The SSDI Data Desk
SSDI, explained by the data
Two streams of writing on Social Security Disability. Practical, plain-English guidance for people navigating a claim — and data-driven strategy for the attorneys who represent them. Every piece is anchored to public SSA data and the tools we build on it.
For Claimants
25 articlesIf you're applying, waiting on a decision, or weighing an appeal — start here. Each guide pairs the rules with the odds, so you know what to expect, not just what to do.
Appeals Council and Federal Court: What Happens After a Hearing Denial
Denied at your ALJ hearing? Here's how Appeals Council review and federal court work — the standards, the three possible outcomes, and what a remand really means.
Approval Odds for Depression and Anxiety Disability Claims
What it really takes to win SSDI for depression or anxiety — how SSA scores the four areas of mental functioning, why treatment records matter most, and how the odds shift by stage.
Getting Disability for Back Problems and Degenerative Disc Disease
Back and spine claims are the most common SSDI conditions — and among the hardest to win. Here's what the musculoskeletal Listings require, when you can win without meeting one, and what the odds say.
Disability for Cancer: Compassionate Allowances and Approval Odds
How SSA evaluates cancer claims under Listing 13.00, which diagnoses qualify for fast-track Compassionate Allowances, and how to flag your case for expedited review.
Do You Need a Disability Lawyer? How Representation Changes Your Odds
Representation is contingency-based, capped, and free up front — but does it actually change your SSDI odds? Here's what a rep does at each stage, how fees work, and when self-representing is fine.
Fibromyalgia and SSDI: Can You Get Approved?
Fibromyalgia has no X-ray to point to — but SSA does have a rule for it. Here's how SSR 12-2p works, what evidence wins these claims, and what the odds look like.
The 5-Step Sequential Evaluation: How SSA Actually Decides Your Claim
SSA decides every SSDI claim with the same five-step test. Here's what each step asks, where claims really get won or lost, and how the odds shift as you move through it.
Heart Conditions and SSDI: Qualifying Under the Cardiovascular Listings
How SSA evaluates heart failure, ischemic heart disease, and other cardiac conditions for SSDI — the listings, the evidence that matters, and what the approval data shows by stage.
How Long Does SSDI Take? Timelines by Stage and by State
SSDI can move fast or drag on for a long time — and a big part of the answer is where you live and how far you have to appeal. Here's what drives the wait at each stage.
How to Apply for SSDI: A Step-by-Step Guide
A plain-English walkthrough of applying for Social Security disability — the documents to gather, the three ways to file, what SSA asks, and the mistakes that quietly delay claims.
The Medical Evidence That Actually Wins SSDI Claims
SSA decides your claim on the record, not your symptoms. Here's the medical evidence that carries weight — objective findings, the right sources, and how to fill the gaps.
Multiple Sclerosis and SSDI: Listings, Evidence, and Approval Odds
How SSA evaluates multiple sclerosis under neurological Listing 11.09, the evidence that wins MS claims, and why relapsing-remitting symptoms make documentation everything.
Requesting an ALJ Hearing: Timeline, Forms, and Wait Times by Office
How to request a disability hearing after a reconsideration denial — the HA-501 form, the 60-day deadline, the 5-day evidence rule, and why wait times vary so much by hearing office.
RFC Explained: How Your Residual Functional Capacity Decides Your Case
Your RFC — the most you can still do despite your impairments — is where most SSDI claims are actually won or lost. Here's what it means, how SSA builds it, and why it decides Steps 4 and 5.
Rheumatoid Arthritis and SSDI: Proving an Inflammatory Disability
How SSA evaluates rheumatoid arthritis under the immune-system Listings, why fluctuating symptoms make these claims hard, and what the approval data says about your odds.
SSDI Back Pay: How It's Calculated and How Much You'll Get
Back pay is set by three dates, a five-month waiting period, and a twelve-month retroactive cap. Here's how SSDI back pay is actually calculated — with a worked example.
