Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI Claims Assigned to the Poole Road Hearing Office
Social Security's Raleigh hearing office, at 3315 Poole Road, Suite 200, takes claims from twelve field offices across central and eastern North Carolina, Durham, Smithfield, Wilson, Rocky Mount and Henderson among them. Downard & Associates represents Raleigh-area claimants in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims, from the application through reconsideration, a hearing before an administrative law judge and Appeals Council review. 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 Raleigh Claimants
Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video.
Two Raleigh details can change how a claim is prepared: which hearing office your field office is assigned to, and what a North Carolina provider may charge for copies of your medical records.
We handle applications, reconsideration, hearings and Appeals Council review. Our North Carolina disability lawyer page covers how claims across the state are routed, including the field offices heard in South Carolina and Tennessee.
We have no Raleigh 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 office
The Raleigh Hearing Office and the Field Offices It Hears
Social Security's hearing office locator, which groups offices by hearings hub, shows one hearing office in the city:
- Raleigh, Suite 200, 3315 Poole Road, Raleigh, NC 27610: the Ahoskie, Durham, Elizabeth City, Goldsboro, Greenville, Henderson, Raleigh, Roanoke Rapids, Rocky Mount, Smithfield, Washington and Wilson field offices.
Durham has no hearing office of its own, so a Durham claim is assigned to Raleigh. Some nearby field offices go elsewhere: the locator assigns Sanford to the Fayetteville hearing office, which our Fayetteville disability lawyer page covers, and Burlington to Greensboro. Goldsboro appears under both Raleigh and Fayetteville in the same locator data, which does not say which listing controls.
The Raleigh field office is in the same building as the hearing office, in Suite 100 at 3315 Poole Road, and the locator assigns most Wake County ZIP codes to it; our Raleigh Social Security office guide gives its hours, phone number and the ZIP codes it serves.
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.
North Carolina records law
What North Carolina Lets a Provider Charge for Your Medical Records
The cap does not limit a physician's reasonable fee, if you ask for one, to review your record and write a narrative summary.
North Carolina's G.S. 90-411 lets a health care provider charge a reasonable fee for searching, handling, copying and mailing medical records to the patient or the patient's designated representative, up to a maximum for each request of 75 cents a page for the first 25 pages, 50 cents a page for pages 26 through 100, and 25 cents a page after that. A provider may set a minimum fee of up to $10, which includes copying costs. The cap does not limit a physician's reasonable fee, if you ask for one, to review your record and write a narrative summary. When you request your own records, federal HIPAA rules can hold the fee lower, to a reasonable, cost-based amount that does not include time spent searching for and retrieving the records.
The same section says it does not apply to requests from North Carolina's Disability Determination Services for records made on behalf of a Social Security or SSI applicant. When Social Security needs and asks for existing medical evidence, 20 CFR 404.1514 has it pay non-federal providers the reasonable cost for SSDI, and 20 CFR 416.914 has it pay for evidence it requests for SSI, or asks you to get, if there is a charge. The SSDI rule also says the claimant is responsible for providing the evidence, so records Social Security does not request still need to reach the file.
For a disability claim, that makes it worth knowing which records the agency has asked for and which ones you or your representative will request. Our disability appeals page explains the steps after a denial.
Local treatment records
Medical Records From WakeMed, UNC Health Rex, Duke Health and the Durham VA
WakeMed: its health information management page takes written requests on its Authorization to Release Medical Information form and offers an abstract of a visit or hospital stay. Other requests, and records from before February 1, 2015, go to a copy service, which lists $6.50 flat for an electronic copy and 7 cents a page for paper for patients, plus postage, and says lawyers on a Social Security case pay the state-approved rate. Its medical records FAQ sends requests to WakeMed Health & Hospitals, Attn: HIM Department, 3000 New Bern Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27610, fax 919-350-1720, and lists 919-350-8370 for questions. WakeMed's stated response time is 30 days, and it may tell you it needs up to 30 more.
UNC Health Rex: its medical records page points patients to My UNC Chart for selected results and visit summaries at no charge, and takes the UNC authorization form (HIM #1409-s) by fax to 919-784-3343 or by mail or drop-off at Health Information Management, 4420 Lake Boone Trail, Raleigh, NC 27607. Rex says fees apply to records patients request for personal use, completed forms are processed within 3 to 5 business days of receipt, and it faxes key medical record information to another provider for follow-up care at no charge but will not fax for non-patient care purposes.
Duke Health: its records request page points patients to My Duke Health, or takes an authorization form by fax to 919-620-5165, by email, or by mail to Release of Information, Duke University Health System, Box 3016, Durham, NC 27710. Attorneys and other third parties use the authorization form or another HIPAA-compliant request.
Durham VA: VA Durham health care runs the Brier Creek VA Clinic in Raleigh and the Clayton-East Raleigh VA Clinic in Clayton, and its medical records office is in the Veteran Service Center, 1st floor, Booth 6, 508 Fulton Street, Durham, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. You can view and download VA records online, or request copies by mail or fax on VA Form 10-5345a, or in person with a signed written request and your Veteran Health Identification Card; the office says mailed or faxed requests can take up to 20 business days. It is a federal facility, and its records page mentions no fee. Our veterans page explains how a VA rating and an SSDI claim relate.
Hearings and deadlines
Hearing Format and Appeal Deadlines for a Raleigh 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
Raleigh Disability Claim Questions
Is a Durham claim heard in Raleigh?
Generally yes. Social Security's hearing office locator assigns the Durham field office to the Raleigh hearing office at 3315 Poole Road, Suite 200. A transfer or reassignment is possible, and your Notice of Hearing names the place and format for your own case.
Where does the locator send Sanford and Goldsboro claims?
The locator assigns the Sanford field office to the Fayetteville hearing office at 150 Rowan Street. It lists the Goldsboro field office under both Raleigh and Fayetteville, so the Notice of Hearing is what settles a Goldsboro case.
What can a North Carolina provider charge me for copies of my records?
G.S. 90-411 caps each request at 75 cents a page for the first 25 pages, 50 cents a page for pages 26 through 100 and 25 cents a page after that, with a minimum fee of up to $10 that includes copying costs. A physician's fee for a narrative summary you ask for is not limited by the cap, and for your own records, federal HIPAA rules can hold the fee to a lower, cost-based amount.
Who pays when Disability Determination Services requests my records?
The North Carolina copy fee section does not apply to those requests. Social Security pays non-federal providers the reasonable cost of existing evidence it needs and asks for in an SSDI claim, and in an SSI claim pays for evidence it requests, or asks you to get, if there is a charge.
How do I request records from WakeMed?
Send the Authorization to Release Medical Information form to WakeMed Health & Hospitals, Attn: HIM Department, 3000 New Bern Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27610, or fax it to 919-350-1720. WakeMed MyChart shows records from February 1, 2015 forward, and HIM answers at 919-350-8370, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Discuss your claim
Talk Through Your Raleigh 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.