Having proper documentation of your disability is essential to support your claim.
By the time that you apply for Social Security disability benefits, you may have struggled for years with your symptoms. You may have trouble walking, getting out of bed in the morning, handling the basic tasks of living, or getting through your work day without significant assistance. Because you are in so much pain and have so much difficulty working, you may decide to apply for Social Security disability benefits. It seems like you should easily be approved — you have seen doctors, chiropractors and other medical professionals for years, and can show that you have trouble with different tasks. Yet your claim is quickly denied. Why?
While there are many reasons why a Social Security disability benefits claim may be denied, as an experienced Social Security disability attorney will tell you, one of the primary reasons that applications are often denied is due to lack of proper documentation of your disability. Even if your symptoms are severe and your disability is very much real, if you have not developed a record of your disability to support your claim, your claim for benefits may be denied.
This is why hiring a skilled Social Security disability attorney is so important. An experienced lawyer can help make sure that you are receiving the best medical treatment, and that your medical professionals are of the type that will be recognized and respected by the Social Security Administration (SSA). For example, your attorney will know that the SSA generally does not consider chiropractors, physician assistants or nurse practitioners to be acceptable medical sources, and so will steer you towards physicians who are accepted by the SSA. Your Social Security disability attorney will also understand that your condition needs to be diagnosed objectively, through clinical examination, laboratory testing or other diagnostic tests to be considered by the SSA. With a thorough knowledge of how the SSA determines if a person has an impairment, your Social Security disability attorney can help you develop a medical record to demonstrate this first step to help your claim be approved.
Once the SSA determines that you do have a medically determinable impairment, it will then review your symptoms to evaluate the intensity and persistence of your symptoms to determine the extent to which they limit your ability to perform work-related activities. In this step of the process, the SSA will look at both the medical record of accepted sources (such as doctors) and non-accepted sources (such as chiropractors) to get a full picture of the severity of your symptoms and how they limit your ability to perform work.
Ultimately, developing a proper medical record is crucial to having your Social Security disability claim approved. By working with an experienced Social Security disability attorney, you can increase the likelihood of having your claim approved on the first round. At PLBH, we have substantial experience working with individuals with disabilities as they put together a case for disability benefits before the SSA. We are skilled, compassionate lawyers who know the system, and how to help our clients. Contact us today at (800) 435-7542 or info@plblaw.com to schedule a free initial consultation and learn more about how we can help you.