NEW RULES OF EVIDENCE AND WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU
Social Security announced new rules of medical evidence beginning March 27, 2017 that may make it even harder to get disability benefits.
Up until March 27, Social Security gave special weight to evidence from your treating physician. The theory was that your doctor knows more about you than a doctor who only examined you one time, and certainly more than one of Social Security's doctors who has never seen you at all. But not any more.
For claims filed after March 27, 2012, your doctor's opinion is not automatically entitled to greater weight than the opinion of any other doctor.
The new rule focuses on the substance of medical opinions – not the source of the opinion. All medical opinions and prior medical findings are to be viewed equally, and will be based on “consistency and supportability” factors. In other words, Social Security will look at all medical opinions and decide which one is more convincing.
What's my fear with this new rule? That Social Security can ignore the opinion of the doctor who has treated you for 25 years and take the word of a consultative Social Security doctor who spent five minutes with you a year ago. Or worse yet, they can take the word of an in-house Social Security doctor who never examined you at all--just read your paper file.
If a judge or decision maker has his mind made up to deny your claim, this just makes it easy. I fear that this rule will cause award rates to plummet to lower levels than they are now.
Up until March 27, Social Security gave special weight to evidence from your treating physician. The theory was that your doctor knows more about you than a doctor who only examined you one time, and certainly more than one of Social Security's doctors who has never seen you at all. But not any more.
For claims filed after March 27, 2012, your doctor's opinion is not automatically entitled to greater weight than the opinion of any other doctor.
The new rule focuses on the substance of medical opinions – not the source of the opinion. All medical opinions and prior medical findings are to be viewed equally, and will be based on “consistency and supportability” factors. In other words, Social Security will look at all medical opinions and decide which one is more convincing.
What's my fear with this new rule? That Social Security can ignore the opinion of the doctor who has treated you for 25 years and take the word of a consultative Social Security doctor who spent five minutes with you a year ago. Or worse yet, they can take the word of an in-house Social Security doctor who never examined you at all--just read your paper file.
If a judge or decision maker has his mind made up to deny your claim, this just makes it easy. I fear that this rule will cause award rates to plummet to lower levels than they are now.
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