HOW DO YOU GET MEDICAL RECORDS FOR A DISABILITY CASE WITH NO INSURANCE?



How Can You Get Medical Records For A Disability Case If You Have No Insurance?



 
I have seen this question in so many disability forums recently, and I think it is important to provide some answers as to how Social Security looks at medical records when they are making disability determinations.

The lack of medical records is a very common problem for individuals who have not been working or have been unable to pay for health insurance. So how does Social Security get medical information for their medical determinations if an individual has not been able to afford treatment? Unfortunately, individuals who do have no medical records or no current medical records will have to attend consultative examinations.

Consultative examinations are very basic mental or physical examinations that are performed by doctors who are paid by Social Security. Very often, in fact, consultative examinations are performed by physicians whose medical specialty has nothing to do with a disability claimant's disabling condition or conditions.



Many disability claimants have complained that the physician took no time with them and did not even address what they felt was their disabling impairment. I think it is important to mention that consultative examinations are not meant to be in-depth or provide any kind of treatment for a disability applicant. They are strictly to give a Social Security Disability examiner enough current medical information to make a disability decision.

As you might guess, an individual's disability claim has a greater chance of being approved if they have some kind of medical information other than the results of a short cursory consultative examination performed by a doctor who has no history of treatment with the claimant.

So how can an individual get medical records for their disability claim if they have no insurance? I do not know all of the answers, but I do have a couple of suggestions that may provide an individual some medical records for their disability case. Most areas have medical clinics that are either free, or charge based upon an individual's income.

I would suggest an individual consider contacting one of these clinics for medical treatment so that they have at least some kind of current medical records (Social Security considers medical records to be current only if they are ninety days or less old). Even emergency room records or hospital records are useful to an individual's disability claim, because they often contain objective medical testing or clinical notes.

While an individual may still have to attend a consultative examination or examinations, it does not hurt to have medical records to bolster their disability case. In my experience, consultative examinations alone do not often lead to an approval for disability benefits.


About the Author: Tim Moore is a former Social Security Disability Examiner in North Carolina, has been interviewed by the NY Times and the LA Times on the disability system, and is an Accredited Disability Representative (ADR) in North Carolina. For assistance on a disability application or Appeal in NC, click here.







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