Skip to main content

TIPS FOR A CONSULTATIVE EXAMINATION BY SOCIAL SECURITY

 

If you are trying to get Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits, they may ask you to attend an examination with one of their doctors. You should attend this exam and here are some tips to help you with it:

  • Arrive 15 minutes early.

  • Take a driver's license or other valid photo ID.

  • Take all prescription medications in their original bottles, properly labeled.

  • Ask someone else to drive you to the exam and go into the office with you.

  • Dress neat and casual, like you would for any other doctor's appointment.

  • Have a mental outline of your medical history: what are your diagnosed conditions? Past surgeries?

  • Be courteous with the examiner and answer questions to the best of your ability.

  • Try to perform the maneuvers the examiner requests. If you cannot perform a maneuver due to pain simply explain this to the examiner.

  • Avoid trying to convince the examiner that you are disabled or need benefits. He/she cannot make this determination.

  • Don't ask the examiner if he/she believes you are disabled or if this exam will help get you approved.

  • Be careful what you say to the examiner. Casual comments like, "I am doing very well," or "I am just fine" can be reported and taken literally.

  • Don't exaggerate your symptoms/conditions but don't minimize them, either. Just be honest.

    Focus on your symptoms, not technical medical terms or diagnosis.  Better to say, "My back hurts" than to say "I have lumbar spondylosis."

Remember, you are not there to argue your disability case with the doctor. Social Security has sent the doctor specific instructions to check certain things during the exam. Doctors are not permitted to state whether an individual is disabled or whether they are able to work. Those decisions are reserved to Social Security.

Of course, do not expect any treatment and no medications will be prescribed during a consultative examination. This examiner has a one time appointment with the claimant and will perform only the examination requested by Social Security. You do have a right to see the examiner's report after it has been submitted to Social Security. You may contact Social Security and request to see the report along with any other documents in your file.

___________________________________

Excellent Social Security disability representation is available by Charles W. Forsythe, The Forsythe Firm, Huntsville, AL. Free consultation. Never any fee unless you win. Call

(256) 799-0297


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CAN YOU WIN YOUR DISABILITY APPEAL WITHOUT A LAWYER?

The Social Security Administration does not require you to have a lawyer to file an appeal or to appear at a hearing.  However, most people heading for a disability hearing will hire a lawyer or advocate to help them.   Studies have shown that you are about twice as likely to win with a lawyer.  A recent study found that claimants with no lawyer win about 30 percent of the time while claimants with a lawyer or advocate win 60 percent of the time.   " He just cooked his own goose." These statistics cover only one aspect of a disability appear--your odds of winning. The other important aspects are time and convenience. If you prepare and adjudicate your own disability appeal, expect to spend 12 to 24 months working on the case.  You will be collecting, reading and submitting hundreds or thousands of pages of medical records.  These records are complex and often difficult to understand.  And you must know how each medical record helps (or hurts) your dis...
Post a Comment
Read more

GET YOUR APPLICATION RIGHT - GET PAID SSDI B ENEFITS

  Get your Social Security application right - get paid.   There are hundreds of ways to mess up a Social Security disability application.  One of the most common ways that I see?  Blank lines.  Questions left blank.  One way or another, these questions will get answered before a decision is made on your claim.  They may get answered 6 months later when the Social Security office calls you--but you have just wasted 6 months.   Worse yet, Social Security may assume that since you didn't answer the questions, all the answers are "no," so nobody bothers to call you. This will lead to a negative action on your claim.   The complete disability application will consist, not just of the basic application, but several forms.  Many of those forms will be mailed to you AFTER you file the claim.  The following is always required for a complete application: The basic disability application (5 pages)  Disability Report (14 p...
Post a Comment
Read more

HOW TO PASS A SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY EXAM

  So, Social Security is sending you to one of their doctors for an exam.  The first thing you may ask is, How do I pass this exam?   First, I should say that Social Security exams are not "pass or fail."  The doctor or examiner cannot tell Social Security whether or not you are disabled or whether you should get a benefit.  The doctor is going to check certain facts. For example, the doctor may check the range of motion in your joints and list the measurements. They may check your grip strength. (S)he may determine if you have difficulty walking, squatting, kneeling standing from a seated position.  The examiner may answer specific questions asked by Social Security: Is the use of a cane or assistive device medically necessary? Why is it necessary? Can the claimant use his/her hands to grasp and hold objects? Is the claimant able to understand and follow simple directions?  Here is advice I give my clients for a Social Security examination:  ...
Post a Comment
Read more