Many claimants want the best chance possible at being approved for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Benefits the first time around. They may have heard horror stories from family members or friends about how it took them several years to be approved for their SSDI or SSI benefits. Therefore, they often want to know what they can do to give themselves the highest chance of being approved the first time.
While it is difficult to predict or guarantee an approval on the initial application, there are a few things you can do to increase your odds.
Make a List of all Conditions
First, you need to tell the disability examiner with Social Security about all of your conditions that are preventing you from working, including physical and mental conditions. The examiner is only looking at conditions that are current, not conditions from decades ago. It can be helpful to sit down and make a list of all conditions you have been diagnosed with, and other conditions that you are currently being evaluated for. This will help ensure you are providing a complete list to SSA when making your application.
Make a List of all Treating Sources
Another thing you can do is sit down and create a complete list of all the doctors you are currently seeing, and any doctors you saw in the three years prior to submitting your application or ending employment. By sitting down and making this list ahead of time, you put yourself in the best position to recall all of your visits, which helps Social Security be able to pull all of the relevant medical records to make the decision.
Communicate with Your Doctors
Third, talk to your doctors about your application and see if they would be willing to support your claim. Often, if they are willing to fill out forms for Social Security, this can help boost your claim. The trick to this is the forms that are completed by your doctor must be in agreement with the rest of the medical records in your file – it cannot be an outlier.
If you are thinking about applying for disability benefits, contact a lawyer today who can help guide you in the right direction.