If you have been scheduled to attend a disability medical exam but have no idea what to expect from this consultative exam (CE), you have come to the right place. Our Everett social security disability medical exam attorney from Russell & Hill, PLLC, is going to explain everything you need to know about these medical exams and whether you should fear them or ignore them.
So can a disability medical exam, which is often ordered by claims examiners in disability cases, result in the denial of your disability case and ruin your chances of collecting SSDI or SSI benefits?
Before we answer this question, it is important to understand why these medical exams are ordered in the first place.
In a nutshell, before an examiner can approve or deny your disability case, he or she needs to review plenty of medical information about your impairment or disability to determine whether or not you qualify for SSDI or SSI benefits.
Our experienced social security disability medical exam attorney in Everett explains that examiners in disability cases are required to have your medical tests and laboratory results that have been conducted or collected within the past 90 days. If your medical tests are older than that, chances are the examiner assigned to your disability case will order a medical exam, also known as a consultative exam (CE).
So make sure you see a medical professional shortly before applying for social security disability benefits to (a) avoid having to participate in an SSA-ordered medical exam and (b) prevent the disability examiner from delaying your case any longer.
Also, disability examiners often order consultative exams when the applicant has never received treatment for his or her medical condition or impairment. In that case, the medical exam is requested in order to determine whether or not your condition is treatable.
Under the SSDI program, you are entitled to receive social security disability benefits only if your medical condition will put you out of work for 12 months or longer and it cannot be treated through physical therapy to reduce the period of time you will be out of work.
Unfortunately, many disability claimants ignore and miss medical exams thinking that these consultative exams are no big deal and will have no impact on the outcome on their disability case. Well, wrong. Our Everett social security disability lawyer explains that attending a medical exam in a disability case is not optional. In fact, your refusal to go to this appointment can prompt the examiner to deny your case.
However, if you have missed a medical exam but had a valid reason for the no-show, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will reschedule. Unfortunately, more often than not, medical exams are ordered by examiners to deny and close a disability case as opposed to actually helping to get the case approved.
In other words, a medical exam can be one of the many tools used by the SSA to deny your case for an illegal reason or no reason at all. If you have been ordered to attend a medical exam, do not hesitate to speak to our social security disability attorney before it is too late. Find out how you can protect your rights and ensure that the consultative exam (CE) is not being used simply to deny your disability case.
Schedule a free consultation by contacting Russell & Hill, PLLC, today. Call our offices at 425-728-7467.
