Approval rates
Judge Ragona has maintained a 34% lifetime approval rate across 21,679 lifetime decisions. In the most recent reporting period, your approval rate reached 40%, which compares to an office average of 59% and a national average of 58%. These figures provide a statistical look at your tenure, though they do not account for the unique medical evidence in your file. Aggregate rates describe past decisions, not predictions for individual hearings.
Office- and national-level breakdowns of fully favorable vs denial rates aren't currently published by SSA in the per-office disposition data. The judge's own breakdown is the detail we have today.
Approval rate over time
Year-over-year approval rate across Judge Ragona's docket. Annual rates fluctuate with the mix of cases SSA assigns; the longer-run pattern is more informative than any single year.
Decision pattern
Over 10 years on the bench, Judge Ragona has shown a steady approach to disability adjudication. While your early years saw approval rates near 30%, recent data from 2024 and 2025 indicates a rise to 40%. This trend suggests a slight shift in your recent decision-making, though you remain consistent with your long-term career average. The latest period reflects a continuation of this steady pattern.
Preparing for an SSDI hearing
The guidance below applies to any SSDI hearing, not specifically to Judge Ragona's bench. Judge-specific preparation guidance requires a corpus of public Appeals Council decisions involving each judge, which we haven't built yet.
- Bring a clean treating-physician record. Longitudinal primary-care or specialist notes spanning the disability period, with consistent symptom documentation, are typically the strongest evidence at hearing. A single month's records usually aren't enough.
- Don't rely on consultative exams alone. If your medical evidence is built primarily around a one-time CE finding, expect detailed questioning. Supplement with treating-source statements where possible.
- Prepare for daily-activity questions. Have honest, specific answers about a typical day. Answers that conflict with the medical record (in either direction) tend to hurt credibility.
- Expect transferable-skills probing. A vocational expert will usually testify about jobs available to someone with your limitations. Your representative should be prepared to cross-examine.
Hearing with Judge Ragona? Free, confidential — see if you qualify for SSDI.
Free Benefits ReviewAbout the Alexandria hearing office
The Alexandria Hearing Office serves you throughout Northern Virginia and the surrounding region. It is staffed by 6 judges who manage a high volume of disability claims annually. The office currently reports an approval rate of 59%, reflecting the local administrative environment. You can visit the Alexandria Hearing Office page for the full ALJ roster.
Other judges at this hearing office
The Social Security Administration uses a workload-balancing algorithm to assign cases, meaning your assignment to Judge Ragona is essentially random. Across the Alexandria bench, lifetime approval rates for judges range from 32% to 66%. Because of this variance, understanding the local landscape is helpful for your preparation. The guidance for your hearing remains consistent regardless of which judge you are assigned.
Your odds change dramatically with a lawyer
SSDI hearing approval rates — represented vs. on your own
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-18-37. The 3× gap is a population-wide average across all judges; individual outcomes vary.