Colorado springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI
Downard & Associates represents adults in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) applications and appeals. We work with clients by phone and video, help develop medical evidence, and prepare people for administrative hearings. If illness or injury has affected your ability to work, start with a list of your treatment providers and the work tasks you can no longer manage. We can discuss your claim and the next step.
How we help
How We Build a Colorado Springs Application or Appeal
That gives the Social Security Administration (SSA) the information it needs to review the claim.
Your medical record and your work history need to explain the same problem: how your condition affects what you can do. Our work depends on where your claim stands.
Application: We help prepare and submit the application, gather treatment records, and document your work history. That gives the Social Security Administration (SSA) the information it needs to review the claim.
Reconsideration: After an initial denial, we file the appeal, seek updated medical evidence, and address the reasons SSA gave for its decision.
Administrative hearing: We develop the medical record, prepare you for testimony, and present the case to an administrative law judge. Preparation includes discussing your treatment, job duties, and daily limitations.
Our service limits also address matters involving Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits.
We handle SSDI cases for people who currently receive VA benefits, but we do not handle VA claims or appeals. We do not take disability cessation or continuing disability review cases, or new cases involving back-pay issues alone. We refer federal court appeals to a trusted affiliate rather than handling them in-house.
Benefit eligibility
SSDI and SSI Eligibility for Colorado Springs Adults
Duration rule
12months
SSDI generally requires enough recent work covered by Social Security and a condition that meets SSA's disability standard. The required work credits depend on your age when the disability began. SSA explains these requirements in its disability eligibility guidance.
SSI does not require a prior work record. It has separate income, resource, and other eligibility requirements. Adults may qualify based on disability, statutory blindness, or being age 65 or older.
For adult claims based on disability, SSA evaluates whether the condition prevents substantial gainful activity: work involving significant physical or mental activities of a kind usually done for pay or profit. When its evaluation reaches those steps, SSA also considers past work and the ability to adjust to other work. A diagnosis alone does not establish eligibility.
Both the medical condition and the resulting inability to perform substantial gainful activity must generally have lasted or be expected to last at least 12 consecutive months, unless SSA expects the condition to cause death within 12 months of disability onset. You do not have to wait a year before applying.
The disability duration rule does not apply to age-based SSI eligibility. SSI based on statutory blindness has no duration requirement. SSA does not use substantial gainful activity to determine initial SSI eligibility based on statutory blindness. SSI's financial and other requirements still apply.
Our Colorado disability overview explains the statewide process. Your eligibility depends on your individual circumstances and the program and eligibility category involved.
Your treatment records
Connecting Memorial and Penrose Records for a Colorado Springs Claim
Its written form lets you select Memorial, treatment dates, and record types, with radiology reports and images listed separately.
Start by listing where you were treated and when. If your care includes a hospital visit followed by appointments elsewhere, record both parts of that timeline. Include the treating facility and the follow-up provider rather than listing only the hospital name.
For UCHealth Memorial care, UCHealth's medical-record instructions explain how to request a formal copy through My Health Connection: open the menu, select Share my record, then Request formal copy of health record. UCHealth also offers online and written requests. Its written form lets you select Memorial, treatment dates, and record types, with radiology reports and images listed separately.
For Penrose Hospital or St. Francis Hospital care, use CommonSpirit's medical-record instructions. You can request a full record through the portal's Sharing Hub. Patients without an account can use a patient-access form; release to a third party uses a separate signed authorization. Follow the instructions for the facility that treated you.
Compare the records you receive with your treatment list. Note any missing visit, test report, or follow-up appointment so it can be checked. These are record-request options for patients, not a requirement to buy or collect every record before applying. SSA says not to delay an application because documents are missing.
Get organized
Make a Treatment Timeline for Your Colorado Springs Claim
Use one list to connect treatment dates with changes in your ability to work. The following items give your application or appeal a clearer starting point.
Providers and dates: List each hospital, clinic, and treating professional, with contact details and treatment dates. Include visits outside the hospital system as separate entries.
Tests and medication: Record important tests, who ordered them, and current medicines and prescribers where applicable. Mark which reports you already have.
Jobs and limitations: List recent jobs, dates, and duties. Describe specific difficulties, such as how long you can sit or stand, what you can lift, or how symptoms affect concentration and attendance.
Decisions and receipt dates: Save the full SSA decision and note when it arrived. Identify whether it concerns an initial application, reconsideration, or a hearing.
SSI information: Gather income and resource information if SSI is involved. A medical record alone does not establish SSI's financial eligibility.
SSA's application preparation guidance lists the medical and work information to gather and explains that missing documents should not delay applying.
Local claim process
Colorado DDS Review and Colorado Springs Hearing Assignments
That is a field-office listing, not a guarantee of every resident's assignment or hearing location.
Colorado Disability Determination Services (DDS) develops medical evidence and makes initial disability determinations for SSA. SSA checks nonmedical eligibility and completes the benefit determination. SSA's disability determination explanation describes these separate roles. DDS medical review is also separate from a later hearing before an administrative law judge.
SSA's hearing-office directory lists the Colorado Springs field office among the service areas of the Colorado Springs hearing office. That is a field-office listing, not a guarantee of every resident's assignment or hearing location. Our hearing-office guide explains how to read these office relationships.
Use the office and attendance instructions in your own hearing notice. An in-person hearing may take place at a hearing office or another SSA hearing site, such as a permanent remote site. Do not plan travel from a directory address alone.
After a denial
Responding to a Colorado Springs Disability Denial
Deadline
60days
After an initial SSDI or SSI denial, reconsideration generally must be requested in writing within 60 days after you receive the decision notice. After a reconsideration denial, a written request for an administrative law judge hearing generally has the same receipt-based deadline under the SSDI and SSI hearing rules. SSA's SSDI reconsideration rules explain that stage's timing and extension process; parallel rules apply to SSI.
SSA ordinarily presumes you received the notice five days after its date unless you show it arrived later. That is not an unconditional 65-day deadline for every Social Security letter. Read the notice promptly and keep a record of when it arrived.
If a reconsideration or hearing request is late, ask SSA for more time in writing and explain the delay. SSA must find good cause; an extension is not automatic.
Common questions
Questions About Colorado Springs Disability Claims
Does a Memorial visit-record request include radiology images?
UCHealth's written authorization form says its visit-record and visit-summary options do not include images. Radiology reports and radiology images have separate selections. Identify which information you need rather than assuming a visit record includes the image files.
Will my hearing be in person or by video?
SSA describes four ways to attend: in person, by telephone audio, by agency video using SSA equipment, or by online video using your own device. Online video requires your agreement. SSA's hearing attendance guidance explains the notice and response forms. Objections to audio or agency video are subject to SSA's rules, deadlines, and exceptions. Your scheduling notice gives the arrangements for your case. Calls or video meetings with Downard do not set the hearing format.
Can I qualify for SSI without enough work credits for SSDI?
Possibly. SSI is not based on prior work, but you must meet its income, resource, categorical, and other requirements. For adults, the categories are disability, statutory blindness, or age 65 or older. Lack of SSDI work credits does not by itself establish SSI eligibility.
Do I have to travel to Tennessee to work with Downard?
We work with Colorado Springs clients by phone and video. You can discuss your application, appeal, or hearing preparation with us that way. SSA separately sets the arrangements for any hearing and provides the attendance instructions.
Discuss your claim
Discuss Your Colorado Springs SSDI or SSI Claim
Tell us how your condition affects work, where you have received treatment, and whether you are applying or appealing. Downard & Associates can discuss the next step with you by phone or video.