Support Letters

When the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) decodified the treating physician rule, the new regulations called for greatest emphasis for supportability and consistency.  The more a medical opinion is consistent with other evidence, the more persuasive it will be found.

Evidence includes statements from anyone who has observed a claimant.  We represent a 53 year old clerk from Ronkonkoma with neck and head injuries from a motor vehicle accident.  We supplied disability opinions and a great deal of objective diagnostic evidence of musculoskeletal injuries.  Nonetheless, it was not until we submitted support letters from friends and relatives that the SSA approved disability benefits.

Support letters are evidence from non-medical sources that the SSA must consider.  They corroborate the opinions of the treating medical sources.  Consequently, the support letters make the opinions of the treating medical sources more consistent with the evidence compared to the opinions of the non-treating medical sources.

Our client was ecstatic to learn that she had been approved, and said she was so impressed with our handling of her claim and our knowledge of what was needed to get her a favorable decision.  She said she would highly recommend our services to anyone she knows, who might need to apply for disability.

Please feel free to call our office for a free phone consultation if you are considering applying for disability .  We have offices on Long Island conveniently located in both Nassau and Suffolk counties.