Nurse Practioners

When the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) eliminated the treating physician rule, it also added Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (“APRNs”) as acceptable medical sources. According to the American Nurses Association, APRNs include: Certified Nurse Practitioners (“NPs”), Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, Clinical Nurse Specialists, and Certified Nurse Midwives. That change places the opinion of an NP on a par with a physician when a claimant seeks Social Security Disability (“SSD”) benefits. 

I represent a claimant who was seeking disabled adult child benefits. An NP who was treating the claimant furnished a report, which concluded the claimant is unable to work. The Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) gave the NP’s opinion great weight, and approved the SSD benefits. 

Prior to this year, the ALJ would not have afforded an NP’s opinion great weight. As NPs usually work with physicians, who can co-sign reports or give their own opinions to support a claimant’s case, adding APRNs to the list of acceptable medical sources may not help secure SSD benefits for a significant number of claimants. On the other hand, the elimination of the treating physician rule will decrease the percentage of claimants who obtain SSD benefits.