Dire Need

The main way to avoid the long hearing wait once a Social Security Disability claim winds up at the hearing office, is to submit a request for a fully favorable decision on-the-record (“OTR”). One way to expedite an OTR decision is if you can argue “dire need”.

I represent a 52 year old masonry helper whose claim was denied initially even though his treated specialists concluded he was not capable of working. His claim was approved today without a hearing just a short period of time after the OTR was submitted.

The claimant lost his medical insurance and needed surgery. I advised the hearing office about the claimant’s predicament. Under the hearing office rules, known as the HALLEX, this type of critical situation is called “dire need.”

A dire need situation exists when a person has insufficient income or resources to meet an immediate threat to health or safety, such as the lack of food, clothing, shelter or medical care. To have a claim expedited for a dire need, the claimant must allege specific, immediate circumstances, such as needing medical care, but lacks health insurance.

As Katie Couric noted on CBS Evening News last Sunday, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/15/cbsnews_investigates/main3718129.shtml, a 2 ½ year wait for a hearing is commonplace. An OTR is the vehicle for avoiding that delay, and notifying the hearing office about a dire need situation should expedite the OTR decision.