Eric felt confused and overwhelmed by the process and wanted some guidance going forward. I met with Eric in Wenatchee in 2017. We discussed how to help Eric succeed in his claim for Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
In 2018, Eric appeared at a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge in Wenatchee, Washington. Eric was represented at the hearing by Attorney Keith Kinzebach. Eric told the Administrative Law Judge that he had been employed at Cascadian Fruit Shippers until his congestive heart failure, cardiomyopathy, and ulcerative colitis forced him to leave work permanently. Eric stated that his chronic fatigue and constant need to use the bathroom made it difficult for him to leave the house.
Eric, sadly, testified that he spent most of his day in bed or the bathroom. Eric also mentioned that his medical providers had sent him for a recent echocardiogram, which showed that his heart’s ejection fraction rating was only 20 percent, which is well below Social Security’s standard for finding someone disabled.
Eric told the court that his cardiologist at the Wenatchee Valley Clinic was contemplating putting him on a pacemaker. At the hearing, the Administrative Law Judge called a vocational expert to identify Eric’s past employment and answer a hypothetical about Eric’s abilities.
Based on the Administrative Law Judge’s hypothetical, the vocational expert testified that someone who was unreliable and would not be able to attend work on a regular basis would not be able to perform any job in the national economy. The Administrative Law Judge relied on the vocational expert’s testimony in his decision, and approved Eric’s SSI claim.