Four of the Best SSA Publications for Disability Claimants
The Social Security Administration (SSA) publishes a variety of pamphlets and bulletins to educate the public about its programs. Among the many SSA publications are four that are of particular interest to disability claimants. Two of them provide an overview of the disability programs: Disability Benefits (2026) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) (2026). The other two provide useful information on appeals: Your Right to an Administrative Law Judge Hearing and Appeals Council Review of Your Social Security Case (2024) and How to Attend Your Hearing (2024). All four publications are written in an easy-to-read question and answer format. Both represented and unrepresented claimants can benefit from reading these publications. They are available online and can be accessed by following the links in this blog post.
Some sections of the Disability Benefits pamphlet provide general information about Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Such general interest sections include “Who can get Social Security disability benefits?”and “How do I apply for disability benefits?” The requirements for achieving fully ensured status are discussed in the section entitled “How do I meet the earnings requirement for disability benefits?” More specifically, Disability Benefits explains that a worker must meet the requirements of two work tests to achieve fully insured status: the recent work test and the duration of work test. In addition to a narrative discussion of the work requirements for SSDI, Disability Benefits contains informative tables on pages 3-4 that most workers can use to determine whether their work history satisfies the requirements of both tests.
Other sections of Disability Benefits provide information that is intended for special interest groups. For example, the section on “What do I need to tell Social Security?”advises applicants who have had contact with the criminal justice system that they need to let SSA know if they have an outstanding arrest warrant for certain felony offenses, if they have been convicted of a crime, or if they have violated a condition of their parole or probation. On other hand, applicants who want to shield their savings and investment income from taxation will want to read the section on “Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Account”; it provides basic information on the eligibility and other requirements of tax-exempt ABLE savings accounts.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) outlines the income and financial resources eligibility requirements of the SSI program and provides general information on how to submit an application. In the sections on “You may be able to get other help” and “You may be able to get Social Security,” SSA informs SSI applicants that they may qualify for other social programs in addition to SSI. Such programs include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, Medicare’s Extra Help Program, state programs that pay for Medicare premiums, and SSDI.
An obvious shortcoming of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is that it does not include a section dedicated to ABLE accounts, even though some SSI recipients are eligible for the program; however, the pamphlet does briefly state: “You may also be able to set aside some money for a work goal or to go to school. In this case, the money you set aside won’t reduce the amount of your SSI.”
Claimants who have been denied disability should read Your Right to an Administrative Law Judge Hearing and Appeals Council Review of Your Social Security Case (Your Right). The pamphlet briefly identifies and describes the first four levels of appeal: reconsideration, a hearing with an administrative law judge, Appeals Council review, and federal court review. In the section on “When, where, and how your hearing is held,” SSA advises that after a claimant submits an appeal request, the agency sends a notice explaining the ways that testimony may be given at the hearing. SSA calls the way that testimony is given “the manner of appearance.” There are four ways that a claimant can “appear” at disability hearing: in-person at an SSA office, via agency video at an SSA office, or remotely by telephone or online video (Microsoft Teams) at the claimant’s home or another private location.
Additionally, Your Right provides information on the following topics: requesting reimbursement from SSA for the cost of travel to a distant SSA office, submitting evidence to the ALJ, what to expect at the hearing, and what a claimant needs to do if they miss the hearing.
While Your Right touches briefly on the topic of the manner of appearance , the SSA bulletin How to Attend Your Hearing focuses on the topic. The bulletin describes each type of hearing, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each, and identifies the circumstances under which SSA takes a claimant’s preferences into consideration. From reading the bulletin, claimants learn that SSA will not schedule them for an online video hearing without their consent. They also learn that SSA will consider their objections to a telephone or agency video hearing, but not to an in-person hearing. As SSA states, “You cannot object to attending your hearing in person.”
How should a claimant communicate their objection to SSA? After the claimant has requested a hearing, SSA sends a Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing and an objections form. A claimant may communicate their objection to a telephone hearing, an agency video hearing, or both by indicating their objection(s) on the objections form and returning it to SSA. After SSA schedules the hearing, the agency sends a Notice of Hearing letter informing the claimant of the type of hearing and the date of the hearing.
When I think about the four publications that I have reviewed in this blog post, I’m reminded of something that the cohost of a morning news program used to say whenever he did a story on a company or a nonprofit that was offering giveaways to the community: “If it’s free, it’s for me.” The four SSA publications that I have reviewed in this blog post contain useful and authoritative information about the SSI and SSDI programs. They are available online, they are free, and they are for disability claimants.