Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI
Downard & Associates represents adults in Lubbock, Texas, with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims. We help with applications, reconsideration appeals, and administrative hearings, and work with clients by phone or video. Start with a list of your treatment sources and the work tasks your condition has made difficult. If care has involved UMC Health System (UMC), Covenant Health, or other providers, identify each source so your treatment history can be reviewed together.
How we help
How we develop a Lubbock application or administrative appeal
At reconsideration, we review the denial reasons and address missing evidence.
We help prepare and file an application, gather medical evidence, and document work history. At reconsideration, we review the denial reasons and address missing evidence. For an administrative law judge (ALJ) hearing, we develop the medical record, prepare you for questions about your treatment and work, and present the legal argument. The goal is to explain your condition through the evidence and the work it affects.
You can discuss your claim with our Tennessee-based team by phone or video. Our Texas disability representation page explains our statewide service.
We handle SSDI cases for people who currently receive U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (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
What Lubbock adults need to establish for SSDI or SSI
Duration rule
12months
SSDI generally requires enough recent work covered by Social Security. Work-credit requirements depend on your age when the disability began. SSI does not require an insured work record. It has income and resource limits, citizenship or qualifying immigration status, residency, and other requirements. Adults may qualify based on disability, statutory blindness, or being 65 or older.
For SSDI and adult SSI claims based on disability, the Social Security Administration (SSA) evaluates whether a medically determinable condition prevents work at the substantial gainful activity (SGA) level. Its sequential evaluation considers medical severity and, when the claim reaches those steps, whether you can perform past work or adjust to other work. A decision can occur before every step is reached. 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.
SSA does not use SGA to determine initial SSI eligibility based on statutory blindness. SSI statutory blindness has no duration requirement. SSI financial and other eligibility rules still apply. Eligibility based on age 65 or older does not require proving disability.
SSA's SSDI eligibility explanation and SSI eligibility requirements describe the program differences.
Local medical evidence
UMC and Covenant records: starting points for a Lubbock claim
Follow the instructions for the facility that treated you, and identify the records and treatment period you need.
If you received care through UMC, its MyChart instructions explain access to test results, medications, and visit summaries. UMC also publishes health-record access instructions with a contact for its Health Information Management department. Compare the information you can see with your treatment dates, and ask the records department about anything missing.
Covenant Health's medical-record request instructions require a written request and link release forms in English and Spanish. Follow the instructions for the facility that treated you, and identify the records and treatment period you need.
If your care crossed between these systems or included another clinic, keep a separate entry for each treatment source. Record the provider, contact information, dates, and records already in hand. SSA asks for details about all doctors, hospitals, and clinics, along with medications and tests; one portal view should not replace that treatment-source list.
Get organized
Build a treatment-to-work summary for your Lubbock claim
Use one document or folder to bring these details together. Start with the information you have rather than waiting for every record.
Map your care. List each doctor, hospital, and clinic with contact details and treatment dates. Note which UMC, Covenant, or other records you have and which dates still need checking.
Add treatment details. Record medication names and prescribers, important tests and dates, and where the tests were performed.
Connect symptoms with job duties. List recent jobs and dates. Describe the lifting, standing, sitting, concentration, or pace each job required, then give accurate examples of tasks your condition now limits.
Separate decisions from other letters. Keep each complete SSA decision and record when you received it. If you have appealed, note which appeal you filed and any treatment updates since the decision.
SSA's application guidance says not to delay applying because documents are missing. Provide the treatment-source details and records you already have while the remaining information is gathered.
Get organized
Organize Treatment and Work Details for Your Houston Claim
Include when you reduced hours or stopped working and why.
Use these steps to prepare for an application, an appeal, or a conversation with our team:
List each treatment source. Record the provider or facility name, contact details, and treatment dates. Identify Harris Health care and care elsewhere separately.
Identify existing records. Note which visit notes, test reports, or discharge records you already have and which dates still need attention.
Record treatment and medications. Include the treatment received, medication names, and the prescribers. Note the dates and locations of important tests.
Describe actual job duties. Record what you lifted, how long you stood or sat, and the concentration or pace your job required. Include when you reduced hours or stopped working and why.
Use concrete examples of limitations. Describe tasks you cannot complete, the breaks or help you need, and how often the difficulty occurs. Keep the description accurate rather than using only a diagnosis.
After a denial
Responding to a Lubbock denial starts with the review stage
Deadline
60days
For an initial SSDI or SSI denial, the deadline to request reconsideration is generally 60 days after you receive the notice. If reconsideration is denied, the deadline to request an ALJ hearing is generally 60 days after receipt of that decision. SSA normally presumes receipt five days after the notice date unless you show it arrived later. Keep the decision and any evidence of the actual receipt date.
If the request is late, ask for an extension in writing and explain the delay. SSA must find good cause under its rules; acceptance is not automatic. The SSDI reconsideration rule and SSI reconsideration rule explain those requests.
For hearing-office details, see our hearing-office guide.
Common questions
Lubbock questions about records and disability claims
What if an older UMC result is missing from MyChart?
UMC says some results may not appear in MyChart until after a first visit. Ask UMC about missing records rather than assuming the treatment is undocumented. You can still list the provider and treatment dates for your claim.
Do Covenant record requests have to be in writing?
Covenant Health's published instructions require a written request and provide English and Spanish release forms. Use the instructions and form that apply to the facility that treated you.
Can I apply if I do not have enough work credits for SSDI?
SSI does not require an insured work record, but you must meet its financial and other eligibility requirements and be age 65 or older, statutorily blind, or have a qualifying disability. Lacking SSDI work credits does not by itself establish SSI eligibility.
Can Downard help after I have applied on my own?
We can discuss representation at your current administrative stage, including reconsideration or an ALJ hearing. Share the decision you received, any appeal already filed, and your treatment history. We review denial reasons and help develop evidence for an administrative appeal.
Discuss your claim
Discuss your Lubbock SSDI or SSI claim with our team
Tell us whether you are applying, requesting reconsideration, or preparing for a hearing. Share a brief treatment history and what has changed in your ability to work. We can discuss representation by phone or video.