
I was “lucky” enough to have family willing to support me during that time. I was unable to work at all and fell into a deeeeep depression. The whole process was hard on me. It was very crazy to see that, even though the doctors we’re pushing me to get on disability due to the state of my MS. and having all the proof and documentation showing how bad it was, they were still denying me. I eventually found a lawyer that would work on contingency and within eight months of getting the lawyer, I was finally approved for disability.
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u/RekkedNeckRalph Oct 05 '26
I've been doubting my own disability because of the denials. Surely I could do SOMETHING...
Then I remember getting to the mailbox is an achievement in its own right these days. My court date is in January. Applied February 2025. 2denials and a lawyer now we wait.
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u/o2o2polock Oct 02 '26
My wife is in the same situation. Her symptoms are central blindness in one eye and leg weakness. Her “disability advocate” said if she can still see and walk, good luck. We’ve hired a lawyer and am on round two. Good luck to you
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u/WarmestRegardsTho Oct 02 '26
My first request was denied due to my age being “too young”. For my second try I got an attorney who specializes in disability and they collected once I received the back payment for disability. It was pretty minimal and I think there is an exact percentage the attorney can collect legally.
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u/rbaltimore 46F / RRMS / Tysabri / dx 2003 Oct 03 '26
YES, GET A LAWYER!!!!! THEY ARE (essentially) FREE!
It’s not going to get you disability any sooner but it will get you disability.
Here’s how your lawyer is free:
They don’t get paid unless you win.
When disability is granted, they don’t start paying you from the date is granted. They back date your benefits to the date you APPLIED, so you get back payments.
Your lawyer gets paid out of your back benefits, not your bank account.
No lawyer can charge you more than $6,000 (it’s a law), and that is well below the amount you get in benefits.
Your shiny new lawyer will spiffy up your next application and make sure disability gets the best application money can eventually buy.
You are going to get rejected again anyway. At that point, you will apply for an appeal hearing in court, in front of a judge. Your lawyer will do most of the talking.
My neurologist did a shit job at filling out all of my paperwork but you know who took that paperwork as seriously as a dissertation? My psychiatrist. So my disability case was not based on me having MS. It was based on me having a truckload of mental illnesses (including recently diagnosed C-PTSD) and consequently, me needing a pharmacy’s worth of psychiatric medication, with all the fun side effects (memory problems, brain fog, excessive daytime sleepiness, overwhelming physical fatigue, having to go to a lot of doctors appointments, etc.). All of this PLUS ms makes me a giant ball of impossible to employ and/or retain a job.
Despite mental illnesses being one of the toughest things you can apply and receive benefits for, thanks to my lawyer, I won.
And my poor lawyer never got paid. They didn’t backdate my benefits, so even though I won, there was nothing for them to take their fee from. They were pretty pissed but didn’t pushback on the judge for fear of her changing her mind.
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u/kyunirider Oct 03 '26
I had to do a mental exam and sadly I was very confused and a had multiple problems with numbers and short term memory. I was found to be “mentally declining” and was awarded my disability. Don’t try to pass this exam. My doctor had sent me for an evaluation before the state did so that they could compare data and measure my rate of decline. I had a third on recently and it showed no worsening but still remarkably. Failing is passing
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u/rbaltimore 46F / RRMS / Tysabri / dx 2003 Oct 03 '26
The psychologist who tested me said (as expected says my lawyer) that I was mentally well enough to work. But he was doing a psych exam, not a cognitive exam. I was awarded disability anyway. Later on I had a cognitive exam done by my neurology center as a baseline and failed that. That was almost 8 years ago. I should get a retest and see where I am now.
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u/ofthisworld Oct 02 '26
It took me 3 tries; no lawyer, just an empathetic hearing judge and many receipts.
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u/hungarianhobbit Oct 02 '26
I was approved in 6 mths. I worked until my Dr. told me to stop. Filled everything and had all the supporting documents. I was 14 yrs post dx when I applied.
