Medical Professionals Play Key Role in Deciding SSDI Qualification
A disabled individual’s medical professionals (doctors, nurses, NPs, PACs) provides crucial evidence of mental and physical impairments that can make or break an SSDI claim.
The Social Security Administration’s Standards Are Very Strict
The eligibility standard for the American disability benefit system continues to be among the most stringent in the world. When evaluating an application for disability benefits, the SSA considers a variety of factors including, but not limited to:
- the severity and type of the applicant’s impairment(s)
- the applicant’s ability to return to their old occupation
- the applicant’s “residual functional capacity”
- Age and educational levels
The Importance of The Medical Professional In The Process
When deciding a claim, Social Security places a great weight on the opinions of a claimant’s treating doctor.
The agency considers several factors when evaluating the doctor’s opinion. First, the physician must be an “acceptable medical source.” Licensed medical doctors, osteopathic doctors, optometrists, podiatrists and psychologists all meet this qualification. A doctor who has treated the claimant for a long period of time is considered the individual’s treating physician, and their opinion will hold significant weight with Social Security. If the claimant has only visited the doctor in order to get an evaluation for a disability claim, the doctor’s opinion could have less influence on the case.
The statement provided by a doctor in an SSDI claim, often referred to as a “medical source statement,” plays a major role in determining the outcome of a case. An effective statement needs to describe a claimant’s treatment history, list symptoms and impairments, and specify the functional limitations of the individual.
Winning a disability claim isn’t always easy. Contact Citizens Disability for help with the complex SSDI claims process.
Linda Cosme formerly served as a Member of the Appeals Council (AC) for the Social Security Administration (SSA), and Program Expert for the Social Security Administration and Disability Quality Branch (DQB). Ms. Cosme also served as a Quality Assurance (QA) Reviewer, Initial Disability Examiner, Reconsideration Disability Examiner, and Continuing Disability Examiner (CDR) for the Disability Determination Services (DDS). She is admitted to practice law in Arizona, Georgia, and the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
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