My SSDI Claim Was Denied. What Now? The 4 Appeal Levels
A denial is not the end. Here are the four levels of the SSDI appeal process, the forms and deadlines for each, and why the odds shift in your favor as you move up.
Do I Qualify for SSDI? Work Credits and Eligibility Explained (2026)
SSDI eligibility comes down to two tests: a work-credit test and a medical test. Here's how work credits, the 20/40 rule, and the recent-work test decide whether you qualify.
SSDI Reconsideration: Approval Rates and How to Win the Second Stage
Reconsideration is the first appeal after an SSDI denial — a fresh review by the same agency. Here's what the approval data really shows and how to give your claim its best shot at this stage.
SSDI vs SSI: Which One Are You Eligible For?
SSDI and SSI both pay disability benefits, but one is insurance you earned and the other is needs-based. Here's how eligibility, payments, and health coverage differ — and when you can get both.
SSDI Wait Times by State: Where Claims Move Fastest and Slowest
Where you file shapes how long your SSDI claim takes and how it's decided. Here's why state DDS and hearing-office variation matters — and how to look up your own.
The Vocational Expert at Your Hearing: What They Do and Why It Matters
A vocational expert can make or break your SSDI hearing. Here's who they are, what the judge asks them, and the limitations that decide whether the answer helps or hurts you.
What to Expect at Your Disability Hearing (and How to Prepare)
Your ALJ hearing is short, informal, and decided mostly on your medical record and testimony. Here's who's in the room, the questions you'll face, and how to prepare.
Why SSDI Claims Get Denied — and What the Data Says About Your Odds
Most SSDI claims are denied at the first stage. Here are the real reasons claims fail — from thin medical evidence to technical work-credit denials — and what the approval data says about your path forward.
Working While on Disability: SGA, Trial Work, and the 2026 Limits
How much can you earn on SSDI? The 2026 SGA and Trial Work Period limits, the 9-month rule, the Extended Period of Eligibility, and how to report earnings without triggering an overpayment.
For Attorneys
25 articlesFor disability practitioners: ALJ and hearing-office analytics, remand-reason data, fee mechanics, and intake strategy — written for people who already know the Act and want the edge in the data.
Turning AISSDI Data Into a Practice Moat: Analytics for SSDI Firms
SSA publishes the raw files; almost no firm uses them well. Here's how per-judge, hearing-office, state-DDS, and remand-reason data stack into a defensible analytics edge for an SSDI practice.
Using ALJ Approval-Rate Data to Build Case Strategy
SSA publishes grant rates for every administrative law judge. Here's how to read that data honestly, what it can and can't tell you, and how to turn judge tendencies into a sharper theory of the case — without crossing ethical lines.
Appeals Council Practice: When Review Beats Re-Filing
After an ALJ denial, you choose between Appeals Council review and a fresh application. Here's how to read the AC standards, the base rates, and the onset-date math that should drive that call.
Building the RFC Argument: Evidence Strategy Under the 2017 Rules
Residual functional capacity decides most Step 4 and Step 5 cases. Here's how to build a function-by-function RFC theory under SSR 96-8p and the 1520c opinion rules — and pre-empt the ALJ's hypothetical.
Choosing Your Forum: ALJ Hearing Strategy by Judge and Office
You can't pick your judge, but you can prepare for the one you get. How to read disposition data responsibly, weigh in-person vs. video hearings, and tailor evidence — without crossing into forum-shopping.
Compassionate Allowances and TERI: Fast-Tracking Severe Cases
How CAL, TERI, and Quick Disability Determination work — and how to flag a severe-case client for expedited handling without overpromising the timeline.
Cross-Examining the Vocational Expert: A Tactical Guide
VE testimony decides most Step 5 cases. Here's how to attack the hypothetical, pin down off-task and absenteeism limits, challenge job-number methodology, and preserve the record.
Date Last Insured: The Deadline That Quietly Kills SSDI Claims
DLI is the most unforgiving non-medical screen in an SSDI claim. Here's how it's computed, why the disability must predate it, and how to salvage a remote-DLI case.
