Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI Claims Assigned to the West Ohio Street Hearing Office
Social Security's Indianapolis hearing office, at 101 West Ohio Street, Suite 1010, hears claims from eleven field offices, the three in Indianapolis plus Anderson, Bloomington, Columbus, Crawfordsville, Kokomo, Muncie, Richmond and Terre Haute. Downard & Associates represents Indianapolis-area claimants in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims, from the application through reconsideration, a hearing before an administrative law judge and Appeals Council review. We work by phone or video from our office in Lebanon, Tennessee, and there is no fee unless you win.
How we help
What We Handle for Indianapolis Claimants
Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video.
Two Indianapolis details can change how a claim is prepared: which hearing office your field office is assigned to, and an Indiana law that bars providers from charging for certain digital copies of medical records.
We handle applications, reconsideration, hearings and Appeals Council review. Our Indiana disability lawyer page covers how claims across the state are routed, including the parts of Indiana heard in Cincinnati and Louisville.
We have no Indianapolis office. Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video. We represent adults age 18 and older. We handle SSDI cases for people who receive VA benefits, but we do not handle VA claims or appeals. We do not take disability cessation or continuing disability review cases, or cases about back pay alone, and we refer federal court appeals to affiliated counsel.
Hearing office
The Indianapolis Hearing Office and the Field Offices It Hears
Social Security's hearing office locator, which groups offices by hearings hub, shows one hearing office in the city:
- Indianapolis, 101 West Ohio Street, Suite 1010, Indianapolis, IN 46204: the Anderson, Bloomington, Columbus, Crawfordsville, Indianapolis (Downtown), Indianapolis (Northeast), Indianapolis (West), Kokomo, Muncie, Richmond and Terre Haute field offices.
Some nearby field offices go elsewhere. The locator assigns the Lafayette field office to the Valparaiso hearing office, not Indianapolis, and it assigns Marion and Elkhart to Fort Wayne, which our Fort Wayne disability lawyer page covers. Vincennes is assigned to Evansville.
Social Security's operations manual says hearing office jurisdiction is determined by the claimant's residence address, though you can ask, in a signed statement giving your reasons, to have a case transferred, and Social Security decides whether to do it. Social Security's hearings manual also lets it reassign some cases to another hearing office to relieve a temporary workload imbalance or increase productivity, only when the other office can hear and decide them more quickly. Social Security generally does not reassign a case this way when you have properly objected in writing to both a phone hearing and an agency video hearing, have not agreed to online video, and have not changed your residence. After a move, it generally still honors that objection when deciding whether to reassign the case for workload reasons, if doing so causes no added delay and nothing else calls for scheduling you another way. That practice is separate from the hearing-format rule, under which Social Security decides how you appear after a move. When Social Security moves a case to another hearing office for workload or productivity reasons, the office that receives it notifies you and your representative. Our hearing office directory lists every office with its field offices. For an in-person or agency video hearing, the Notice of Hearing names the place, so go by that notice for your own case.
Indiana records law
Indiana's Rule on Charges for Digital Medical Records
Paper copies can still carry a charge, capped at the amount set in rules adopted by the Indiana Department of Insurance.
Since July 1, 2025, IC 16-39-9-2 has said that a provider may not charge a person for "providing a digital copy or digital access through an interoperability platform of an individual's electronic health record." Indiana defines an electronic health record to include billing statements and other administrative records that can be provided electronically. Paper copies can still carry a charge, capped at the amount set in rules adopted by the Indiana Department of Insurance.
The rule applies to providers as Indiana law defines them, including licensed health care professionals and licensed hospitals, and it is not limited to Social Security claims. A separate section, IC 16-39-1-2, requires a provider, on a written request and reasonable notice, to give a patient or the patient's designee access to or a copy of the patient's x-ray image at no cost.
For a disability claim, that makes the format of a request worth deciding up front. Ask each Indiana provider for an electronic copy through its patient portal or online request tool, and if a provider bills for a digital copy, point to IC 16-39-9-2 and its wording on a digital copy or digital access through an interoperability platform. The statute does not say how it applies to a disc, an emailed file or a request handled by a records vendor, so a fee in those cases may need a closer look. For most health records, Indiana gives a provider 30 days from a written request to supply them, plus one extension of up to 30 more days if, within the first 30 days, the provider tells you in writing why and by what date; mental health, substance use and communicable disease records follow separate rules. Our disability appeals page explains the steps after a denial.
Local treatment records
Medical Records From Eskenazi, IU Health, Community and the Roudebush VA
Eskenazi Health: its medical records page offers MyChart, its patient portal; a separate free online records request tool that verifies identity with a photo of your driver's license; or a Patient Medical Records Access Request Form sent to Eskenazi Health, Attn: HIM Release of Information Department, 720 Eskenazi Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46202, fax 317.880.0469. Attorneys and other third parties can request by mail, email or fax. Eskenazi asks for seven to 14 business days and says processing and mailing can take up to 30 business days. The time frames on this page are each provider's own estimates, not the legal deadline described above.
