Disability Denial: Insufficient Medical Evidence

Applications for benefits with a Social Security administration program based on a mental or physical impairment are routinely denied due to insufficient medical evidence for disability claim.  This common type of application shortcoming can be corrected without too much difficulty be requesting a reconsideration of the claim or requesting an appeal.  After the claim denial notice has been received the applicant must complete a written request for reconsideration form and then submit the form to the Social Security administration within sixty days of the date on the notice of denial of claim letter.  The form is available at most local offices of the Social Security administration.  An applicant is not required to make his reconsideration request using the form.  Some people opt to simply draft their own written request for reconsideration of their claim and timely submit that writing to the Social Security administration. 

Reasons Evidence Originally Submitted was Insufficient

Most disability claims that are originally denied due to inadequate medical evidence are inadequate for one or both of the following reasons: 

• Insufficient medical evidence supporting the impairment diagnosis
• Deficiency of medical evidence supporting the level of severity of the impairment as it affects the applicant’s ability to engage in gainful employment, if an adult or perform fundamental daily tasks, if a child 

The goal is to submit sufficient medical evidence that can fully resolve the insufficiency found by the claim reviewers within your request for reconsideration of the claim process.  Talking with claim reviewers can help to more completely understand all of the causes behind the Social Security finding that the disability claimed was only a minor or mild one which did not significantly affect the claimant’s ability to work, if an adult, or perform daily tasks, if a child, on a level severe enough to be approved for benefits.  Armed with that information an applicant can respond to the evidence insufficiency by providing targeted medical evidence documenting the severity of the impairment and the profound impact it has on an ability to work if an adult or perform tasks if a child.

Getting Legal Help

If you or a member of your family has received a notice of denial of an application for benefits with a  Social Security program due to insufficient medical evidence of disability it may be helpful to discuss the claim denial and need to submit additional medical evidence supporting the claim with a disability lawyer.