Client Intake for Disability Firms: Scoring Leads Before You Sign
A disciplined SSDI intake process screens out technical disqualifiers, grades medical strength, and scores each lead for likely approval and fee before you commit a contingency slot.
EAJA Fees in Social Security Cases: What Practitioners Need to Know
How Equal Access to Justice Act fees work in SSDI federal-court appeals — eligibility, the hourly cap and COLA, the 30-day window, and the EAJA/406(b) offset.
Federal Court Appeals: When to Take an SSDI Case Past the Appeals Council
Most hearing-level losses end at the Appeals Council. Here's how to read the procedural gateway, the standard of review, and the remand data to decide which SSDI cases are worth a district-court filing.
Federal Court Brief Writing for SSDI Appeals: A Practical Framework
A structural framework for the district-court brief: framing the substantial-evidence standard, building issues around the live remand-reason categories, and asking for the right relief.
Grid Rules: Winning Age-Based Disability Cases at Step Five
How to use the Medical-Vocational Guidelines for older claimants — the age inflection points, the transferability factors, and when non-exertional limits push you off the Grids to a VE.
How to Get More SSDI Clients: A Data-Driven Lead-Gen Playbook
A practitioner's playbook for SSDI client acquisition: where claimant intent shows up, what actually works in a YMYL niche, and how to track lead quality instead of raw volume.
Marketing Compliance for Disability Firms: Ads, Reviews, and Bar Rules
SSDI marketing sits at the intersection of a federal anti-misuse statute, your state's bar rules, and FTC substantiation. Here's where firms get tripped up — and how to build campaigns that survive scrutiny.
Medical Source Statements That Survive ALJ Scrutiny
A treating-source opinion is only as useful as it is persuasive under the 2017 rules. Here's how to coach your clinicians toward statements that an ALJ can't easily discount.
Onset Date Strategy: Protecting Back Pay and Insured Status
How practitioners manage alleged and established onset date under SSR 18-1p to maximize back pay, preserve insured status, and avoid SGA and evidence traps.
Reading Hearing-Office Statistics: Wait Times, Grant Rates, and Backlogs
SSA publishes workload and disposition data for every hearing office. Here's how to read receipts, pending, processing time, and grant rates without misusing them — and turn office data into real intake and cash-flow decisions.
Referral Networks and Co-Counsel: Scaling a Disability Practice
How administrative-level SSDI firms use referral and co-counsel arrangements to scale — with the fee-splitting rules, federal-court structures, and the data that decides which losses to refer.
Section 406(b) Fee Petitions: Maximizing and Defending Your Fee
A practitioner's guide to filing a Section 406(b) fee petition after a federal-court win — the 25% pool, Gisbrecht reasonableness review, timing, and the EAJA offset.
SEO for Social Security Disability Lawyers: Ranking in a YMYL Niche
Disability content sits inside Google's strictest trust class. Here's how a firm builds E-E-A-T, topic clusters, and citable data pages that actually rank and earn AI citations.
Calculating Caseload ROI: Which SSDI Cases Are Worth Taking
SSDI fees are capped and contingent, so caseload ROI is a portfolio problem. Here's the unit economics, an expected-value framework, and how stage of entry and office data change the math.
Subjective Symptom Evaluation Under SSR 16-3p: Litigating Credibility
SSR 16-3p retired the word 'credibility' but not the fight over it. How to build, document, and preserve a symptom argument that survives an ALJ and an appeals review.
The Top 10 Court Remand Reasons — and How to Write Around Them
SSA publishes the errors that get its decisions remanded. Here's how to read that data and draft both the ALJ record and your federal brief around the live error types.
The Treating-Source Rule Is Gone: Persuasiveness Under 20 CFR 404.1520c
For claims filed on or after March 27, 2017, controlling weight is dead. Here's how to build, articulate, and litigate medical opinions under the persuasiveness framework — supportability and consistency first.