There are many different diseases and ailments that may prevent Oklahoma residents from finding and keeping wage-earning jobs. The Social Security Administration offers a multitude of guidance on how different disorders and injuries may be assessed with regard to whether they amount to disabilities for the purposes of permitting benefits. However, the Disability Determination Process (DDP) may be confusing to men and women who are planning to begin the application process.
The DDP begins when a person submits an application for disability benefits and that application is received by a Disability Determination Services (DDS) office. A worker at the DDS office will review the applicant’s file and verify that the individual meets all of the requirements for benefits regardless of the particular medical condition at hand.
The DDS employee will then use the medical data provided with the applicant’s file to evaluate their condition as a disability. If the applicant did not supply enough information for such a determination, then the DDS employee may contact the applicant for more medical information. It is also possible for the DDS to ask an applicant to submit to a medical consultation with a different health care provider to receive more information about their condition.
If an applicant is approved, then he or she may begin to receive benefits. If, however, the claim is denied, then the applicant may need to begin an appeals process, which may take their application out of the DDS office and put it into a higher level of the Social Security Administration hierarchy. At any point during the DDP, an applicant can seek the support of a disability benefits attorney to provide them with guidance on how to manage their application and develop legal strategies that seek to recover the benefits they need and deserve.