Will Social Security contact you to schedule your Disability Hearing ?

Several posts back, I mentioned an individual who was frustrated with the various forms that are mailed out by the social security admninistration when an SSD or SSI case is being evaluated. Something I forget to mention is this. The individual seemed to have the impression that social security would actually contact him, prior to the scheduling of his social security disability hearing, to check his availability for possible hearing dates.

Well, in a better world that might happen. But, as things stand currently, the social security administration does not do this with disability hearings, nor does it check with claimants regarding their "availability" before disability medical exams are scheduled.

Simply put, a disability examiner will schedule a claimant for a consultative medical examination (actually, a special office at DDS actually does this, not the examiner himself) or a hearing office will schedule a claimant for a hearing date and then the notice will be sent. No advance calls are made to determine whether or not this will fit into the claimant's schedule.

Claimants who receive appointment letters for hearings and exams and have scheduling conflicts may always call and request a new appointment date, but, generally, the assumption is made that the claimant will comply with the date they have been scheduled for.




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