Quote Quoting hyperphoncs
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For example, if the appeal judge doesn't agree with the DOL's determination on the points they made, but decides I should be denied for an entirely different reason the DOL didn't think was a problem, I'd still get denied, right? Or would they not be looking at anything other than what the DOL found relevant?
The hearing is a complete do-over. To play it safe, just assume the judge will have seen none of your other paperwork, that it won't even be there so you need to bring it, read anything about your case, and just go in there like that person is hearing everything for the first time.

You can use your earlier denials as a jumping off point, but you really have to know what you have to prove. The other thing is that with medical, a claimant might get denied initially because there were questions as to whether the claimant was sick enough to quit. Then at the hearing the claimant will really focus on that part because of the earlier denial, and then the next decision will be, "you had good cause to quit," and then immediately followed up with "effective on the day after you quit, you are not able and available," and in essenses, you're still not eligible because you proved that you were too sick to do any job and not just the job that you left.

Just know that this hearing is the MOST part of the entire process, and you have to have it all together because the likelihood of getting a second chance is very near zero.