Continuing Disability Review

Hello to all the fans of QuatriniRafferty. Welcome back to Legal Tip Tuesday. Previously we had discussed maintaining your treatment with your doctors leading up to your Social Security Disability or SSI hearing. Now I want to tell you a little bit about after you’ve already won your case. As we’ve seen here at the office, there’s a dramatic rise in the amount of “Continuing Disability Reviews.” This means that Social Security is pulling more people to review their claims to try to cut off their benefits. What is important is that you continue to go to your doctors after you’ve been awarded. This includes your specialists.

And even if your doctors indicate that they don’t need to see you again or only when needed, we still recommend making an appointment to check back in with them probably once a year if more, especially if you’re having an increase of symptoms or different types of symptoms. What we’re really concerned about as well is that not only has there been a dramatic rise in the number of CDRs already, but with the passage of a new executive order last week or the week before, there will now be the opportunity for the Social Security Administration to appoint these judges rather than have them go through rigorous testing to actually get a job as an Administrative Law Judge.

We think this combination of Continuing Disability Reviews and appointed judges will make for a more difficult path in the future so that’s why it’s more important than ever that you maintain your treatment, always repeat and explain your symptoms with specifics, and that will allow you to continue to protect yourself going forward. Thank you.