The Social Security Amendments of 1956 served as the initiating point for the establishment of disability insurance benefits, according to which regular monthly financial compensations were allocated to disabled workers and disabled children. Later, a series of revisions followed resulting in added provisions and a reviewed definition of disability. However, the amendments of 1984 are particularly significant because they emphasized the need for refining procedures pertaining to evaluation of disability, and lead to stringent legal norms and evaluation criteria.

A look at the recent figures and facts indicates that more than 50 million Americans are going to receive more than $700 billion as social security benefits in 2010. If you are a retired worker, a disabled worker, or a survivor, you become eligible to receive financial compensation in the form of social security disability insurance or SSDI provided you know the legal pre-requisites specified by the US federal and state-specific administrations.

A basic-level evaluation of your chances at securing disability benefits may essentially involve consultation with a SSD lawyer to get acquainted of the eligibility criteria, including the disability or disorder types and checklists; paperwork and medical records to be submitted; and documentation verifications and validations to be undertaken.

The claimant's job is not easy, especially considering the complex network of Social Security Administration or SSA offices and agencies engaging in the verification of medical evidence and determination of disability. In the case the claimant's application is rejected, the services of a social security disability lawyer might still be requisitioned in order to appeal at various levels, beginning with a reconsideration request and moving on to an administrative hearing or a review by the US Federal District Court.

Last year, the Administrative Law Judge rejected the application of a claimant with a severe lower back that significantly hampered her ability to work. However, at the behest of a social disability attorney, the claimant approached the Appeals Council which reversed the decision of the administrative hearing and awarded SSDI benefits and past dues based upon a precise analysis of the claimant's medical disorder.

In another significant development, sometime ago an orphaned woman who had no ears and who had been fighting for years to secure disability insurance benefitted from legal representation by a SSD lawyer, who was able to substantiate the claimant's state of emotional disability and secure her rights to medicare and disabilities insurance.

There are indeed a number of physical as well as emotional disabilities that qualify as valid criteria to file for SSDI claims. As a matter of fact, Social Security Administration has recently added 38 new medical conditions to its existing set of Compassionate Allowance conditions thus extending the scope of SSDI insurance.

In most cases, the benefits would continue for the time the claimant is disabled, and if this time period extends to the retirement age, these benefits would convert to retirement benefits according to the existing legal norms. However, the timing of filing an SSDI claim holds a great importance. It is important for a claimant to file an application within a reasonable time frame, especially considering the fact that disability insurance claims might entail a longer processing time, and that a good percentage of such claims are bound to get denied initially.