Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI Claims Assigned to the East 21st Street Hearing Office
Social Security's Tulsa hearing office, at Eastgate Metroplex, 14002 East 21st Street, Suite 500, is assigned claims from six field offices in northeastern Oklahoma: Tulsa, Bartlesville, Miami, Muskogee, Okmulgee and Stillwater. Downard & Associates represents Tulsa-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 Tulsa Claimants
Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video.
Two Tulsa details can change how a claim is prepared: which hearing office your field office is assigned to, and what Oklahoma law lets a provider charge for copies of your medical records, which depends on who asks and in what format.
We handle applications, reconsideration, hearings and Appeals Council review. Our Oklahoma disability lawyer page covers how claims across the state are routed, including the field offices heard in Arkansas and Texas.
We have no Tulsa 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 Tulsa 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:
- Tulsa, Eastgate Metroplex, Suite 500, 14002 East 21st Street, Tulsa, OK 74134: the Bartlesville, Miami, Muskogee, Okmulgee, Stillwater and Tulsa field offices.
Other eastern Oklahoma field offices go elsewhere. The locator assigns Poteau to the Fort Smith hearing office in Arkansas, which our Fort Smith disability lawyer page covers, Durant to Dallas (North), and Ada and Shawnee to Oklahoma City, which our Oklahoma City disability lawyer page covers.
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.
Oklahoma records law
What Oklahoma Lets a Provider Charge for Your Medical Records
A provider may not charge a person who requests their own record for searching, retrieving, reviewing or preparing it.
Oklahoma's 76 O.S. Section 19 sets the charges for copies of medical records and bills. The statute sets 50 cents a page for paper copies requested by a patient, or the patient's personal representative, spouse or responsible family member; for a patient's own request, federal HIPAA rules also cap the charge at a reasonable, cost-based fee, which can be lower than the state rate. A request from an attorney, an insurance company or a subpoena adds a $20 base fee plus postage or delivery, and the base fee applies even if no records are found. A certification or affidavit of authenticity costs $15.
The charge drops to 30 cents a page when the whole request can be produced from an electronic health record system, the records are specifically requested in electronic format, and they can be delivered electronically. The charge for reproducing electronic records that way cannot exceed $200, plus a delivery charge, with no postage. A printed x-ray or image is $15, and a CD or DVD of images is $20. A provider may not charge a person who requests their own record for searching, retrieving, reviewing or preparing it.
Under subsections (A)(3) and (A)(4), two kinds of requests fall outside those charges. Mental health, psychological, psychiatric and substance abuse treatment records are obtained under 43A O.S. Section 1-109 instead. Requests from the Disability Determination Division of the State Department of Rehabilitation Services, the state agency that makes initial and reconsideration disability determinations for Social Security in Oklahoma, are paid at a rate Social Security allows. 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. Our disability appeals page explains the steps after a denial.
Local treatment records
Medical Records From Saint Francis, Ascension St. John and the Eastern Oklahoma VA
Saint Francis Health System: its medical records page takes requests for records from any Saint Francis facility through an online form that the page says takes under 10 minutes, with your photo ID ready, and records are also available through MyChart. Requests to correct a record, which are separate from requests for copies, can be mailed to Saint Francis Health System, Health Information, 6161 South Yale Avenue, Xavier A, Tulsa, OK 74136.
Ascension St. John: its patient portal page says most hospital medical records can be downloaded and printed from the hospital portal, offers an online request for hospital records, and sends requests for clinic records to the clinic itself. Its portal help line for general questions and password resets is 877-621-8014.
Eastern Oklahoma VA: VA Eastern Oklahoma health care's medical records office has release of information offices at 8921 South Mingo Road in Tulsa and at the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center, 1011 Honor Heights Drive, Muskogee, both on the first floor and open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 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; mailed requests go to the Muskogee release of information office. VA says mailed or faxed requests may take up to 20 business days to process. Our veterans page explains how a VA rating and an SSDI claim relate.
Hearings and deadlines
Hearing Format and Appeal Deadlines for a Tulsa 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
Tulsa Disability Claim Questions
Is a Muskogee or Stillwater claim heard in Tulsa?
Generally yes. Social Security's hearing office locator assigns both the Muskogee and Stillwater field offices to the Tulsa hearing office at 14002 East 21st Street. A transfer or reassignment is possible, and your Notice of Hearing names the place and format for your own case.
Does a Poteau claim go to Tulsa?
No. The locator assigns the Poteau field office to the Fort Smith hearing office in Arkansas, at Central Mall, 5111 Rogers Avenue. Your Notice of Hearing names the place and format for your own case.
What does an Oklahoma provider charge my lawyer for medical records?
Under 76 O.S. Section 19, a request from an attorney carries a $20 base fee on top of the statute's per page charges and postage or delivery, and the base fee applies even if no records are found. The statute sets paper copies at 50 cents a page, and qualifying electronic copies at 30 cents a page, with the reproduction charge for those capped at $200 plus delivery.
Can I get my Oklahoma medical records cheaper in electronic form?
Yes, when all three conditions are met. The statute sets 30 cents a page instead of 50 when the whole request can be produced from an electronic health record system, you specifically ask for the records in electronic format, and they can be delivered electronically. For your own request, federal HIPAA rules also limit the charge to a reasonable, cost-based fee. Mental health and substance abuse treatment records follow a separate statute.
How do I request records from Saint Francis?
Use the online request form on Saint Francis Health System's medical records page, with your photo ID ready, or view records through MyChart. The form covers any Saint Francis facility.
Discuss your claim
Talk Through Your Tulsa 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.