IU Health: its medical records page points patients to the My IU Health portal for an electronic version, and uses one Authorization to Release and Disclose Patient Information Form for every IU Health facility. For Methodist, University, Riley, North, West, Fishers and IU Health Medical Group, the form goes to HIM Release of Information, IU Health Methodist Hospital, 1701 N. Senate Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46202, fax 317.968.1177. Other IU Health hospitals, including Ball Memorial in Muncie, Bloomington and Arnett in Lafayette, have their own contacts on the same page.
Community Health Network: its release of information page says patients may request free copies through its online form, MyChart, mail or fax. For its Indianapolis, Howard and Anderson locations, mail goes to Community Health Network, Attn: HIM, 1500 North Ritter Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46219, and faxes to 317-351-7728; the release of information line is 317-355-5802. Behavioral health records need approval from every treating provider, which the network says can add 7 to 10 days, and Community Fairbanks Recovery Center and the two Community Rehabilitation Hospitals use their own contacts.
Roudebush VA: the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center's medical records office is on the 2nd floor, Room C-2107, 1481 West Tenth Street, open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. It takes VA Form 10-5345a by mail, or a signed written request with your Veteran Health Identification Card in person, and says mailed requests can take up to 20 business days. It is a federal facility, so Indiana's records rules above do not govern it, and its records page mentions no fee. Our veterans page explains how a VA rating and an SSDI claim relate.
Hearings and deadlines
Hearing Format and Appeal Deadlines for an Indianapolis Disability Claim
To object to a phone or agency video hearing, after you receive the notice
30days
20 CFR 404.936(d), 416.1436(d)
After a hearing request, Social Security sends a Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing, and its ways to attend page lists four: in person or by agency video at one of its offices, and by phone or online video from a private location you choose. Under 20 CFR 404.936 and, for SSI, 20 CFR 416.1436, an objection to a phone hearing, an agency video hearing, or both must be made in writing within 30 days after you receive that notice. If you do not object, Social Security can schedule a phone or agency video hearing, though it can also schedule you in person or, if you agree, by online video; if you object to only one of those two formats, it can schedule you in person, by the other format, or by online video if you agree, and if you object to both, it generally schedules you in person or, if you agree, by online video. Online video is used only if you agree to it in writing, and a late objection or agreement needs good cause. If you move while the hearing request is pending, Social Security decides how you appear and can schedule a phone or agency video hearing despite an objection, though it considers the move only if you send evidence of your new residence; it can also use a phone hearing in a few other situations the rule lists. Our guide to hearing formats explains each choice and when Social Security moves a case to another office, and our disability hearings page describes the hearing itself.
A reconsideration request is due in writing within 60 days after you receive the initial denial, under 20 CFR 404.909 for SSDI and 20 CFR 416.1409 for SSI, and a hearing request after a reconsideration denial has its own 60 days under 20 CFR 404.933 and 20 CFR 416.1433. Social Security treats a notice as received 5 days after the date on the notice unless you show it came later, under 20 CFR 404.901 and 20 CFR 416.1401. A late request needs a written request for more time and good cause, so call us the week a denial arrives.
Common questions
Indianapolis Disability Claim Questions
Is a Lafayette claim heard in Indianapolis?
Generally no. Social Security's hearing office locator assigns the Lafayette field office to the Valparaiso hearing office at 1250 Eastport Centre Drive, Valparaiso. A transfer or reassignment is possible, and your Notice of Hearing names the place and format for your own case.
Can an Indiana provider charge for a digital copy of my medical records?
IC 16-39-9-2 says a provider may not charge a person for providing a digital copy or digital access through an interoperability platform of an individual's electronic health record. Paper copies can carry a charge up to the amount set by Indiana Department of Insurance rules, and on a written request and reasonable notice, IC 16-39-1-2 requires an x-ray image to be provided at no cost.
How long does an Indiana provider have to send my records?
For most health records, IC 16-39-1-1 gives a provider 30 days from a written request, plus one extension of up to 30 more days if, within the first 30 days, the provider tells you in writing why and when the records will come. Mental health, substance use and communicable disease records follow separate rules.
How do I request records from Eskenazi Health?
Use Eskenazi's online records request tool, its MyChart patient portal, or the Patient Medical Records Access Request Form sent to the HIM Release of Information Department at 720 Eskenazi Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46202, fax 317.880.0469. Health Information Management answers at 317.880.3454, weekdays 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
What does the Roudebush VA release of information office need from me?
A signed VA Form 10-5345a by mail, or in person a signed written request and your Veteran Health Identification Card. The office is in Room C-2107 on the 2nd floor of the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center, 1481 West Tenth Street, open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Discuss your claim
Talk Through Your Indianapolis Claim With Us
Have your latest Social Security notice, the field office named on your letters and a list of where you have been treated in front of you. We will explain where the claim stands and the next deadline by phone or video.