Reading a denial letter, line by line
A Social Security denial runs several pages and reads like a form, because it mostly is one. One paragraph in it tells you what your appeal has to answer.
Start with the date
Find the date at the top of the first page and write it on the envelope. You have 60 days to appeal, and the agency assumes you got the letter five days after that date. Everything else can wait a day; the date can’t.
The first page: the decision
It says whether you were found disabled and, if not, which program the decision covers. If you applied for both SSDI and SSI, check that the letter covers both; sometimes there are two letters.
The middle: the explanation
Look for the paragraph that begins with a sentence like "We have determined that your condition is not severe enough" or "You can do other work." That sentence tells you the step at which the claim stopped. An appeal has to answer it.
- "Not severe": the records don’t show the condition limits basic work.
- "Can do past work": the agency thinks your old job is still possible.
- "Can do other work": the agency named jobs it thinks you could do.
The list of evidence
Most letters list the records the agency read. Compare it with your list of doctors. A missing clinic or a missing year is often the whole problem, and it’s the easiest one to fix.
The last page: how to appeal
It names the next step, usually reconsideration, and how to ask for it. You can appeal online or on paper. If you call us first, we’ll file the appeal and the form that lets us see your file.
Read the reason, not the decision. The decision is one word; the reason is what you can change.