Social Security disability claimants may be required to undergo certain medical tests ordered by the Social Security Administration. Your Michigan disability attorney will tell you to conform with these requests, but he may have some additional ideas about the medical evidence you can present to strengthen your case.
An inherent shortcoming of SSA-ordered medical examinations is that they merely give a snapshot view of your health. Your treating doctor is in a much better position to give an overall picture of how your medical condition affects your long-term health and your ability to work.
In fact, the SSA is required to give special consideration to the opinion of a treating doctor in your Social Security disability claim. Your Michigan disability attorney may ask your doctor to provide a written letter to the SSA. Unfortunately, the issues that doctors think are important are not always the same issues that SSA decision-makers care about.
What Should a Letter Contain?
The disability question the Social Security Administration will consider is whether your disability keeps you from engaging full-time in any work. Your doctor should not exaggerate your condition, for example, by saying that you can never work. He or she may, however, provide some estimate of what you are able to do and whether your condition is expected to improve.
Many medical conditions have good days and bad days, and just because you would theoretically be able to work every once in a while doesn’t mean that you could hold full-time employment.
The main points your doctor should touch upon in his or her letter are:
- Your medical diagnosis.
- The treatment you are receiving.
- What tests have been performed.
- Side effects of treatment.
- How long your condition is expected to last.
Your doctor may provide an opinion about what sort of things you can and cannot do in spite of your injury, but for technical questions about residual functional capacity, you should rely on your Michigan disability attorney.
To arrange an initial consultation about your case, please call a Michigan disability attorney at the Law Offices of Christopher Trainor & Associates: (800) 961-8477.