Greensboro, north Carolina
Greensboro Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI
Downard & Associates represents adults in Greensboro, North Carolina, with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims. We work with clients by phone and video from our Tennessee base. We help with applications, reconsideration appeals, and hearings before a Social Security judge. Start by identifying your treating providers, the work your condition has affected, and any decision you have received. That gives us a useful starting point for discussing your claim.
How we help
How We Build a Greensboro Disability Claim
We do not take disability cessation or continuing disability review cases, or new cases involving back-pay issues alone.
At the application stage, we help complete the forms, gather medical evidence, and document work history. For SSI, we also help with the financial disclosures. The goal is to give the Social Security Administration (SSA) the information it needs to evaluate the claim.
At reconsideration, we address the reasons given for the denial and add relevant evidence. If the case reaches an administrative law judge (ALJ), we prepare you to explain your symptoms, work history, and daily limitations, develop the medical record, and present the case at the hearing.
VA refers to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
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.
Our North Carolina disability representation page explains our service across the state.
Benefit eligibility
SSDI and SSI Eligibility for Greensboro Adults
Duration rule
12months
SSDI depends on insured work. You generally must have worked long enough and recently enough in jobs covered by Social Security. The work credits required depend on your age when disability begins; younger workers may qualify with fewer credits. For SSDI based on statutory blindness, you must meet the duration-of-work test, but not the recent-work test.
SSI has separate financial rules. It does not require work credits. Eligibility depends on limited income and resources and being age 65 or older, blind, or having a qualifying disability, along with other requirements such as qualifying citizenship or immigration status and residence.
For adult disability-based claims, SSA considers whether a medically determinable condition prevents substantial gainful activity (SGA). Depending on the evaluation step, SSA considers past work and whether you can adjust to other work. Not every claim reaches every step. The condition must have lasted or be expected to last at least 12 consecutive months, or be expected to result in death. You do not have to wait 12 months before applying.
SSI statutory blindness has no duration requirement. SSA does not use SGA to determine initial SSI eligibility based on statutory blindness, although income, resources, and other requirements still apply. SSI based on age 65 or older does not require a disability finding.
Read SSA’s SSDI eligibility explanation and SSI eligibility requirements for the program distinctions.
Local claim process
Following a Greensboro Claim From SSA to North Carolina DDS
When DDS asks about medical care, use that list to check that hospital visits, specialist appointments, and care outside Greensboro are included.
The SSA field office checks nonmedical eligibility and sends the case to North Carolina Disability Determination Services (DDS) for the initial medical determination. North Carolina DDS seeks evidence from your own health care providers first. If that evidence is unavailable or insufficient, DDS may arrange a consultative examination to obtain more information.
Keep a treatment-source list that includes each facility, provider, and date range. When DDS asks about medical care, use that list to check that hospital visits, specialist appointments, and care outside Greensboro are included. Follow the response instructions in the request you receive.
Our hearing-office guide provides office information to read alongside your case notices.
Treatment records
Finding Cone Health Records for a Greensboro Claim
If you received care through Cone Health, its MyChart guidance explains that many records, including test results and visit summaries, are available in the portal. It also provides a route to request records that are not available there. Check the facilities and treatment dates involved rather than treating a portal summary as your complete history.
Cone Health’s medical-records instructions direct people seeking records from its listed behavioral health locations, including Guilford County Behavioral Health, to contact Health Information Management directly. Follow that process if it applies to your care. Identify any records you already have and discuss how remaining evidence will be obtained with your representative.
Get organized
Create a Treatment Source List for Your Greensboro Claim
Mark which records you have and which you still need.
Use a separate entry for each source of care. This checklist can organize your first conversation with us and help you identify missing information.
Provider and facility: Write down the treating professional, practice or hospital, contact information, and patient number if known. Include care received outside Greensboro.
Dates and records: Note the first and most recent visit, hospital stays, tests, and medications. Mark which records you have and which you still need.
Work demands: Record your jobs and dates worked. Describe the duties affected by your condition, including lifting, standing, remembering instructions, or interacting with others.
Agency correspondence: Keep SSA decisions and DDS requests together, noting when each arrived and any response instructions. Keep copies of what you submit.
After a denial
Acting on an Initial or Reconsideration Denial in Greensboro
Deadline
60days
For an initial SSDI or SSI denial, you generally must request reconsideration in writing within 60 days after receiving the notice. After a reconsideration denial, a written request for an ALJ hearing generally has the same 60-day receipt-based deadline. SSA presumes receipt five days after the notice date unless you show that you received it later.
If the request is late, ask for more time in writing and explain the delay. SSA must find good cause to extend the deadline; an extension is not automatic. Follow your decision’s instructions. The SSDI reconsideration rule and SSI reconsideration rule explain the requirements.
Hearing attendance
Preparing for the Hearing SSA Schedules for Your Greensboro Case
SSA hearings can take place in person, by telephone audio, by agency video using SSA equipment at an agency office, or by online video using your own device. Online video requires your agreement. The Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing includes forms for objecting to audio or agency video and agreeing to online video.
Objections are subject to SSA’s rules and exceptions. Follow the response instructions and deadlines in your notices. An in-person hearing may be held at a hearing office or a permanent remote site; the scheduling notice identifies your hearing’s method and, when relevant, location. Review SSA’s hearing attendance options.
Common questions
Greensboro Disability Claim Questions
Does a diagnosis alone establish disability?
No. For disability-based claims, SSA evaluates medical evidence and the condition’s effect on work under its disability rules. A condition’s name alone does not resolve that evaluation.
Do I need to list treatment outside Greensboro?
Yes. Include those providers and dates in your treatment-source list. North Carolina DDS seeks evidence from your own health care providers, so your list should reflect where you actually received care.
Are all of my Cone Health records in MyChart?
Do not assume they are. Cone Health says many records are available in MyChart and provides a separate process for requesting records that are not available there. Follow its specific instructions for records from the listed behavioral health locations.
Does Downard have a Greensboro office?
No. We have no offices outside Tennessee. We represent Greensboro clients by phone and video. Those client communications are separate from the appearance method SSA schedules for your hearing.
Discuss your claim
Discuss Your Greensboro SSDI or SSI Claim With Downard
Tell us how your condition affects your work and where your claim stands. Use your treatment-source list to explain the care you have received. We can discuss the next steps for representation.