Social Security Medical Exam - the purpose

If you apply for social security disability or SSI disability benefits, there is a fairly good chance you will be scheduled to go to a medical exam. Typically, this happens when an individual who applies for disability has not been seen by a doctor in recent weeks or months.

Should you be concerned if you are notified by mail that you will have to go to a social security medical exam? Not at all. Such exams are really only for the purpose of obtaining recent medical evidence that will, in essence, allow the social security administration to close a case, i.e. to make a decision on a claim.

The following article provides information about social security medical exams, but here are a few initial points to keep in mind:

1. The exam will not be conducted by a doctor who works for the social security administration. Instead, it will be conducted by a doctor who has agreed to perform such exams, but, otherwise, is engaged in private practice.

2. The exam will usually last less than thirty minutes, and sometimes as little as ten minutes.

3. The exam will seldom ever provide the basis for either an approval or a denial of a disability case. In most instances, it is simply a procedural formality to go through when an applicant has not been to a doctor recently.


Additional information: Social Security Disability Claims and Medical Exams







For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center

Making a Request for a Disability Hearing

Most applicants for Social Security Disability or SSI disability benefits will be in the position of having to request a disability hearing at some point. This is simply due to the fact that most claimants will be denied for disability benefits at the first step in the process (filing an application for benefits) and will also be denied at the second step in the process (filing a request for reconsideration).

Making a request for a hearing is fairly simply. It simply involves contacting the social security office following the receipt of a reconsideration denial and requesting the appeal, at which point the social security office will mail out the appropriate forms.

What is a reconsideration? Reconsideration (actually known as a request for reconsideration) is the first appeal that a claimant can file for and this becomes available after a disability application has been denied. Reconsiderations are handled identically to disability applications. Since they are, though, it should come as no surprise that most reconsiderations are turned down as well. In fact, in most states, well more than half of all reconsideration appeals are turned down.

Because reconsiderations are turned with such great frequency, most claimants will find it necessary to file their second appeal, which is a request for a disability hearing. Fortunately, more than half of all individuals who go to hearings have their cases approved and inevitably receive benefits.

Tip: if you have representation at the time your reconsideration is denied, you may have your disability attorney request your hearing for you. And if you do not have representation at this time, you may wish to consider locating a representative since a representative will be useful in preparing a case for a hearing, including gathering medical record updates and statements from physicians that support a claimant's case for benefits.

Additional information: Notes on the Request for a Disability Hearing







For information on Social Security Disability, visit the

Social Security Disability SSI Resource Center