Oklahoma city, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI
Downard & Associates represents adults in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 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 develop the medical and work-history evidence for a claim. If your health has interrupted your ability to work, or the Social Security Administration (SSA) has denied your application, start with your claim stage and treatment history. We can discuss representation and the next step for your case.
How we help
Working With Downard on an Oklahoma City Claim
That gives SSA the information needed to evaluate the claim.
We help connect your treatment history, work record, and account of your limitations to the issues SSA must decide. The work changes with the stage of your claim.
Application: We help prepare and file the application, gather medical evidence, and document your work history. That gives SSA the information needed to evaluate the claim.
Reconsideration: We address the reasons for an initial denial and add missing medical evidence to the appeal. The response should address the issues in the decision.
Administrative hearing: We develop the medical record, prepare you for questions about your condition and work limitations, and present the case to the administrative law judge.
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 Oklahoma City Adults
Duration rule
12months
SSDI generally requires enough total and recent work covered by Social Security. The work-credit requirements depend on your age when disability began. For statutory blindness, the recent-work test does not apply, but the total-work requirement still does. SSA's disability eligibility guidance explains the medical standard.
SSI does not require an insured work record. Adults may qualify based on disability, statutory blindness, or age 65 or older, subject to income and resource limits and other rules. SSA's SSI eligibility guidance explains residency requirements and the rules for U.S. citizens and qualifying noncitizens.
For SSDI and adult SSI claims based on disability, SSA evaluates substantial gainful activity (SGA) and medical severity. SGA means significant physical or mental work done for pay or profit, or work of a kind usually done for pay or profit. SSA considers past work and adjustment to other work when the claim reaches those steps. A diagnosis alone does not establish eligibility.
For disability-based claims, both the medical impairment and the resulting inability to perform SGA must generally have lasted or be expected to last at least 12 consecutive months, unless the impairment is expected to result in death within 12 months of disability onset. The duration requirement does not mean you must wait a year before applying.
For initial SSI eligibility based on statutory blindness, SSA does not use SGA. Statutory blindness has no duration requirement under SSI. Financial and other SSI rules still apply. SSI based on age 65 or older does not require proving disability.
Local claim process
Medical Review of an Oklahoma City Disability Application
Record the name of each clinic or hospital and the dates you received care so the medical review can identify the relevant records.
SSA reviews the nonmedical part of an application, including the relevant work or financial requirements. Oklahoma Disability Determination Services, a division of the state Department of Rehabilitation Services, reviews medical eligibility under federal rules. A disability examiner and a physician or psychologist consider information from your treatment providers. SSA sends the written determination notice.
Keep your provider list current, including treatment outside Oklahoma City. Record the name of each clinic or hospital and the dates you received care so the medical review can identify the relevant records.
Our Oklahoma disability page provides broader statewide context for the claim process.
Local medical evidence
Requesting OU Health Records for an Oklahoma City Claim
If you received care through OU Health in the Oklahoma City metro area, use the Oklahoma City-metro hospital and clinic section of its medical records page. It provides a records-request portal and an authorization form. OU Health lists fax, mail, and personal delivery for submitting the completed form and asks for a valid photo ID and telephone number.
The authorization form asks for dates of service and the facility or physician office name. It lets you identify record types, including provider notes, imaging reports, emergency records, and lab reports. Match the request to your treatment dates and the material you need.
Keep a separate entry for each treatment source. When records arrive, compare them with the visits and reports you requested. Contact the records department about anything you still need. Include treatment from other health systems in your claim information as well.
Get organized
A Records Log for Your Oklahoma City Application or Appeal
Note the facility name used on an OU Health request.
Use this checklist to organize the information before a discussion about your claim. SSA's application instructions identify the medical and work information it requests.
Treatment list: Record each provider, contact information, patient number if known, and dates of examinations or treatment. Note the facility name used on an OU Health request.
Request log: Record the provider, dates and record types requested, submission date, and response. Mark any missing visits or reports for follow-up.
Tests and medication: List test names and dates, who ordered them, medications, and who prescribed them.
Work and limitations: Record job duties, dates, hours, and pay. Describe specific tasks your condition affects, such as sitting, lifting, concentrating, or keeping a schedule.
Decision record: Keep the full SSA decision, the date you received it, and copies of material you submitted.
After a denial
Responding to an Oklahoma City SSDI or SSI Denial
Deadline
60days
After an initial SSDI or SSI denial, a written reconsideration request is generally due within 60 days after you receive the notice. After a reconsideration denial, a written request for an administrative law judge hearing is generally due within 60 days after receipt. SSA's reconsideration rules for SSDI and SSI explain the first deadline; its hearing-request rules for SSDI and SSI explain the second.
SSA's SSDI and SSI receipt rules generally assume receipt five days after the notice date unless you show that you received it later. If a reconsideration or hearing request is late, ask for an extension in writing and explain the delay. SSA must find good cause; an extension is not automatic.
For office information at the hearing stage, see our Social Security hearing-office guide.
Common questions
Oklahoma City Disability Claim Questions
Should I wait until I have every medical record to apply?
No. SSA says not to delay applying because documents are missing. Provide the information and records you have, and identify your treatment sources. Continue organizing additional records without treating the checklist as a reason to postpone an application.
Which OU Health records instructions should I use?
Use the section that matches where you received care. OU Health publishes separate instructions for Oklahoma City-metro hospital and clinic patients and patients of OU Health Physicians in the Tulsa metro area. For care covered by the Oklahoma City-metro section, use its records-request portal or authorization form and follow that section's submission instructions.
Will my SSA hearing be by phone or video?
SSA describes four hearing attendance methods: in person, audio by telephone, agency video using SSA equipment, and online video using a personal device. Online video requires your agreement. SSA's 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 actual hearing notice for the scheduled method and location. Meetings with our team do not determine your SSA hearing format.
Does having medical records mean SSA will approve my claim?
No. Records provide evidence, but approval depends on the applicable program requirements and SSA's evaluation. For a disability-based claim, the medical evidence must support the relevant disability standard; a diagnosis by itself is not enough. SSI eligibility based on age or statutory blindness follows separate rules.
Discuss your claim
Discuss Your Oklahoma City SSDI or SSI Claim
Tell us whether you are applying, appealing an initial denial, or preparing for a hearing. We can discuss representation by phone or video and the information needed for the next step.