SEE YOUR DOCTOR REGULARLY!

I recently represented a Social Security disability claimant in Cullman.  I am convinced she suffered from severe depression and probably other serious mental health issues.  She also had unrelenting back pain with difficulty standing for any prolonged period.  She was approaching advanced age and had a limited education.  She belonged on disability according to the law.

She had one problem.  With no health insurance and no money to pay doctor's bills, she had not been to a doctor in several years.  

In spite of what the media experts say, Social Security does not dole out disability benefits to individuals who don't have strong medical evidence of impairments.  They don't take a person's word for it. It's more difficult to get on SSDI today than at any point in history.  How, then, can a claim like this one be approached?

Simply put, the claimant must get medical evidence that she has a severe impairment that prevents her from working.  That means she has to be examined by a doctor to confirm what her impairments are and the degree of limitations that are imposed by those impairments.

We can file an application for disability benefits with Social Security and hope that they will send her for a consultative examination.  That's a long shot.  First, Social Security may not agree to pay for an exam.  If they do, she is asking a doctor she has never seen before to examine her one time, find and document all of her serious medical conditions.  Not likely.  Some of my clients tell me that when they go to a consultative examination, the doctor spends less than 10 minutes with them.  Not likely to help.

A better solution may be to refer the individual to a community clinic.  There, the patient can establish a treating relationship with a doctor who can, over a period of time, find and treat her medical problems. This is also the best chance the individual has to receive proper medical treatment, get pain relief, proper medications, etc.

 The best advice I can give to anyone who anticipates the need for filing a disability claim with Social Security is this:  See your doctor regularly and follow his/her treatment instructions. Be totally honest with your doctor about your symptoms and be totally honest with Social Security when you file your application for benefits.  Despite what 60 Minutes and the rest of the media say, you cannot fake your way into a disability award and no ethical person tries to.

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