One of the most important parts of your disability application is the medical records you provide with it. The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses these records to help determine the severity of your condition, its effect on your ability to work, if you are eligible for benefits, and how much of a monthly benefit to which you are entitled. There are many different forms of medical records, so it is important to include the ones that help to prove your case the best. When you are choosing the medical records keep the following information in mind.
Relevance
You only need to include medical records that are relevant to the condition for which you are seeking benefits. If you have other conditions that are unrelated to your need for disability benefits, you do not need to provide those to the SSA.
Timeliness
Since your medical records help to prove your current state of disability, you need to provide records that are current or from the relatively recent past. Records that are too old will not help the SSA determine the current severity of your case as well as recent records will. The SSA considers timely records to be ones that are relevant to your current medical condition. If your condition is chronic or recurring, older records may still be timely. Your physician can help you determine which of your medical records are the most timely and will help your case the best.
Accuracy
For your best chance of having your application approved, make sure the records you provide are accurate. If there is inaccurate or outdated information in the records you provide, it can adversely affect the amount of benefits you receive, or even if your application is approved at all. The SSA only accepts medical information from certain types of health care providers. Your medical records may only come from the following sources to be considered acceptable:
– Licensed physicians
– Osteopaths
– Optometrists
– Podiatrists
– Speech pathologists
Sufficiency
The records you provide must also provide enough evidence to prove that your condition is debilitating enough to affect your ability to work. There must be enough information for the judge to make a determining decision based solely on the medical records.
If you think you are entitled to file a Social Security disability claim and have additional questions regarding your medical records, contact LM Summary Services today.
