Denied for SSDI or SSI? How the Reconsideration Appeal Works
A disability denial letter is the start of a process, not the end of it. The first appeal, called reconsideration, has a firm 60-day clock, a second reviewer who has never seen your file, and room for evidence you didn't send the first time.
AT A GLANCE
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If Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) says no, you get four chances to challenge it, and you have to start with the first.
That first step is a reconsideration. It's a full new look at your claim, and it is where many people fix the gaps that sank their original application: a missing doctor, a test that wasn't in the file, or a condition that got worse.
The four levels of appeal
SSA's appeal page lays out the order. Each level is only available if you disagree with the one before it.
Level | What happens | When you use it |
|---|---|---|
1. Reconsideration | A new reviewer looks at your whole file plus any new evidence | First, after the initial denial |
2. Hearing with a judge | An administrative law judge hears your case | If you disagree with the reconsideration decision |
3. Appeals Council review | The Appeals Council reviews the judge's decision | If you disagree with the hearing decision |
4. Federal court | You take the case to federal court | If you disagree with the Appeals Council |
SSA also notes that you may choose an attorney or another qualified person to help with your appeal at any level.
Medical or non-medical denial? Check your letter
The first thing to figure out is why you were turned down, because SSA routes the two types differently.
Type of denial | Examples | Who reviews the reconsideration |
|---|---|---|
Medical | SSA decided your condition isn't disabling, or that it has improved | An examiner at the Disability Determination Services (DDS) office in your state |
Non-medical | Decisions not connected to disability, such as income, resources or work credits | An SSA employee |
For medical denials, SSA's internal rules say the reconsideration is made by an adjudicative team of a disability examiner and a medical or psychological consultant, and those people must be different from the ones who made the first decision.
The same rules describe the review as de novo, meaning new. The team looks again at the evidence from the first decision and any other evidence you submit or SSA obtains, and bases its decision on all of it.
The deadline, and what happens if you miss it
Federal rules for both SSDI (20 CFR 404.909) and SSI (20 CFR 416.1409) say SSA will reconsider an initial determination if you file a written request within 60 days after you receive the notice.
SSA's online appeal terms spell out how the count works: your 60 days start 5 days after the date on your Notice of Decision. So if your letter is dated on the 1st, the clock effectively starts on the 6th.
The reconsideration is a brand-new look at your claim by people who did not make the first decision. Use it to fill every gap in your file.
If you're already late
You can still ask for more time. The request must be in writing and must explain why you didn't file on time. If SSA finds you had good cause, it extends the deadline.
Under 20 CFR 404.911, SSA considers what kept you from filing, whether SSA's own action misled you, and any physical, mental, educational or language limitations. The rule lists examples where good cause may exist, including:
You were seriously ill and couldn't contact SSA in person, in writing or through someone else
A death or serious illness in your immediate family
Important records were destroyed by fire or another accident
You never received the notice
SSA gave you wrong or incomplete information about how or when to appeal
You sent the appeal to another government agency in good faith, on time, and it reached SSA late
How to file the reconsideration
SSA offers three routes. All of them count as a written request.
Online. Use SSA's "Request reconsideration" page and choose either a disability (medical) or non-medical reconsideration. If you start the online appeal and stop, you'll get a re-entry number to finish later, as long as the appeal period hasn't run out. You must select Submit on the review page, or the request isn't filed.
Upload the form. Sign in to your SSA account, search for Request for Reconsideration (SSA-561-U2), fill it in, save it, then upload and submit it.
Paper. Complete Form SSA-561 and take or send it to your local Social Security office. For a medical denial, include Form SSA-827, which authorizes your doctors and other sources to release records to SSA.
You can also call SSA at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) and say you want to request reconsideration. SSA's reconsideration page lists phone hours of 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, in most U.S. time zones.
After an online filing, SSA says you'll get an on-screen confirmation and, if you gave one, an email confirmation. It also provides a cover sheet you can print and attach to any evidence you mail in.
