How Can You Prove a Social Security Disability Case if You Aren’t Able to Go to the Doctor?
If you are suffering from a disabling medical condition and filing for social security disability benefits, chances are you are either out of work or working very little, which means it is also highly likely that you have no health insurance. This presents a catch-22 to the average claimant filing for social security disability (SSD) or SSI benefits, since you cannot prove a disabling medical condition to disability determination services (DDS) without medical records, and you cannot get in to see most doctors without medical insurance.
It is much more difficult to be approved for disability benefits if you don’t have health insurance, yet it is not impossible. If you have worked in the past and were lucky enough to have had health coverage, you can gather and submit those prior medical records to DDS to establish the date of onset of your condition (when the trouble began). However, recent medical records will also be needed to demonstrate to the disability examiner that you are currently disabled.
If you don’t have health insurance, your best bet for getting in to see a doctor is by making use of the free medical clinics in your area. While many see these clinics as a sort of warehouse in which the poor and indigent are treated without much care or attention, it is possible to establish a relationship with a physician at a free clinic simply by requesting to see that particular physician each time you go or make an appointment. You may want to tell the physician at the clinic that you are currently seeking disability relief for your condition, and find that he or she is sympathetic to your case, which would be helpful as well.
You can also go to the emergency room for treatment, since these medical facilities are required to treat individuals regardless of their health coverage (or lack of it). The downside of this type of medical treatment is that you will have no control over who is the attending physician on call, and so you may not be able to establish a consistent diagnosis or pattern of treatment by sporadically going to the ER.
If all else fails and you are unable to get in to see a doctor enough to corroborate your disability, then either the disability examiner assigned to review your claim or reconsideration appeal, or the disability judge (if DDS denies your claim you can and should request a reconsideration appeal and if that appeal is also denied you should request a hearing before an administrative judge) will schedule a social security consultative exam, or CE.
The consultative medical exam will take place with an assigned physician, who will provide the disability examiner or judge with a medical opinion about the current state of your condition, so that there is recent medical evidence on which to base a decision in your case. If you are scheduled for a CE, do not miss the appointment! This alone may be used as a basis for denial of your claim.
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It is much more difficult to be approved for disability benefits if you don’t have health insurance, yet it is not impossible. If you have worked in the past and were lucky enough to have had health coverage, you can gather and submit those prior medical records to DDS to establish the date of onset of your condition (when the trouble began). However, recent medical records will also be needed to demonstrate to the disability examiner that you are currently disabled.
If you don’t have health insurance, your best bet for getting in to see a doctor is by making use of the free medical clinics in your area. While many see these clinics as a sort of warehouse in which the poor and indigent are treated without much care or attention, it is possible to establish a relationship with a physician at a free clinic simply by requesting to see that particular physician each time you go or make an appointment. You may want to tell the physician at the clinic that you are currently seeking disability relief for your condition, and find that he or she is sympathetic to your case, which would be helpful as well.
You can also go to the emergency room for treatment, since these medical facilities are required to treat individuals regardless of their health coverage (or lack of it). The downside of this type of medical treatment is that you will have no control over who is the attending physician on call, and so you may not be able to establish a consistent diagnosis or pattern of treatment by sporadically going to the ER.
If all else fails and you are unable to get in to see a doctor enough to corroborate your disability, then either the disability examiner assigned to review your claim or reconsideration appeal, or the disability judge (if DDS denies your claim you can and should request a reconsideration appeal and if that appeal is also denied you should request a hearing before an administrative judge) will schedule a social security consultative exam, or CE.
The consultative medical exam will take place with an assigned physician, who will provide the disability examiner or judge with a medical opinion about the current state of your condition, so that there is recent medical evidence on which to base a decision in your case. If you are scheduled for a CE, do not miss the appointment! This alone may be used as a basis for denial of your claim.
Return to:
Prior Posts
What happens when Lasik Surgery Fails
Heart Disease on the Rise
Strokes in middleage women
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