Lansing, Michigan
Lansing SSDI and SSI Lawyers for Mid-Michigan Claims
The Lansing hearing office on Collins Road holds disability hearings for claims from four Social Security field offices: Lansing, Jackson, Battle Creek and Owosso. Downard & Associates represents claimants in Lansing, Michigan, and across that service area with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims, from the application through reconsideration and a hearing before an administrative law judge. We work by phone or video from our office in Lebanon, Tennessee, and there is no fee unless you win.
How we help
Representing Lansing Claimants by Phone and Video
We sort out those pieces at the start so the claim and the benefits around it line up.
A Lansing claim often has more than one source of income riding on it. State of Michigan employees may have long-term disability coverage that changes when SSDI starts, and for someone living independently, SSI in Michigan comes in two payments from two agencies. We sort out those pieces at the start so the claim and the benefits around it line up.
For an application, we document your treatment and work history and complete the forms with you; for SSI, we also document income and resources. After a denial, we answer the reasons Social Security gave, and our appeals representation carries the claim through reconsideration and a hearing. Our Michigan disability lawyer page covers the rest of the state.
We have no Lansing office. Consultations and hearing preparation happen 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 new cases involving back-pay issues alone, and we refer federal court appeals to affiliated counsel.
Hearing office
The Lansing Hearing Office and the Field Offices It Serves
Social Security's hearing office locator lists the Lansing hearing office at Suite 200, 4202 Collins Road, Lansing, MI 48910. It serves the Battle Creek, Jackson, Lansing and Owosso field offices.
The lines are not obvious from a map. Battle Creek and Jackson claims come to Lansing, while the Kalamazoo field office goes to Grand Rapids and the Ann Arbor field office goes to Livonia, so claimants along I-94 between Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor can be heard in three different cities. Owosso, in Shiawassee County, goes to Lansing rather than Flint. Social Security can change these assignments, and for an in-person or agency video hearing the Notice of Hearing names the place.
Hearing formats
Appearing at a Lansing Hearing
Deadline
30days
20 CFR 404.936
Social Security's ways to attend page lists four ways to appear before an administrative law judge: in person at one of its offices, by telephone, by agency video at one of its offices, or by online video on your own device from a private place.
Under 20 CFR 404.936, Social Security sends a notice before it schedules the hearing. Within 30 days after you receive it, you can object in writing to a phone or agency video appearance, agree in writing to online video, or both. Online video is scheduled only with your agreement, and you can withdraw it before the hearing starts. For a Battle Creek or Jackson claimant, online video can replace the drive to Collins Road.
Local treatment records
Medical Records From Lansing-Area Health Systems
UM Health-Sparrow: its medical records page notes that your record is available free through MyChart. For copies, the authorization form goes by mail, fax or email to the Medical Records Department at 1215 E Michigan Ave, Lansing, and the page warns that incomplete forms will be denied.
McLaren Greater Lansing: McLaren's records page offers the patient portal or a signed authorization by mail, fax or in person, and asks you to allow 5 to 7 business days for a mailed or faxed request. Radiology has its own contact at the Lansing hospital, separate from medical records, so ask both offices when imaging matters.
MSU Health Care: its records page splits records by date. You can view and download records through the MSU Health Care/Henry Ford MyChart. The page also points to the older Athena portal for care received before January 31, 2026, and imaging phone numbers depend on the type of study and its date.
Battle Creek and Jackson: Bronson's request page covers its hospitals, including Bronson Battle Creek, while Bronson Medical Group practices use a separate release form. For Henry Ford Jackson Hospital, Henry Ford's records page says the Medical Records Department cannot provide radiology films or CDs; those come from radiology.
State employees
State of Michigan Long-Term Disability and SSDI
For State of Michigan employees, the Civil Service long-term disability plan is written with SSDI in mind. The plan pays 66.67% of basic monthly earnings, subject to a monthly maximum, and reduces that payment by other income payable. It lists Social Security Disability Insurance benefits first among the most common sources of that other income, followed by State of Michigan retirement income and post-injury work earnings, and says the plan's administrator will help employees who are permanently unable to return to their usual or a reasonable occupation apply for Social Security Disability benefits.
Tell us at the start if you receive State LTD, because an SSDI award changes the LTD payment. For employees covered by the older defined benefit plan, the Office of Retirement Services disability page describes duty and non-duty disability retirement and points members to Social Security disability benefits as a separate program to ask about. Our guide to how SSDI is calculated explains the number the plan will count.
SSI in Michigan
Michigan's Quarterly SSI Supplement
For someone living independently, SSI in Michigan comes in two parts. Social Security pays the federal amount every month. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services adds a small state supplement, and its SSI payment table, effective January 1, 2026, lists $14.00 a month for an individual living independently and $21.00 for a couple, issued quarterly in March, June, September and December.
That quarterly timing explains a payment that seems to arrive out of nowhere four times a year. MDHHS lists it in the same SSI payment table as the federal amount.
Get organized
One List Before the First Call
List a practice separately from the hospital it belongs to.
A Lansing claim can draw on a Sparrow admission, a McLaren specialist, MSU Health Care visits and a Bronson or Henry Ford hospital in Battle Creek or Jackson. Each holds its records in a different office, so a single list does more than any form.
Providers: every hospital, practice, clinic and therapist, with addresses and the dates of your first and most recent visits. List a practice separately from the hospital it belongs to.
Imaging: where each MRI, CT or X-ray was done and roughly when, since MSU Health Care routes imaging requests by date.
Benefits: any State LTD, retirement, workers' compensation or SSI payments, with start dates and monthly amounts.
Recent jobs: Social Security looks at work done in the past five years. Under 20 CFR 404.1565, it asks for the dates you worked and the duties of each job in that period.
Notices: every letter from Social Security, with the date it arrived written on the envelope.
Send us the list at the start. It becomes the index for every records request we make and the outline for your testimony about work.
After a denial
Deadlines After a Lansing Denial
Deadline
60days
20 CFR 404.909
Reconsideration must be requested in writing within 60 days after you receive the denial notice, under 20 CFR 404.909 for SSDI and 20 CFR 416.1409 for SSI. 20 CFR 404.901 treats a notice as received 5 days after its date unless you show otherwise. A denial at reconsideration opens another 60 days to request a hearing under 20 CFR 404.933 for SSDI and 20 CFR 416.1433 for SSI.
Michigan claimants once went straight from an initial denial to a hearing request. That step is back, and advice written for the old Michigan process sends people to the wrong form. Read the denial notice for the appeal it names.
Common questions
Lansing Disability Claim Questions
Why is my Battle Creek disability hearing in Lansing?
Social Security's hearing office locator assigns the Battle Creek field office to the Lansing hearing office at 4202 Collins Road, along with Jackson, Lansing and Owosso. You can agree in writing to an online video hearing instead of traveling.
Does State of Michigan long-term disability go down when SSDI starts?
Under the Civil Service long-term disability plan, the monthly LTD payment is reduced by other income payable, and the plan lists Social Security Disability Insurance first among the most common sources of that income.
When does Michigan pay its share of SSI?
Quarterly. The state supplement for an individual living independently is $14.00 a month in 2026, issued by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services in March, June, September and December.
Does McLaren Greater Lansing send imaging through medical records?
McLaren lists a separate radiology contact at its Lansing hospital, apart from the medical records office, so ask radiology directly for images and keep the written reports in your medical records request.
Discuss your claim
Talk Through Your Lansing Claim With Us
Tell us which field office took your claim, what Social Security has decided and whether State LTD or other benefits are involved. We will explain the next step by phone or video.