Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI Claims Before Either Phoenix Hearing Office
Phoenix has two Social Security hearing offices, Phoenix Downtown at Siete Square on North 7th Street and Phoenix North on North 25th Avenue, and your home address generally determines which one has your case; Social Security's locator lists the Mesa field office under Downtown and the Glendale field office under North. Downard & Associates represents Phoenix-area claimants in 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
What We Handle for Phoenix Claimants
Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video.
Two Phoenix details can change how a claim is prepared: which of the city's two hearing offices has the file, and whether the medical records for an appeal can be requested free of charge under Arizona law.
We handle applications, reconsideration, hearings and Appeals Council review. Our Arizona disability lawyer page covers how claims across the state are routed, including Yuma and the Navajo Nation.
We have no Phoenix office. Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee 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 cases about back pay alone, and we refer federal court appeals to affiliated counsel.
Hearing offices
Phoenix Downtown and Phoenix North: Which Hearing Office Has Your Claim
Social Security's hearing office locator lists two offices in the city:
- Phoenix Downtown, Siete Square, Suite 200, 3737 North 7th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85014: the Apache Junction, Chinle, Flagstaff, Mesa, Phoenix (Downtown) and Tuba City field offices.
- Phoenix North, Suite 430, 18444 North 25th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85023: the Colorado River Basin, Glendale, Phoenix (North) and Prescott field offices.
Both offices reach well beyond the city. Flagstaff, and Chinle and Tuba City on the Navajo Nation, are assigned to Phoenix Downtown, while Prescott and the Colorado River Basin field office are assigned to Phoenix North. The Casa Grande field office is assigned to the Tucson hearing office instead, which our Tucson disability lawyer page covers. Our Phoenix Social Security offices guide gives the address, hours and main ZIP codes of the Phoenix Downtown and Phoenix North field offices and the nearby Glendale, Mesa and Apache Junction offices.
Social Security's operations manual says hearing office jurisdiction is determined by the claimant's residence address, though you can ask, in a signed statement giving your reasons, to have a case transferred, and Social Security decides whether to do it. Social Security's hearings manual also lets it reassign some cases to another hearing office to relieve a temporary workload imbalance or increase productivity, only when the other office can hear and decide them more quickly. Social Security generally does not reassign a case this way when you have properly objected in writing to both a phone hearing and an agency video hearing, have not agreed to online video, and have not changed your residence. After a move, it generally still honors that objection when deciding whether to reassign the case for workload reasons, if doing so causes no added delay and nothing else calls for scheduling you another way. That practice is separate from the hearing-format rule, under which Social Security decides how you appear after a move. When Social Security moves a case to another hearing office for workload or productivity reasons, the office that receives it notifies you and your representative. Our hearing office directory lists every office with its field offices. For an in-person or agency video hearing, the Notice of Hearing names the place, so go by that notice for your own case.
Arizona records law
Arizona's Medical Records Fee Rule for a Social Security Appeal
It covers an appeal of a denial, not a first application.
Arizona's A.R.S. 12-2295 lets a health care provider, or a contractor that copies records for one, charge a reasonable fee for copies of medical records, with exceptions. One exception, subsection (B)(5), bars a charge for the pertinent information in records provided to the patient or the patient's legal representative for the purpose of appealing a denial of benefits under the Social Security Act.
The exception has limits written into it. It covers an appeal of a denial, not a first application. Additional requests, and requests for records already provided free in the same calendar year, are subject to a reasonable fee, though no fee may be charged if no records are found. A legal representative must provide Social Security's appointment of representative form, SSA-1696, before getting the records free.
After a denial, one well-planned request to each provider, listing every date of treatment that matters, makes the most of the free request. The statute covers the pertinent information in the records, and treatment after that request needs a new request, which the provider may charge for. Our disability appeals page explains the steps after a denial.
Local treatment records
Medical Records From Valleywise, Banner, Phoenix Indian Medical Center and the Phoenix VA
Valleywise Health: its health records page asks for a signed Authorization to Use or Disclose Protected Health Information, sent to the Health Information Management Department, 2601 E. Roosevelt Street, Phoenix, AZ 85008, fax (602) 655-9017, phone (602) 344-5266. The same authorization is what lets an attorney or Disability Determination Service receive the records. Valleywise gives itself 30 days to respond, plus up to 30 more if the records are not available yet or stored off site.
