From what I remember (I had a lawyer for ♡Failure,cancer and ulcerative colitis-didnt even bother arguing for smaller stuff like hashimotos,endometriosis, etc ) they have to allow you appeal twice and the 2nd time you see/talk to a judge. (Again I got mine with covid regulations still in effect so just on the phone) . If the judge denies THEN you can appeal to a federal judge . Then if they don't approve you can reapply In a year? My judge had a 13% approval rating and thr average is like 57% approval. I'm all in favor of them asking tons of questions, and requiring records ontop of records because you can trick a doc into writing down a diagnosis. For example.. If you're seeing a GI doctor and you're like "yes I have PTSD so I worry about taking steroids " and the doc happens to write that in your chart..there's the patients definition of proof. So I love how they question the shit out of you . Touchy subject for me because I basically get 1/6th of what I used to get a month and I had plenty of proof PLUS two years of trying ANY job possible to see if there was a job I could do beyond nursing to avoid disability. This is a generational issue too, some..not all of these kiddos have no work ethic,expect 1200$/month stimulus checks for life,food stamps,make money on tik tok etc . Which in my opinion is why some think they want socialism. It's a 2 to 3 year wait for disability now so that willl help weed out who truly is disabled.. not many lawyers will take someone who works part time (sincr you can earn some money while on disability and while applying) so the people who absolutely can't work will have to make it through then. It's rough though. They need to improve the system and I think they should do yearly checks to see they're still disabled. I had a friend who was on SSDI for back pain...smh..(approved in 1990 when anyone got approved back then) and she lost 150lbs and worked out and now I see her doing all this stuff..trips..volunteering..church every week..she's so busy and doing stuff people who are fully disabled can't do. Which is why we don't talk anymore. They'll never question her. It's infuriating .