Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI
Downard & Associates represents adults in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) applications, reconsideration appeals, and administrative hearings. We work with clients by phone or video and help gather medical evidence and prepare for the next stage. If your health is limiting your ability to work, start with your treatment history and the demands of your recent jobs. If you have received a denial, keep the decision and its arrival date available.
How we help
Working With Downard on a Minneapolis Application or Appeal
We do not take disability cessation or continuing disability review cases, or new cases involving back-pay issues alone.
For a new claim, we gather medical records and help prepare and file the application. At reconsideration, we develop additional evidence and file the appeal. This work brings the treatment history and supporting information together for the review ahead.
If your case reaches an administrative law judge hearing, we help you prepare for questions about your condition, treatment, and work. Client conversations take place by phone or video. Our Minnesota disability page provides the broader state context.
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.
Benefit eligibility
SSDI and SSI Eligibility for Minneapolis Adults
Duration rule
12months
SSDI generally requires enough total and recent work covered by Social Security, as well as a qualifying disability. The work-credit requirements depend on your age when disability began; younger workers may qualify with fewer credits. For statutory blindness, the recent-work test does not apply, but the total-work requirement still does. The Social Security Administration (SSA) explains these requirements in its disability eligibility guidance.
SSI has separate income and resource limits and does not require an insured work record. Adults may qualify based on disability, statutory blindness, or age 65 or older, subject to residency, citizenship or eligible noncitizen status, and other program requirements.
For SSDI and adult SSI claims based on disability, SSA evaluates whether a medically determinable condition prevents substantial gainful activity, meaning significant physical or mental work of a kind usually done for pay or profit. Both the condition and the resulting inability to perform that work must generally have lasted or be expected to last at least 12 consecutive months, unless the condition is expected to result in death within 12 months of disability onset. When the evaluation requires it, SSA also considers past work and adjustment to other work; some claims are decided at an earlier step.
The expected-duration rule does not require you to wait 12 months before applying. SSI based on age or statutory blindness follows different rules: SSA does not use substantial gainful activity to determine initial SSI eligibility based on statutory blindness, and SSI statutory blindness has no duration requirement. Income and resource rules still apply. See SSA's SSI eligibility explanation.
Local records
Requesting NorthPoint and M Health Fairview Records in Minneapolis
NorthPoint asks for documents showing that you are the patient or the patient's legally authorized representative.
If you receive care at NorthPoint in North Minneapolis, its health-records instructions describe in-person requests and a Health Information Release form you can send by email or fax. NorthPoint asks for documents showing that you are the patient or the patient's legally authorized representative. Follow those instructions when requesting records for yourself or through someone authorized to act for you.
If you received care at M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis, its medical-records page distinguishes reading records in MyChart from requesting a formal copy through the Sharing Hub. It also provides an authorization-form option for people who prefer another method. Use the section for M Health Fairview Hospitals and Clinics when that is where you received care.
List each treatment source separately, including care outside these systems. Record the facility, clinician, treatment dates, and records already available. That list helps identify where additional evidence may need to be requested. Use each provider's instructions for records from care you have already received.
Local claim process
How Minnesota DDS Reviews a Minneapolis Disability Claim
Minnesota Disability Determination Services, or DDS, makes medical eligibility determinations on SSA's behalf. Its examiners request records from treatment sources and may contact you or your representative by phone or letter for more information. SSA handles nonmedical eligibility requirements, such as insured status for SSDI and financial eligibility for SSI.
Keep a copy of any request, note what information is needed, and respond using the instructions provided. Tell your representative about new treatment or tests so the provider list can be updated. If the available medical evidence is insufficient, DDS may arrange an examination to obtain more information; not every claim requires one.
Get organized
Build a Treatment and Work Summary for Your Minneapolis Claim
Include contact information, patient numbers if available, and treatment dates.
Use this short checklist to prepare for an application or a conversation about your claim. It is a starting point, not the complete application.
List your doctors, clinics, hospitals, and other relevant treatment sources. Include contact information, patient numbers if available, and treatment dates. Mark records you already have and care that still needs to be identified.
Record medicines, prescribers, tests, test dates, and who ordered them. Keep available reports with the treatment list.
Describe what each recent job actually required: lifting, standing, sitting, walking, using your hands, concentrating, or interacting with others. Note hours, dates, and changes such as reduced hours, added help, extra breaks, or when work stopped.
For an appeal, keep the decision notice, the date it arrived, and a copy of anything you have submitted. Those details help identify the review stage and timing.
Do not postpone an application while trying to complete the list or obtain every record. SSA says not to delay applying because documents are missing; it will help obtain them.
After a denial
Responding to a Minneapolis SSDI or SSI Denial
Deadline
60days
After an initial SSDI or SSI denial, a reconsideration request generally must be made in writing within 60 days after you receive the decision. After a reconsideration denial, a written request for an administrative law judge hearing generally has the same receipt-based deadline. SSA's SSDI reconsideration rule and SSI reconsideration rule explain the first appeal stage.
SSA ordinarily presumes that you received a notice five days after its date unless you show that it arrived later. Do not treat that as an unconditional 65-day deadline for every Social Security letter. Keep the envelope and any other record of delivery when available.
If a reconsideration or hearing request is late, ask SSA for an extension in writing and explain the delay. SSA must find good cause; more time is not automatic.
For hearing-stage information, our hearing-office guide explains the directory and office relationships. Follow the notices issued for your own case when planning attendance.
Common questions
Minneapolis Disability Claim Questions
Can I work with Downard while staying in Minneapolis?
Yes. We represent Minneapolis adults with SSDI and SSI matters and communicate with clients by phone or video. Those meetings are separate from SSA hearing arrangements.
How can someone help me request my NorthPoint records?
NorthPoint asks for documents showing that the requester is the patient or the patient's legally authorized representative. Follow its Health Information Release instructions and confirm what documentation is needed before someone requests records on your behalf.
Is reading M Health Fairview records in MyChart the same as requesting a formal copy?
No. M Health Fairview describes reading records online separately from requesting a formal copy through MyChart's Sharing Hub. Its records page also explains how to request records through an authorization form if you prefer not to use MyChart. Identify the treatment period and material needed rather than assuming an online view accounts for every record relevant to your claim.
Can my Social Security hearing take place remotely?
SSA lists four hearing methods: in person, audio by telephone, agency video using SSA equipment, and online video using your own device. Online video requires your agreement. The appearance notice explains how and when to agree to online video or object to audio, agency video, or both. Objections are subject to SSA rules and exceptions. Follow your scheduling notice for the method and location. SSA's hearing-options page explains the process.
Discuss your claim
Discuss Your Minneapolis SSDI or SSI Claim
Contact Downard & Associates to discuss your application or appeal. Share where you are in the process, the treatment you have received, and how your condition affects your work. We can discuss the representation you need and the next step.