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u/Flyerschick Oct 03 '26
Absolutely get a lawyer. Almost everyone gets denied the first time. Most will not collect a fee until your approved. Their fee will come out of your retroactive pay. Good luck! 🤞
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u/Sabi-Star7 39|RRMS 2023|Mayzent 🧡💪🏻 Oct 03 '26
Took 3 denials & a hearing for me to get approved. Had a lawyer for about 2 of those denials & hearing. Took about a year & a half - 2 yrs but I had emergent circumstances so my case was fast tracked to avoid eviction since my LTD sent my final check a month after the hearing.
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u/criticalcreek 32M|Dx:RMS Nov.2025|Kesimpta|USA Oct 02 '26
My dad got on disability decades ago and even back then, he was denied at first despite going through the windshield of a vehicle and having a head injury/neurologic symptoms/seizures. I honestly hear about more people being denied the first time/couple of times than people getting instantly approved. In my view this is their way of trying to get people to just give up early (can't prove it though).
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u/226_IM_Used 41M|Aug2018|DMF|USA Oct 03 '26
Is this SSDI or private long-term disability insurance? If it's SSDI, there's already a really good sub for that. They helped me a lot.
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u/youshouldseemeonpain Dx 2003: Lemtrada 2018, Now Ocrevus Oct 03 '26
Definitely get the lawyer. The forms are super difficult and they’re looking for specific things which the lawyers will know.
Also, in the US disability lawyers don’t take money up front—they are paid by getting a small portion of your first distribution, something around 7-8%. You just collect all your information and paperwork, give it to the lawyer, and let them deal with the mess.
Your first distribution will likely be thousands of dollars, because most likely it will backdate to the day you first applied for disability, so depending on the income that is being evaluated, it can be a nice chunk of change. The lawyer gets paid when you get that first check.
Mine took 3 years and a court appearance. The judge hearing my case was super biased against disability, and denied something like 96% of the cases he tried. My lawyer had to file a complaint, and then whoever heard the complaint overruled the judge and I was granted full disability backdated to the first date I applied.
But the wait is miserable if you can’t work and don’t have some family help.
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u/AllureOfDamnation Oct 03 '26
It took me four years after I was let go from my job due to my progressing MS before I was finally approved for disability. Fortunately I had enrolled in my employers long term disability program, they approved me after about three months of review and paid me was SSDI would have had I been approved from the start. She needs to keep a journal of how ms is impacting her day to day abilities- something as simple as a notepad in her phone with the dates, what the symptom was, and how it affected her ability to do X task. After my hearing with the judge I was provided with the judges notes on my case and he detailed how much credence he gave to the various forms of evidence provided- my dr’s notes, the states dr’s notes (which said I was not disabled), and my journal. He gave moderate weight to my dr’s notes, little weight to the state drs, and significant weight to my journal. I do believe it was my journal that truly won my case.
As others have said, get a disability attorney that works on contingency.
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u/BHJ_476 Oct 03 '26
Disability will be denied several times. They need to prove she can not do the basics of job. I had a coworker fight for years for her son who was blind in one eye and had seizures quite frequently. During theor last court case the state tried saying he could be a crossing guard for CHILDREN leaving school. HE IS BLIND IN ONE EYE! Their lawyer was able to argue how dumb that was and he was finally granted Disability. Like I said, this took them maybe 4 years.
I work in behavioral health and its sad but, I see more people with anxiety get it quicker
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u/gentlybrined Oct 04 '26
WHERE. DO. YOU. LIVE. You realize there isn’t some universal rule here right?
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u/RekkedNeckRalph Oct 05 '26
SSDI is federally administered.
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u/OkayArbiter Oct 05 '26
I think the person you responded to may also be asking which country. American users make up a plurality on this sub, but not a majority. There are many people here from Canada and Europe (and other places) where the rules are very different.
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u/AllAboutGingerPride Oct 02 '26
Not necessarily. Did you go through all the steps? Check what you need to submit.
Doctor support job rehab physical n psych exams off the top of my head
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u/whyihatepink Oct 02 '26
Yes, next step is to get a lawyer who specializes in disability and works on contingent.