When applying for Social Security or SSDI, it’s as simple as submitting the facts and then waiting for benefits to come in. In Wisconsin, that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, the Social Security Administration demands quite a bit of evidence and information to even consider your application. A minor detail is incomplete or partially inaccurate can derail the entire application and lead to a denial.
The absence of medical evidence would result in immediate denial. The medical evidence doesn’t just stand to support your claim of disability or inability to perform basic functions in your current position. The medical evidence is there to showcase the extent of the disability and support how long you will be unable to work. In some cases, medical evidence determines whether you need SSI or SSDI. Understanding medical evidence and its role in your SSDI or SSI application are critical. You may need to contact our Milwaukee SSDI attorneys for help.
Required Submissions with Your Application
The Social Security Administration places such a high importance on medical evidence that they described it as the Cornerstone of any disability determination. In short, anyone who filed for disability show medical evidence proving their impairment and explaining the severity of their impairment. The SSA can rely on the information that you provide, but they will often gather evidence from their own medical sources to review your medical record.
In addition to the information that you submit, the SSA will request all medical evidence pertaining to you from hospitals, clinics, and other health facilities whenever they deem appropriate. Typically they use this approach in an attempt to disprove information on your application. Essentially, they line up your medical record with the information that you provided, and if everything doesn’t match exactly, it’s cause for immediate denial.
Medical evidence is only one portion of what you’re required to provide with your SSDI application. You must provide evidence of the impairment, evidence of the severity, and evidence of the nature of the impairment and how long the impairment will impact you. The SSA wants you to submit the information that shows that you can perform work-related activities with the impairment. Evaluating that statement, it is almost impossible to prove that you can do a task when you cannot do it.
Proving a Disability
Proving your disability starts by finding your condition or diagnosis within the SSA Blue Book. This Blue Book contains almost every condition you could ever think of and a layout of what is qualifying and what does not-qualifying.
Typically you’ll need your medical history, information about recent surgeries or procedures, a list of medications you are currently on, and notes from your doctor explaining the extent of impairment. It could be that it makes it impossible for you to operate a vehicle to get to and from work, but that’s not enough to prove a disability. That would come back to Your responsibility in finding alternative transportation.
After you use the Blue Book to identify your condition and assess what qualifies as proof of impairment, you’ll need to return to your doctor or your medical team. Usually, you can explain to your doctor that you’re applying for SSDI, and there’s a section on the SSDI application for their notes and information. They need to provide that for your application.
Get Help with Your SSDI Application
Very few people can complete an SSDI application on their own and have any success with the process. Even the people experienced with Social Security disability and the Social Security Administration usually receive an initial denial and then have to battle their way through an appeal. Through an appeal, They have the opportunity to get in front of an administrative law judge that can make a human determination rather than someone simply checking off boxes. The SSA system has been so overrun with bureaucracy that it’s almost impossible to submit an SSDI application with any sort of ease. Then consider the people submitting these applications are also working closely with their doctors, and possibly their employer.
If you want answers and a solution to accessing Social Security disability insurance benefits, then contact Tabak Law. We will go through the application with you and explain what medical evidence you have and how it impacts your application. It is difficult to access SSDI benefits because the requirements are strict and unforgiving. But, at Tabak Law, we always do our best to ensure that people have access to the benefits they need to support themselves while they’re unable to work.