What Medical Evidence is Presented to an Administrative Law Judge?

After you have appealed your initial Social Security Disability denial you will have a hearing before an administrative law judge. Shortly before the hearing, this administrative law judge will review your entire Social Security file, giving special attention to your medical records. The medical records reviewed by the administrative law judge are all of the medical records that have been submitted to the Social Security Administration. Those which are most important are those which address your ability to do work.

Medical records come from two main sources. First, most of the medical records will have been gathered by the Social Security Administration from all of the doctors that you named on your initial application for Social Security Disability benefits. Second, your Social Security Disability attorney will have gathered medical records from any doctors that you have told your Social Security Disability attorney about. If any of those medical records were not already gathered by the Social Security Administration, your Social Security Disability attorney will have submitted them as evidence for your hearing.

In addition to the medical records created by your doctors after your visits, your Social Security Disability attorney will have requested that your doctor provide additional statements about your ability to do work related tasks. These records are extremely valuable to the administrative law judge because regular medical records are meant to address your healthcare, whereas these records are specifically designed to address your ability to work.