As Michles & Booth, P.A. marks its 25th anniversary, the firm's Social Security Disability attorney, Antonio Bruni, is pushing back on what he calls the most damaging misconception about the benefit: that it is a government handout. Bruni says Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI, is insurance that workers pay for through payroll deductions from their first job onward, with employers matching the contribution.
"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."
The distinction matters because it shapes how the public, and potentially policymakers and reviewers, view claimants. Speaking on the local program Sonshine's Corner, Bruni explained that eligibility turns on function rather than diagnosis. A medical condition must be expected to last at least 12 months, and Social Security weighs a person's combined limitations and age instead of any single label. He added that veterans are often surprised a VA disability rating does not carry over, because the two systems measure different things.
Bruni said processing times have grown, with some claimants in the region waiting as long as three years for a decision. He urged applicants to file within a year of leaving work to protect retroactive benefits, and noted that a denial starts a 60-day clock to appeal, the first step in a process that can move from reconsideration to a hearing before a judge, and finally to the Appeals Council. For workers already facing long waits, those deadlines can mean the difference between preserving a claim and losing benefits altogether.
Bruni also cautioned against using artificial-intelligence tools or online forums to build a claim, saying they apply a single rule while missing the exceptions that decide cases.
"AI looks at that one rule and misses all the exceptions," he said. "It is destroying cases quickly."
Bruni said the work is personal, recalling that he helped his own father file for disability years ago. The firm's goal for clients, he said, reaches beyond a monthly payment to include the health coverage an approved claim can provide. The full interview is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U06YwJm83eE.
The firm's Social Security Disability practice represents claimants across Northwest Florida. Michles & Booth was founded in 2001 and maintains offices in Pensacola, Crestview, and Fort Walton Beach; its team includes Florida Bar Board Certified specialists, in-house investigators, and a medical doctor on staff.
