Perspective

We talk a lot here about the critical importance of getting medical care to support your disability claim. What is sometimes not understood, however, is that we still need you to tell us about where you have been. Nearly all medical treatment you receive is likely to have some sort of impact on your claim, but if we are not aware of it, the Social Security office probably will not know about it either. Just as an example, we once had a client who had a double hip replacement but did not tell us until six months later. Why? He thought his back was the only condition Social Security would approve him for. Fortunately we were still able to have the SSA get those medical records, and he eventually won his claim. People tend to have the misconception that they can only be approved for one specific physical or mental limitation, so they often do not inform us of care that is outside the scope of their “main” diagnosis. This is a huge mistake! Social Security can and does approve claims for a number of reasons, whether they are physical, mental, or both combined. Please do not make the assumption that a certain doctor’s records or a procedure is not important to your case – by withholding that information, you could be doing irreparable harm to your claim! Be sure to review your treatment records so we can verify the Social Security office has everything they need to fully develop your claim.