Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI
Downard & Associates represents adults in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) applications and appeals. We work with clients by phone and video from Tennessee. We help gather medical evidence, file claims and appeals, and prepare clients for administrative hearings. Start with a list of your treatment providers, the work your condition has affected, and any decision Social Security has already sent you.
How we help
How We Help Build a Pittsburgh Disability Claim
Before an administrative hearing, we help you prepare to explain your medical condition, work history, and limitations.
For a new application, we help gather medical records, work with your doctors, and file the claim with the Social Security Administration (SSA). A clear provider list helps identify where your evidence needs to come from.
After a denial, we help gather evidence and file the appeal. Before an administrative hearing, we help you prepare to explain your medical condition, work history, and limitations.
Our firm is based in Tennessee, and we do not have a Pennsylvania office. You can work with us by phone and video. Our Pennsylvania disability representation page explains the broader state process.
We handle SSDI cases for people who currently receive benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), 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 Pittsburgh Adults
Duration rule
12months
SSDI requires disability insured status based on work covered by Social Security. For non-blind applicants, that generally includes enough total work credits and enough recent covered work. The work-credit requirements depend on your age when disability began; younger workers may qualify with fewer credits. For statutory blindness, SSDI requires fully insured status without the usual recent-work test.
SSI does not require an insured work history. Its categories include people who are 65 or older, blind, or have a qualifying disability. Limited income and resources, along with other eligibility conditions, are required. SSA’s SSI eligibility guidance explains these separate rules.
For SSDI claims not based on statutory blindness and adult SSI claims based on disability, the condition must prevent substantial gainful activity, meaning significant physical or mental work usually done for pay or profit. The condition and resulting inability to perform substantial gainful activity must have lasted or be expected to last at least 12 consecutive months, unless the condition is expected to result in death. SSA uses a sequential evaluation and, when a claim reaches those steps, considers past work and adjustment to other work. A decision can be made before all five steps are reached.
The expected-duration rule does not require you to wait a year before applying. SSI based on statutory blindness has no duration requirement, and SSA does not use substantial gainful activity to determine initial SSI eligibility for statutory blindness. SSI financial requirements still apply. SSDI based on statutory blindness still has a duration requirement and separate work rules. Read SSA’s disability and blindness explanation for the SSI distinction.
Local medical evidence
Gathering UPMC and Allegheny Health Network Records
After processing, the documents are available in the Document Center.
If you received treatment through UPMC, Allegheny Health Network (AHN), or both, identify the hospitals, practices, and dates of care separately. Include other treatment providers as well. Use each provider’s records instructions to request copies or authorize a release.
UPMC: Its medical records instructions explain how to request a formal copy through the Sharing Hub in MyUPMC. After processing, the documents are available in the Document Center. For a hospital release form, select the hospital where you received care; UPMC lists separate hospital links, including UPMC Mercy and UPMC Presbyterian.
AHN: Its medical records page distinguishes copies for yourself from records sent to another person or organization. A MyChart request sends records to you. To have records sent directly to a third party, use AHN’s separate online records request or its authorization form.
Keep a simple request log with the provider, dates requested, destination, request date, and records received. Compare what arrives with your treatment list so you can identify visits or providers that still need attention. These provider procedures help organize evidence; they do not determine whether SSA will approve a claim.
Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Disability Determination (BDD) evaluates medical eligibility for SSDI and SSI applicants in the state. SSA reviews the nonmedical requirements. If the agency asks for more information, use the instructions in that request and identify any treatment sources missing from the information you submitted.
Get organized
A Records and Work Checklist for Your Pittsburgh Claim
Use the following checklist with your provider list. Keep copies of material you submit and note which records are still outstanding.
Treatment sources: Record each doctor, hospital, clinic, and therapist, with contact information and treatment dates. Include care outside Pittsburgh.
Tests and medication: List where and when tests were performed, who ordered them, your medications, and any side effects you actually experience.
Job duties: Describe the lifting, standing, sitting, concentration, hours, and other demands of your work. Record when you reduced work or stopped, and why.
Daily limitations: Give concrete examples of tasks you cannot finish, breaks you need, help you receive, and how often symptoms interrupt an activity.
Record delivery: Check whether each request is for your own copy or a release to someone else. Note the recipient and any authorization you submitted.
SSA’s application guidance lists medical and work information to collect and says not to delay applying because documents are missing. Organizing records and starting a claim can proceed together.
After a denial
After an SSDI or SSI Denial in Pittsburgh
Deadline
60days
For an initial SSDI or SSI medical denial, the next appeal is generally a written request for reconsideration. After a reconsideration denial, you generally request an administrative law judge hearing in writing. For these requests, the deadline is generally 60 days after you receive the decision notice.
SSA normally presumes receipt five days after the notice date unless you show that you did not receive it within that period. Record when the letter actually arrived and read its appeal instructions.
If a reconsideration or hearing request is late, request an extension in writing and explain the delay. SSA decides whether good cause exists; an extension is not automatic. The SSDI reconsideration rule, SSI reconsideration rule, SSDI hearing-request rule, and SSI hearing-request rule describe these requirements.
Hearing arrangements
Reading a Pittsburgh Hearing-Office Notice
SSA’s Hearing Office Locator provides general office information. A directory entry does not establish your individual case assignment or scheduled hearing location. Check the office named in your case correspondence, and use our hearing-office guide for additional context.
SSA lists four hearing attendance methods: in person, by audio or telephone, by agency video using SSA equipment, and by online video using your own device. Online video requires your agreement. Objections to audio or agency video are subject to SSA’s rules and exceptions. Follow the response instructions and deadlines in the Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing. SSA’s hearing options page explains the methods and forms.
Your scheduling notice controls the time, attendance method, and location when applicable. An in-person hearing may take place at a hearing office or permanent remote site. A directory address alone does not establish where you must appear. Phone or video communications with our firm are separate from SSA’s hearing arrangements.
Common questions
Questions About Pittsburgh Disability Claims
Can AHN send my records to a representative through MyChart?
No. AHN’s MyChart medical-record request sends records to you. For direct delivery to a third party, use the separate online records request or authorization form described on its records page. Identify the recipient and the records you want released.
Do I need records from every provider, including care outside Pittsburgh?
Give SSA complete information about your relevant doctors, hospitals, clinics, and other treatment sources, including care outside the city. Do not leave a provider off your list because another health system holds most of your records.
Should I delay applying until I have every medical record?
No. SSA’s application guidance says not to delay because documents are missing. Provide the treatment-source information you have and identify records still outstanding. The disability duration rule does not require waiting a year before applying; SSI statutory blindness has no duration requirement.
Does a letter from Pennsylvania BDD mean I have a hearing scheduled?
Not by itself. Pennsylvania BDD evaluates medical eligibility. A request for provider information or records is different from a notice scheduling an administrative law judge hearing. Read the letter to identify what information is being requested.
Can Downard represent me while I stay in Pittsburgh?
Yes. We work with Pittsburgh clients by phone and video from Tennessee and do not have a Pennsylvania office. Any SSA hearing attendance requirements are governed by the forms and notice issued for your case.
Discuss your claim
Talk With Downard About Your Pittsburgh Disability Claim
Tell us whether you are preparing an application, responding to a denial, or waiting for an administrative hearing. Have your treatment list and any SSA decision available so we can discuss where your claim stands.