In the event Social Security denies your claim for disability benefits, you may appeal the decision before an Administrative Law Judge. Some people have no problem traveling to a hearing location. However, if your disability is too limiting, you might not be able to travel far from your home. This is where a disability video hearing may benefit you.
With a disability video hearing, you do not have to be in the same room as an ALJ. You can present your arguments and evidence through a video transmission. If you are unfamiliar with how disability video hearings work, the Social Security website provides some basics that may help you to understand them better.
Getting a hearing more quickly
It may take time for Social Security to schedule a hearing for you if you want to present a case in person. If you want to receive your benefits as quickly as possible, you might try for a video hearing instead. Video hearings provide more access to a greater number of locations and additional ALJs, which can help speed up the approval of a video hearing location for you.
Handling your privacy
The use of video transmissions may cause you to worry about your privacy. Many people do not want their medical situations revealed to the public through a video or data leak. Social Security emphasizes that they secure their transmissions. Also, Social Security does not record the video feed of any of their disability hearings. They record only the audio.
Representation and witnesses
You enjoy the same right to representation with a video hearing as you do with an in-person hearing. If you have concerns about speaking to an ALJ on your own behalf, or perhaps your state of health impairs your ability to make your case, you may bring a legal representative to the video hearing location to present your case. You can also bring witnesses who may testify about your condition or offer expert medical testimony.