What to put in your appeal
The online appeal asks for more than your name and Social Security number. For a medical denial, SSA's terms of service list what you'll need:
The date on your Notice of Decision
A friend or relative who knows about your condition, with contact details
Any change in your medical condition, and any new conditions
Every health care provider you've seen since you last gave SSA medical evidence: name, address, phone, visit dates, treatments and tests
Every medicine you take, why, any side effects, and who prescribed it
Any changes in your daily activities, work or schooling
SSA's field offices also typically collect an updated disability report (SSA-3441) at this stage, which records changes to your conditions and new medical sources.
Evidence you can't send yet
You don't have to have every record in hand to file. If you can't submit evidence with your request, say so in the reasons section. SSA's terms tell you to write that you have additional evidence to submit that isn't electronic.
If SSA then sends a notice asking for that evidence, you have 15 days from the date on the notice to send it. After that, SSA starts processing without it. Evidence only counts if it reaches SSA before the reconsideration decision.
Before you call
☐ Your Notice of Decision, with the date circled
☐ Your Social Security number and date of birth
☐ A list of every doctor, clinic and hospital since you applied, with visit dates
☐ Your current medicine list, with doses and side effects
☐ A short note on how your daily life and work have changed
☐ The name and number of someone who knows your condition well
☐ Your representative's name and contact details, if you have one
If your benefits are being stopped, not denied
Reconsideration also applies when SSA decides you're no longer disabled after a review, or plans to cut or end your SSI. Here, a second deadline matters as much as the 60 days.
Situation | Act within | What it does | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
SSDI stopped because SSA says your condition improved or isn't disabling | 10 days of receiving the notice | Request reconsideration and ask for continued benefits while you appeal | 20 CFR 404.1597a |
SSI suspended, reduced or terminated | 10 days of receiving the notice | Payments continue at the previous level until the first appeal is decided | 20 CFR 416.1336 |
Either, after 10 days but within 60 | 60 days | You can still appeal, but continued payments generally need good cause for the delay | Same rules |
For SSDI medical cessations, SSA will ask you to fill out a statement of choice saying which benefits you want continued. You can choose to keep only Medicare during the appeal if you don't want continued cash benefits.
For SSI, 20 CFR 416.1336 presumes you received the notice 5 days after the date on its face, unless you can reasonably show otherwise. To avoid a possible overpayment, the same rule lets you waive continued payments in writing.
SSI has extra ways to present your case
For SSI decisions, 20 CFR 416.1413 lists more than one type of reconsideration, depending on the issue:
Case review: you can see the evidence in your file and present oral and written evidence.
Informal conference: the same, plus you can bring witnesses.
Formal conference: you can also ask SSA to subpoena adverse witnesses and documents, and cross-examine witnesses.
Disability hearing: if you were already getting SSI and SSA now says, on medical grounds, that you're no longer disabled.
SSDI recipients facing a medical cessation also get the chance for a disability hearing at reconsideration under 20 CFR 404.913.
After you file
You can check the status of your reconsideration through SSA's reconsideration page or your SSA account.
If the reconsideration is denied too, the next step is a hearing with an administrative law judge. Read the new notice carefully for that appeal's deadline and instructions.
WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK
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Related help
A disability denial often lands at the same time as other money problems. If SSA says you were paid too much SSI, see how to request an SSI overpayment waiver. If your Medicaid ended while you waited, read lost Medicaid at renewal? The 90-day window. And if a hospital bill is piling up, start with hospital charity care and medical bill help.
Related guides
Official sources
Last checked: October 23, 2026 (SSA's appeal and reconsideration pages, the SSA-561 form page, SSA's electronic appeal terms, POMS DI 27001.001 and 20 CFR parts 404 and 416 on eCFR).
This guide explains the federal appeal process. It isn't legal advice; a disability attorney or legal aid office can review your specific denial.
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