McAllen, Texas
McAllen and Rio Grande Valley SSDI and SSI Lawyers
Disability hearings for claims from the McAllen, Mission, Harlingen and Brownsville Social Security field offices are handled by one hearing office, and it sits in Harlingen, not McAllen. Downard & Associates represents Rio Grande Valley claimants in McAllen, Texas, and across the Valley with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims, from applications through reconsideration and hearings 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
How We Handle a Valley Disability Claim
After a denial, we work from the reasons in the notice.
A Valley claim is decided under the same federal rules as any other, but the practical work has its own shape: a single hearing office in Cameron County, hospital systems split between Hidalgo and Cameron counties, and claimants who may want a Spanish interpreter at the hearing. We plan for each of those from the start.
For an application, we gather medical evidence and work history and complete the forms with you; for SSI, we also document income and resources. After a denial, we work from the reasons in the notice. If the claim goes to a judge, our hearing representation covers the record, your testimony and the presentation. Our Texas disability lawyer page covers state programs that touch a claim, such as Texas Medicaid.
We have no Valley office. Consultations and 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 Valley's Hearing Office Is in Harlingen
Social Security's hearing office locator lists the Rio Grande Valley hearing office at Suite 200, 2009 West Jefferson Avenue, Harlingen, TX 78550, open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It serves four field offices: Brownsville, Harlingen, McAllen and Mission.
For a claimant who files through the McAllen or Mission field office, an in-person hearing at the hearing office means a trip from Hidalgo County into Cameron County. The Notice of Hearing names the place, and Social Security says an agency video hearing can be held at a hearing office or at another Social Security facility, such as a field office. If you want to stay home, the online video option below is the one to watch for.
Hearing formats
Phone, Video or In Person for a Valley Hearing
Deadline
30days
20 CFR 404.936
Social Security's ways to attend page lists four ways to appear: in person at one of its offices, by telephone from a private location, by agency video on its equipment at one of its offices, or by online video on your own phone, tablet or computer.
Under 20 CFR 404.936, Social Security sends a notice before scheduling that tells you which formats it may use. You have 30 days after receiving that notice to object in writing to a phone or agency video appearance, and the same 30 days to agree in writing to online video. You can withdraw an online video agreement any time before the hearing starts. We file the form that matches your choice so the deadline does not pass while the notice sits on a counter.
The judge's own witnesses, including medical and vocational experts, generally appear by phone or video under the same rule, whatever format you choose. For a Valley claimant, that means the choice is mainly about whether you travel for the hearing.
Interpreters
Spanish Interpreters at Social Security Hearings
Social Security's hearings manual, HALLEX I-2-1-70, says the agency will provide an interpreter free of charge when a claimant requests one. A request noted on the hearing request form, a report from your representative that your English is limited, or limited English recorded on your disability report can each signal the need.
You are not required to bring your own interpreter. If you do, HALLEX I-2-6-10 requires the judge to certify that person, who must state under penalty of perjury that they have no prior relationship to you or any other party testifying and are not acting as your representative. Under HALLEX I-2-1-70, a person under 18 cannot serve as an interpreter. That rules out the relative who usually translates at the doctor's office, which is one reason to ask for a Social Security interpreter early.
Outside the hearing, Social Security's interpreter services are free for other business too. On the national number, 1-800-772-1213, pressing 7 reaches a Spanish-speaking representative.
Local treatment records
Medical Records From Valley Hospital Systems
DHR notes there may be a fee for records or images on CD.
DHR Health: its medical records page requires a written, signed request, with a copy of your ID, sent by fax to 956-362-3450 or by mail to HIM Release of Information, 101 Paseo Del Prado, Edinburg, TX 78539. The form comes in English and Spanish, and the page lists one release of information address for every request, with no separate route for clinic or imaging records. DHR notes there may be a fee for records or images on CD.
South Texas Health System: its records page says the online medical correspondence system is the quickest route. You can also mail or deliver the authorization form to a records office, including McAllen's at 301 W. Expressway 83, or fax it to 956-289-2964, and any location can take a request for any South Texas Health System facility. The page covers hospital-based inpatient and outpatient services, so physician practice records may need a separate request.
Valley Baptist: its records request page takes the authorization form by fax or mail at the Harlingen or Brownsville medical center, or through an electronic submission link.
If you were treated in more than one system, records from each one belong in the file. Ask for the written imaging reports as well as the images.
Get organized
Keeping a Valley Claim File in Order
If you were treated on both sides of the county line, at a hospital in Edinburg or McAllen and a clinic or specialist in Harlingen or Brownsville, a single list keeps those records from being missed.
Providers in both counties: every hospital, clinic and doctor in Hidalgo and Cameron counties, with visit dates, and any provider elsewhere in Texas or across the border who treated the same conditions.
Requests sent: the date, the system and the route used for each records request, and whether the reply included imaging reports.
Language: whether you want an interpreter at the hearing, and in which language, so the request goes on the hearing request and in your disability report.
Recent jobs: Social Security looks at work done in the past five years. Under 20 CFR 404.1560, a job that started and stopped in fewer than 30 calendar days does not count as past relevant work, so list the length of each job as well as its duties.
Notices: each letter from Social Security, with the date it arrived written on the envelope.
Share the list with us at the first call. We use it to request records and to prepare your testimony about work.
After a denial
After a Denial in the Valley
Deadline
60days
20 CFR 404.909
You have 60 days after you receive a denial notice to request reconsideration in writing, under 20 CFR 404.909 for SSDI and 20 CFR 416.1409 for SSI. Under 20 CFR 404.901, the notice counts as received 5 days after its date unless you show it came later. If reconsideration is denied, 20 CFR 404.933 allows 60 days from receipt to request a hearing (20 CFR 416.1433 for SSI), and the Rio Grande Valley hearing office in Harlingen handles that request.
If you need a Spanish interpreter, say so on the hearing request. Our guide to what happens at a hearing walks through the hearing itself.
Common questions
Rio Grande Valley Disability Claim Questions
Is there a Social Security hearing office in McAllen?
No. Social Security's hearing office locator lists one Valley hearing office, in Harlingen at 2009 West Jefferson Avenue, Suite 200. It hears claims from the Brownsville, Harlingen, McAllen and Mission field offices. You can agree in writing to appear by online video instead of traveling.
Can my daughter interpret for me at my disability hearing?
Generally no. An interpreter you bring must state under penalty of perjury that they have no prior relationship to you or any other party testifying, and Social Security's hearings manual bars anyone under 18 from serving. Social Security provides a qualified interpreter free of charge when you request one.
Does DHR Health accept records requests online?
Not according to its medical records page, which lists fax and mail only: a written request sent by fax to 956-362-3450 or by mail to its release of information office in Edinburg, with a copy of your ID. The form can be downloaded in English and Spanish.
Can a Tennessee firm represent me at a hearing in Harlingen?
Yes. Social Security disability is a federal program, and its rules let an attorney in good standing in any state represent you. We represent Valley claimants by phone or video and prepare you for the hearing format you choose.
Discuss your claim
Talk Through Your Valley Claim With Us
Tell us which field office handles your claim, what Social Security has decided and whether you want an interpreter at a hearing. We will explain the next step by phone or video.