This is an update to some recent changes to the ultimate disability guide website, and I will also talk about some additional information I will be adding in the near future. I will be attending the NOSSCR conference in May. One of the topics covered will be the new rules put into effect that will affect child's SSI claims. The new rules are designed to give guidance to adjudicators and how to apply the rules under the child SSI program. When I returned from the seminar I will post my opinions on how these new rules may affect claims for child's SSI. I have also recently started adding the statistics for 2008 for the winning percentages at application and reconsideration for SSDI and SSI claims on the individual state pages. I have also recently added a page that discusses the different Social Security disability programs so that you may assess which programs you may qualify for. You can find this new page on the navigation bar to the left. There is one more thing I would like to mention that I have noticed in my practice. I have noticed that there is many more claims being approved at the hearing stage before a hearing is even scheduled. This is clearly an indication to me that Social Security is looking for cases with a high probability of approval and improving them without a hearing. This is one of the things the Social Security Administration is doing to help decrease the backlog of cases at the hearing level. This is good news, because many people who are being approved by this process are getting their benefits much quicker than they would if they had to wait for a hearing date.

The Social Security Administration has recently developed and implemented a new process for certain medical conditions that can get a quicker Social Security determination. The purpose of this initiative was to get faster approvals for medical conditions that are almost certain to win based on the diagnosis and to help those with these diagnosis get a faster decision from Social Security. A list of the these medical conditions can be found on my page entitled "Social Security Process." Most of the diseases listed on the list are certain types of cancer. But you should check this list to see if your medical condition is on the list because it can mean a decision will be made much more quickly than the normal Social Security Disability process. These cases are supposed to be identified as soon as you file your claim for disability by a computer program. However, it certainly does not hurt to check the list to see if your condition is on that list, and if it is to notify Social Security so you can be given the benefit of the quicker decision. I think this is a great new tool in speeding up the process of getting Social Security disability benefits for not only those with these conditions but for others as well. I say this because, if these claims do not have to go through the regular stages then there is less cases in the regular process which hopefully will decrease the backlog.