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Evidentiary medical records are one of the crucial aspects of filing for SSDI benefits. Without proper records from medical professionals, the SSA cannot verify your disability or the limits it places on you. Our experienced Social Security attorneys can provide guidance on the documentation you need to include in an SSDI claim in Charleston.
When attending an initial hearing, you should bring your treatment history that describes the disabilities that prevent you from working. You should list the doctors, hospitals, or treatment facilities that you visited for your disability, as well as their addresses and telephone numbers. Treatment dates can sometimes be hard to remember, but we do not need an exact date that you went to an appointment, but it is important to get it within a year.
You will also need your work history for the last 5 years. That includes the place of employment, the dates you worked there, and their contact information. Some people may also want to provide prior or current marriage information, including when it may have ended.
The online SSDI application asks you to list the doctors you have seen for your disability treatment, along with their facility’s address and phone number. Then the Social Security Office will request the complete list of those records from the doctors. Thus, you are not required to have any records on hand at all during the filing. Even if you provide us with some records, the SSA will still want to call the doctor’s office or hospital to access the full and complete records.
There is a state agency known as Disability Determination Services, DDS, who have examiners and doctors on their staff to review records during the initial and reconsideration levels of an SSDI claim. A client does not have the opportunity to give testimony like they would at a hearing. Everything is decided by DDS reviewing their medical records, which is why it is so important that the records contain plenty of details.
If the doctor says you are not cleared to lift more than five pounds, that should be made clear in the medical records because that is how DDS will see it. They cannot simply take someone’s word that the doctor made this comment. It must be written in the records, along with anything that a claimant would want the SSA to know about their condition.
Often, we will see the names of diagnoses in a record, but not how severe it is, and without any written limitations that this diagnosis brings to someone. It may restrict how long a person can stand or sit, or how many pounds they can lift, and it should be stated clearly for DDS to see.
Medical records must be thorough and clearly spell out what you can and cannot do while you have a diagnosed disability. The DDS needs these notes to properly vet your SSDI claim. We are here to make sure you are presenting the best application possible, so call Jan Dils today and learn what documentation is needed to file an SSDI claim in Charleston.
To Schedule an Appointment, Call Us Toll Free at 1.877.873.8208 or Email Us for a Prompt Response.
Jan Dils, Attorneys at Law
