Hi, my name is Kirsten Krueger and two years ago, I was in a car accident. I was stopped at a stop sign when the driver behind me slammed into my car. Due to my injuries, I had to spend a few days in the hospital and I was unable to work for two months. My medical care was expensive and without being able to work, I couldn't pay my bills. The car accident was stressful enough and then I had to worry about how I would pay my bills. After speaking with a car accident lawyer, it wasn't long before I was compensated for my medical bills and lost wages from work. I'm writing this blog to help others who have been a car accident and haven't received any compensation. As you read my posts, you'll learn how an attorney can help you if you're in a vehicle accident.
You don't need your doctor's permission to file for Social Security disability benefits, but you do need his or her support. Without it, your claim for disability benefits will probably be denied. Knowing your doctor's opinion before you file for Social Security is so important.
Your Own Doctor Knows Best (according to the Law).
Social Security laws put a great deal of value on the opinion of treating physicians. This is actually for your benefit. The law correctly reasons that the doctor who has examined and treated you over time knows more about your daily life and limitations than the doctor who has only looked at your test results.
A doctor's opinion that you're disabled won't get you approved for benefits all by itself. There has to be supporting evidence in your file, through test results, visual observations (by the doctor), and treatment records. The flip side of this presumption, however, can be a problem for a lot of people. The logic works like this: if your own doctor won't definitively say that you're disabled that must mean that he or she doesn't feel that you qualify for disability. If your own doctor doesn't think that you're disabled, why should you be approved for Social Security benefits?
So, while having your doctor's support might help you (as long as there's some other evidence in your file to back up his or her opinion), not having your doctor's support will almost assuredly hurt you.
The Rest Of The Doctors Involved Work For Social Security.
In this situation, even your doctor's silence on the matter ends up hurting you because sooner or later some doctor has to weigh-in with an opinion on your case. If your doctor won't commit, the only doctors left to make a decision are those employed by Social Security.
The best that you can hope for, without your doctor's support, is to be sent for a consultative examination with an outside doctor, hired by the Social Security Administration. This doctor will make his or her independent decision about your claim of disability after meeting and examining you only once.
Some of the doctors doing consultative examinations truly are independent, and only see a disability claimant on occasion. Unfortunately, a large number of consultative doctors make their entire living judging whether or not people should qualify for Social Security disability benefits. If a doctor is too easy about approving claims, you can bet that he or she won't be referred a lot of Social Security claims in the future. That casts doubt on his or her ability to be truly "independent" of opinion when he or she relies on Social Security for his or her own income.
When it comes to Social Security disability claims, your doctor really is your best ally. Talk to your doctor before you file, so that you know what he or she is going to say when contacted by DDS. If he or she is supportive, you can file without worrying about it. If he or she isn't, you have the opportunity to change your doctor's mind, or find a new doctor (if you have to), before SSA gets involved. That will keep some potentially large barriers to approval out of your way. Talk to a social security attorney for more information.
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