Banner Health: its patient medical records page takes online requests through MRO Patient Central for any Banner hospital, provider office or urgent care, or in person at the Health Information Management Services department of any Banner hospital with a government-issued photo ID. Banner says a fee may be assessed for labor, supplies or postage. Under the Arizona rule above, a provider or its records contractor may not charge for the pertinent information in a first request for records to appeal a Social Security denial, though later requests may carry a fee, so say in the request that it is for a Social Security appeal. Banner Surgery Center and Banner Physical Therapy records use their own contacts, and for imaging, call Banner Imaging Services at 480-610-7400, option 2.
Phoenix Indian Medical Center: the Indian Health Service hospital's medical records page takes its Authorization for Use or Disclosure of Protected Health Information with a copy of photo ID, by mail to Health Information Management, 4212 N 16th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85016, by fax to 602-263-1648, or at the first-floor release of information office. It says processing can take up to 30 business days.
Phoenix VA: the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center's release of information office is in Room 1606, Veterans Resource Center, 650 East Indian School Road, open weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It takes VA Form 10-5345a by mail, or a signed written request with your Veteran Health Identification Card in person, and says mailed requests can take up to 20 business days. Our veterans page explains how a VA rating and an SSDI claim relate.
Phoenix Indian Medical Center and the Phoenix VA are federal facilities, and neither one's records page mentions a fee.
Hearings and deadlines
Hearing Format and Appeal Deadlines for a Phoenix Disability Claim
To object to a phone or agency video hearing, after you receive the notice
30days
20 CFR 404.936(d), 416.1436(d)
After a hearing request, Social Security sends a Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing, and its ways to attend page lists four: in person or by agency video at one of its offices, and by phone or online video from a private location you choose. Under 20 CFR 404.936 and, for SSI, 20 CFR 416.1436, an objection to a phone hearing, an agency video hearing, or both must be made in writing within 30 days after you receive that notice. If you do not object, Social Security can schedule a phone or agency video hearing, though it can also schedule you in person or, if you agree, by online video; if you object to only one of those two formats, it can schedule you in person, by the other format, or by online video if you agree, and if you object to both, it generally schedules you in person or, if you agree, by online video. Online video is used only if you agree to it in writing, and a late objection or agreement needs good cause. If you move while the hearing request is pending, Social Security decides how you appear and can schedule a phone or agency video hearing despite an objection, though it considers the move only if you send evidence of your new residence; it can also use a phone hearing in a few other situations the rule lists. Our guide to hearing formats explains each choice and when Social Security moves a case to another office, and our disability hearings page describes the hearing itself.
A reconsideration request is due in writing within 60 days after you receive the initial denial, under 20 CFR 404.909 for SSDI and 20 CFR 416.1409 for SSI, and a hearing request after a reconsideration denial has its own 60 days under 20 CFR 404.933 and 20 CFR 416.1433. Social Security treats a notice as received 5 days after the date on the notice unless you show it came later, under 20 CFR 404.901 and 20 CFR 416.1401. A late request needs a written request for more time and good cause, so call us the week a denial arrives.
Common questions
Phoenix Disability Claim Questions
Is a Mesa claim heard at Phoenix Downtown or Phoenix North?
Social Security's hearing office locator assigns the Mesa field office to Phoenix Downtown at 3737 North 7th Street, and the Glendale field office to Phoenix North at 18444 North 25th Avenue. Your Notice of Hearing names the place and format for your own case.
Does Arizona's free-records rule apply to my first SSDI application?
No. A.R.S. 12-2295(B)(5) covers records provided for the purpose of appealing a denial of Social Security benefits. For a first application, subsection (A) lets a provider charge a reasonable fee unless the statute or other law provides otherwise.
How many free copies does an Arizona provider owe for a Social Security appeal?
The statute bars a fee for the pertinent information in the records when the patient or legal representative requests them to appeal a Social Security denial. Any additional request, and a request for records already provided free in the same calendar year, may carry a reasonable fee, but no fee may be charged if no records are found. A representative must provide Social Security's form SSA-1696 before getting the records free.
How do I request records from Phoenix Indian Medical Center?
Send the medical center's Authorization for Use or Disclosure of Protected Health Information with a copy of your photo ID to Health Information Management, 4212 N 16th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85016, fax 602-263-1648, or bring it to the first-floor release of information office. Processing can take up to 30 business days.
Where do veterans request records at the Phoenix VA?
The release of information office is in Room 1606 of the Veterans Resource Center at 650 East Indian School Road, open weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It takes VA Form 10-5345a by mail or a signed written request with your Veteran Health Identification Card in person.
Discuss your claim
Talk Through Your Phoenix Claim With Us
Have your latest Social Security notice, the field office named on your letters and a list of where you have been treated in front of you. We will explain where the claim stands and the next deadline by phone or video.