SSDI Appeals: What to Expect

There are generally four levels of appeal: reconsideration, a hearing before an administrative law judge, review by the Appeals Council, and federal court review.

Hearings tend to have meaningfully higher approval rates than the initial application stage, in part because more complete medical evidence has usually been gathered by that point.

Specialized case navigators can help organize medical evidence and prepare for hearings — this is one of the areas where specialized guidance partners are often most useful.