Filing for Disability - Doctors and Documentation

Here's a link to a post on an individual's blog that may make for interesting reading. The author describes going in to the social security office to apply for disability benefits. First hand accounts, of course, are always useful simply due to the various details that such accounts may contain.

In this particular post, there are also some useful bits of disability claim advice that are offered.

1. Make your doctors aware of the fact that you are filing for disability. Doing this may allow you to gauge whether or not a treating physician may be willing to complete a medical source statement on your behalf (known also as an RFC, or residual functional capacity, statement) AND whether or not the statement may be helpful to your case...or not so helpful.

2. Provide plenty of documentation for your claim. Meaning: don't give barebones information on your disability application. Instead, make sure you list all your impairments and all relevant details regarding all your medical treatment providers. When it comes to processing social security disability and SSI cases, more is simply better. And, of course, giving complete information on an application may make the disabilty examiner's job easier and , potentially, faster.

This particular individual stands out a bit from most claimants in that she was approved for disability on her intitial application and that this occurred about a month after applying for disability. Unfortunately, most claimants get denied and have to utilize the appeals process, and this may take months or even years. But, this person's case does illustrate the fact that a percentage of cases do get won shortly after a claim has been filed. And this also provides a rationale for supplying full and complete information at the time of application in order to facilitate this goal.

For additional advice on the disability process - Advice for filing for Disability

Link to the post - Social Security Disability Acceptance





More tips and information on Social Security Disability and SSI at www.disabilitysecrets.com


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