Certain findings in a Social Security disability case are reserved to the Commissioner. Particularly, the determination of whether or not your are disabled is reserved to the Commissioner. See 20 C.F.R. 404.1520b(c)(3). Therefore, your doctor’s opinion that you are disabled in given no special significance by the SSA.
In fact, the heading for this…
The frequency of your medical treatment is an important factor in your Social Security disability claim. A diagnosis is a first step, but a judge must evaluate your functional limitations due to your medical condition. And when evaluating the seriousness of your functional limitations, regular doctor visits are helpful. Looking at the cases of mine…
The things you tell your doctor about how you are doing (and what you are doing with your time) frequently end up in your medical progress notes. These progress notes provide your doctors with context and information about your condition.
Anyone applying for disability needs to know that those medical notes become part of the…
When the SSA reviews your initial disability claim, it obtains your medical records, and determines your residual functional capacity after analyzing those records. The problem with this approach is that the SSA does not obtain your doctor's opinion about your limitations. Rather, the SSA reviews your medical records and makes its own determination.
However, a…
When Social Security receives your disability claim, it reviews your medical records, and makes a determination on your claim. The SSA rarely obtains your doctor's opinion about your work-related functional limitations.
Rather, the SSA makes its own determination of your functional limitations. An in-house doctor infers your limitations from your medical records and the disability claim file, and…
In a recent blog post entitled “Get It Written Down!” Chicago disability attorney Aaron Rifkind tells the story of a claim that was granted quickly due to the completeness of his client’s medical records.
I told her that it was because of her thorough medical records that we were able to win so
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I send a medical source statement to the claimant's doctor in pretty much every case, because it is the most powerful evidence available of the claimant's functional limitations. Social Security's rules put the opinions of treating physicians at the top of the hierarchy of medical evidence. See 20 CFR 404.1527(d) and Social Security Ruling…
In a recent post entitled Treatment Records, New York disability attorney Jeffrey Delott stated:
Treatment notes basically serve as a way to remind the physician of things she or he may need to remember at a follow up visit. Many relevant physical exam findings are not included either because, for example, they may have…
I recently came across this website for two Florida chiropractors who are holding themselves out as Social Security disability specialists representing Social Security disability claimants nationwide.
The site repeats this statement several times: The Social Security Administration requires that, "You must prove the MEDICAL condition, NOT the legal reason why you cannot work." The clear…
A medical source statement is an important piece of evidence in a Social Security disability claim. The opinion of your treating doctor regarding your functional limitations should be given controlling weight by the SSA, if the opinion is not inconsistent with the other substantial evidence in the case record. 20 C.F.R. 404.1527(d)(2).
Social Security has…
