3 based on 2 reviews

2 Comments

  1. Christopher Carr says:

    The McAlester hearing office appears to adjudicate disability claims with their eyes fixed squarely on the statistical requirements of the SSA rather than the medical case in front of them. If 100% of the claimants meet the requirements, then 100% of the claimants should receive benefits. If 100% don’t meet the requirements, then 100% of the claimants should be denied benefits. The ALJs shoot to meet a national average that is completely irrelevant to a claimant’s case. When I first started representing claimants in the 1980s the average approval rate was between 65 and 75%. Now it’s 45%. It would appear that two of the years analyzed, McAlester had approval rates in the 20s with most years around the 45% national average. It is rare that an appeal to AC or Federal court directly approves a claimant but that has happened to one of my clients recently. The claimant was so blatantly disabled for psychiatric reasons the federal magistrate approved my client out-right. Across the country it is becoming more and more difficult to become approved. The listings of impairments put forth requirements that require elements rarely found in medical records. Also, the grid rules give leeway to ALJs in determining mental and physical functioning. It is the playground that allows ALJs to misinterpret functional observations in medical documents.

  2. Anonymous says:

    This has to be the very bottom of the cesspool of the administration. The reason that the system is so flawed is the claimant cannot get past such arrogance, The world of karma always seems to come back around. I cannot wait.

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