Social Security Disability Consultative Examination

 Posted on December 13, 2011 in Social Security Disability

The Social Security disability benefits process may include multiple doctor appointments scheduled by the Social Security Administration. The doctor appointments are known as Consultative Examinations (CE) and are mandatory to attend. At the application or reconsideration level, Social Security will set up a CE appointment when 1) they are unable to obtain enough medical records to come to a disability determination; or, 2) the records are somewhat ambiguous and an examination is needed to clarify an issue(s). For most claimants, going to a CE can be a horrible experience. It is not uncommon for the doctor to be rude to a claimant or even worse, fail to give a complete and thorough examination. Sometimes the examinations are not even performed by doctors whose specialty covers your particular type of condition.

CE's are performed by independent contractor physicians. While many claimants and disability lawyers take issue with how the CE process is run, it is quite rare to get the perspective of the actual examiner on the other side of the process. One of my colleagues, Colorado disability attorney Tomasz Stasiuk, recently noted a very interesting article published by a former examiner discussing the entire disability evaluation process.

One excerpt from the article is, "On the basis of a forty-minute interview and examination, I was supposed to determine how disabled an applicant or 'claimant' was."

I highly recommend reading this article, whether you are applying for Social Security disability benefits or are interested in a good read. "Tell Me Where It Hurts," was published by Heather Kovich, a family physician, in September 2011. Click on the link to read the article.

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