Everyone who has filed a request for hearing in a Social Security disability case receives, or should receive, a letter from the Social Security Administration indicating Social Security has received the request, but also asking the claimant to submit medical records because there is a possibility that a favorable decision could be made without going to a hearing.
Every single one of our clients receives this letter and clients many times expect us to begin collecting medical records many months in advance of a hearing date because of this letter. This is unfortunate because it gives claimants a false hope. The fact is even if we began to collect and submit records for our clients at this stage of the process it is highly likely no one would look at these records. Once a request for hearing is filed a disability decision will almost always be made at the hearing, which Social Security does not schedule until further along in the process.
There are always exceptions to every rule, so we can’t say Social Security never makes a favorable decision after the hearing request and before the date of the hearing, but it is extremely rare. In those situations, typically a senior attorney advisor will contact the claimant’s representative and request specific records to determine if a favorable decision can be made in an effort to limit the hearing calendar. These senior attorney advisors have the ability, through the blessing of the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), to grant favorable decisions depending on the date someone became disabled and what the medical records show.
The letter Social Security sends out asking for medical records before the hearing is scheduled is at the very least misleading and difficult to explain to clients. Remember, Social Security typically had two previous opportunities to make favorable decisions during the early parts of the claim, but failed to do so.
