SSD Disability: What Happens If You Apply For Disability And All You Have IS Old Medical Records?

If you only have old medical source records when you apply for disability, Social Security will still request the old records. Social Security prefers to have at least twelve months of records to establish a longitudinal medical history for your physical and/or mental impairment (s); however, current medical treatment records (medical records that are no more than ninety days old) are also needed to make a medical disability determination.

So what happens if you only have old medical records when you apply for Social Security disability or apply for Supplemental Security Income disability?

A disability examiner will evaluate your medical records to see if there is anything current to address your disabling conditions. If you have nothing current, the disability examiner will schedule a consultative examination (examinations performed by medical professionals who are paid by Social Security) to address your disabling condition or conditions. If your disability claim involves both mental and physical impairments, you may have to attend more than one consultative examination before a decision can be made.

Consultative examinations are often a hurried affair with very little interaction between the medical professional and disability applicant. As an examiner I received many complaints from claimants that the examination was too short and not thorough. In fact, many applicants felt they were not even examined. Frankly, it seems these examinations are often just a way for Social Security to make their medical determination (i.e. for a disability examiner to have what is technically required to get a case closed and get it off his or her desk) and not necessarily a true evaluation of an individual's disabling condition.

Nonetheless, if you are scheduled for a social security medical exam --

A) Make sure that you attend the appointment,

B) Be truthful about your limitations, and

C) Give your best effort.

It really does not matter what anyone thinks about the legitimacy of consultative examinations because, the truth is, you have to attend the examination. If you do not attend or do not reschedule the consultative examination (which can happen if the appointment time is not convenient for you), your disability claim may be denied on this basis.

Things to keep in mind if you have to go to a consultative exam, or CE:

1) When you go to your consultative examination, remember you are being observed from the moment the doctor enters the examination room (I once read a consultative exam report that mentioned what a disability applicant did when he got out of his vehicle in the parking lot -- obviously, this doctor did not confine his observations to those that could be made inside his examination room).

2) Do not overstate or understate the effect your disabling condition has upon your daily life including work activity.

By giving a truthful portrayal of your limitations, you will not be labeled a malingerer (faker), a label that can be devastating to your chances of winning disability benefits.