As Michles & Booth, P.A. commemorates its 25th anniversary, attorney Antonio Bruni is challenging what he describes as the most damaging misconception about Social Security Disability benefits: that they constitute a government handout. Bruni, who handles Social Security Disability cases for the firm, argues that SSDI is an insurance program funded by workers through payroll deductions from their first job onward, with employers matching those contributions. “It’s not a handout,” Bruni said. “You paid for that insurance, and now you need to use the insurance you paid for. I’ve paid my disability insurance to the government since I was 16, out of every check I ever got.”
Speaking on the local program Sonshine’s Corner, Bruni explained that eligibility for SSDI hinges on functional limitations rather than a specific diagnosis. A medical condition must be expected to last at least 12 months, and Social Security evaluates a person’s combined impairments and age instead of relying on a single label. He also noted that veterans are often surprised to learn that a VA disability rating does not automatically carry over to SSDI, because the two systems measure different factors.
Bruni highlighted significant practical challenges for claimants, including processing times that have grown to as long as three years for some in the region. He urged applicants to file within a year of leaving work to protect retroactive benefits and emphasized that a denial triggers a 60-day deadline to appeal. The appeals process can progress from reconsideration to a hearing before an administrative law judge and ultimately to the Appeals Council.
He also cautioned against using artificial-intelligence tools or online forums to build a claim, warning that such tools apply a single rule while missing the exceptions that often decide cases. “AI looks at that one rule and misses all the exceptions,” Bruni said. “It is destroying cases quickly.”
Bruni, whose profile is available on the firm’s website, described his work as personal, recalling that he helped his own father file for disability years ago. He said the firm’s goal for clients extends beyond a monthly payment to include the health coverage that an approved claim can provide. The full interview is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U06YwJm83eE.
