Getting the Right Doctor for Social Security Disability
If you are applying for social security disability or applying for supplemental security income, then you will need at least some cooperation from your treating physician, for all disability decisions are made based on your medical records.
However, some doctors are more willing than others to become involved in social security disability cases, and if you have a physician that expresses any reluctance to help you when you tell him you intend to file for disability, or seems in any way to be disapproving of your intention, you should find a new physician as soon as possible.
The fact is, your doctor’s input can be the difference between winning and being denied disability payments. A solid, detailed medical statement from your physician, spelling out your symptoms and exactly what you cannot physically (or mentally) do as a result of your medical condition, significantly improves your chances of being awarded benefits by a federal administrative law judge. In fact, if your disability representative has not made the attempt to obtain a medical source statement or RFC, a document detailing your residual functional capacity (what you can and cannot do as a result of your condition), then you’re better off rescheduling your hearing and getting a new attorney—it’s that important.
Of course, before your claim is considered by an ALJ, it must first pass through the state disability determination services agency (DDS), where a disability examiner will look over all of your medical evidence before making a decision on your claim. However, disability examiners do not actively seek medical source statements from treating physicians, and this puts the claimant at a real disadvantage. Instead, medical doctors assigned to the disability examiner’s unit, who are, after all, employed by the social security administration, evaluate claimants’ medical records without ever seeing them in person, then pass their opinion on to disability examiners.
Disability examiners also base their decisions on the results of social security examinations, or consultative exams, at which doctors, once again paid for the specific purpose of providing an evaluation for social security, briefly examine a patient and render an opinion as to his or her medical condition.
Since most CEs last 10 to 15 minutes, it’s highly unlikely that the doctor could provide anything other than the most general information regarding the claimant’s medical condition, and certainly nothing as accurate as what would be presented in a detailed RFC written by a physician who has a treatment history with the patient.
So, why does DDS fail to ask for an RFC from a claimant’s treating physician? There is no good answer, really, although the fact that disability examiners are more likely to deny claims than administrative law judges (who generally give great weight to RFCs) seems to indicate that not having an RFC hurts a claimant’s chances of approval. And, while it is true that all claimants eventually have the option of appealing a denial by DDS to an administrative law judge, many do not—--at times the disability determination process seems geared to wear the applicant down until he or she goes away and gives up altogether.
If you are filing for SSD or SSI, try to get an RFC from your physician as soon as possible (information on how to obtain one can be found here: Residual functional capacity form ).
While it is true that this is not always helpful when your case is being considered within DDS (disability examiners tend to ignore them, which certainly doesn’t point to a desire to know the truth on their part), an RFC will be critical if your claim is denied and you plan to appeal this denial at a hearing before a disability judge.
Return to:
Social Security Disability Secrets
Social Security Disability Benefits Questions
Additional topics
Disability reconsideration after being denied
Past work and social security disability
Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits
However, some doctors are more willing than others to become involved in social security disability cases, and if you have a physician that expresses any reluctance to help you when you tell him you intend to file for disability, or seems in any way to be disapproving of your intention, you should find a new physician as soon as possible.
The fact is, your doctor’s input can be the difference between winning and being denied disability payments. A solid, detailed medical statement from your physician, spelling out your symptoms and exactly what you cannot physically (or mentally) do as a result of your medical condition, significantly improves your chances of being awarded benefits by a federal administrative law judge. In fact, if your disability representative has not made the attempt to obtain a medical source statement or RFC, a document detailing your residual functional capacity (what you can and cannot do as a result of your condition), then you’re better off rescheduling your hearing and getting a new attorney—it’s that important.
Of course, before your claim is considered by an ALJ, it must first pass through the state disability determination services agency (DDS), where a disability examiner will look over all of your medical evidence before making a decision on your claim. However, disability examiners do not actively seek medical source statements from treating physicians, and this puts the claimant at a real disadvantage. Instead, medical doctors assigned to the disability examiner’s unit, who are, after all, employed by the social security administration, evaluate claimants’ medical records without ever seeing them in person, then pass their opinion on to disability examiners.
Disability examiners also base their decisions on the results of social security examinations, or consultative exams, at which doctors, once again paid for the specific purpose of providing an evaluation for social security, briefly examine a patient and render an opinion as to his or her medical condition.
Since most CEs last 10 to 15 minutes, it’s highly unlikely that the doctor could provide anything other than the most general information regarding the claimant’s medical condition, and certainly nothing as accurate as what would be presented in a detailed RFC written by a physician who has a treatment history with the patient.
So, why does DDS fail to ask for an RFC from a claimant’s treating physician? There is no good answer, really, although the fact that disability examiners are more likely to deny claims than administrative law judges (who generally give great weight to RFCs) seems to indicate that not having an RFC hurts a claimant’s chances of approval. And, while it is true that all claimants eventually have the option of appealing a denial by DDS to an administrative law judge, many do not—--at times the disability determination process seems geared to wear the applicant down until he or she goes away and gives up altogether.
If you are filing for SSD or SSI, try to get an RFC from your physician as soon as possible (information on how to obtain one can be found here: Residual functional capacity form ).
While it is true that this is not always helpful when your case is being considered within DDS (disability examiners tend to ignore them, which certainly doesn’t point to a desire to know the truth on their part), an RFC will be critical if your claim is denied and you plan to appeal this denial at a hearing before a disability judge.
Return to:
Additional topics
Disability reconsideration after being denied
Past work and social security disability
Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits
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