When you apply for Social Security Disability benefits, it is up to you to prove to Social Security that you have a medical condition that makes it so you cannot work. The main way of doing this is through medical records.
During the application process, Social Security will helpfully get your records for you. However, Social Security can only get records from places that you have told them about. If you did not tell Social Security about a medical provider, or if the address that you provided was not correct, Social Security will not be able to get those records.
It is very important to list all the places you have been for medical treatment on your application. Never assume that your doctors have any records from any other doctors, because they usually don’t. Never assume that your doctors will tell Social Security about any other doctors, because Social Security is only going to do one round of requests and they aren’t going to read the records that they do get at that stage.
Once you’re into the appeal, Social Security will no longer get your records for you. You have to get your own records. Unfortunately, most doctors will not give you your own medical record. At best, they’ll give you treatment summaries or discharge papers. This is where having a Social Security Disability lawyer comes in: a lawyer can get your full medical record and submit it to Social Security for you.
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