NYSLERS

I represent a 53 year old former teacher with mental impairments whose application for an Article 15 disability application was approved today a little over a year after it was filed. In the interim, NYSLERS requested the identical information that had already been submitted. I had to submit the treatment records of one treating doctor three times. 

NYSLERS determined that the claimant is permanently incapacitated from performing the duties of her job as a teacher. The NYSLERS decision should be accepted by Social Security as proof that the claimant cannot do her past work, and given the vocational facts of her case, may suffice for an award of Social Security Disability (“SSD”) benefits. 

While a year may seem like a long time to get NYSLERS to approve a disability application, that would be fairly quick for the Social Security to do the same. However, with the NYSLERS award, that should expedite the SSD decision.