Wichita, Kansas
Wichita Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI
Downard & Associates represents adults in Wichita, Kansas, 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, gather medical evidence, and prepare the case for its next stage. If your health has limited your ability to work, start with the treatment you have received and the job duties you can no longer manage. Contact us to discuss your claim and representation.
How we help
Help With a Wichita Claim, From Application Through Hearing
The goal is to give the Social Security Administration (SSA) a clear account of your treatment and work.
The information needed for a new application differs from the response needed after a denial. We help develop the medical record and work history for the stage your case has reached.
Application: We help prepare and file the application, gather medical evidence, and document your work history. The goal is to give the Social Security Administration (SSA) a clear account of your treatment and work.
Reconsideration: We review the reasons for an initial denial, address the issues SSA identified, and add missing evidence to the appeal.
Administrative hearing: We prepare you for questions about your condition and limitations, develop the medical record, and present the case to the administrative law judge.
Our service limits also address matters involving Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits.
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 Requirements for Wichita 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. SSA explains these requirements in its disability eligibility guidance.
SSI does not require an insured work record. Adults may qualify based on disability, statutory blindness, or age 65 or older, subject to limited income and resources, citizenship or qualifying noncitizen status, residency, and other rules. See SSA's SSI eligibility guidance.
For SSDI and adult SSI claims based on disability, SSA evaluates whether a medically determinable condition prevents substantial gainful activity, or SGA. SGA involves significant physical or mental activities of a kind done, or usually done, for pay or profit. If the evaluation reaches the later steps, SSA considers past work and adjustment to other work. A diagnosis alone does not establish eligibility.
Both the condition and the resulting inability to perform SGA must generally have lasted, or be expected to last, at least 12 consecutive months, unless the condition is expected to result in death within 12 months of disability onset. This duration requirement does not require you to wait a year before applying.
For initial SSI eligibility based on statutory blindness, SSA does not use SGA, and SSI statutory blindness has no duration requirement. Financial and other SSI rules still apply. SSI based on age 65 or older does not require proving disability.
Local claim process
How a Wichita Application Reaches Kansas DDS
A health system name alone may leave out the location where you actually received care.
Kansas Disability Determination Services, or DDS, makes disability and blindness determinations for SSA on most SSDI and SSI claims filed or reviewed in Kansas. You submit a Social Security benefits claim through SSA, rather than applying directly to Kansas DDS.
For your application, identify each relevant hospital, clinic, and treating professional, with contact information and treatment dates. A health system name alone may leave out the location where you actually received care.
Our Kansas disability page provides broader statewide context. For your own claim, keep the treatment sources and records tied to the care you received.
Treatment records
Connect Wichita Hospital and Clinic Records at Ascension Via Christi
If you received care through Ascension Via Christi in Wichita, its medical-records instructions distinguish hospital care from clinic visits. Most hospital records can be downloaded and printed through Ascension One. The same page also provides an online hospital-record request.
For records from an Ascension Via Christi clinic, the provider directs you to contact that clinic for instructions. A hospital download is not a reason to leave the clinic off your treatment list.
Build the treatment history around what happened: a hospital visit, the follow-up appointment, and later tests or care. Identify the provider and date for each entry. Compare the records you receive with that list, and flag visits or reports that are still missing. Include relevant care from other health systems, too.
Get organized
Build a Wichita Treatment Timeline Before Discussing Your Claim
For Ascension Via Christi care, note what you downloaded or requested through the hospital-record route.
Use these four steps to organize the medical and work information described in SSA's application instructions.
Hospital care: List the hospital, dates of care, and tests or procedures. For Ascension Via Christi care, note what you downloaded or requested through the hospital-record route.
Clinic follow-up: Give each clinic its own entry, with the clinician, contact information, and visit dates. Track clinic record requests separately from hospital requests.
Tests and medication: List test dates and locations, who ordered them, medications, and prescribers where applicable. Note any reports you are still waiting to receive.
Work changes: Record recent jobs, duties, dates, hours, and earnings. Describe specific tasks affected by your condition, such as lifting, sitting, concentrating, or completing a shift.
Do not postpone applying because the list or records are incomplete. SSA says not to delay an application because documents are missing. Provide what you have and identify the sources of the additional information.
After a denial
Responding to a Wichita Application or Reconsideration Denial
Deadline
60days
After an initial SSDI or SSI denial, a written request for reconsideration 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. Separate hearing-request rules for SSDI and SSI explain the second deadline.
SSA generally assumes you received the notice five days after its 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.
Keep the complete decision and its arrival date. Compare the reasons for the denial with your treatment timeline, and identify new care or records that were missing from the earlier submission.
If your appeal reaches a hearing, our Social Security hearing-office guide provides office information. Follow SSA's scheduling notice for the date, time, and appearance instructions for your case.
Common questions
Wichita Questions About Records and the Claim Process
Does my hospital portal include my Ascension clinic records?
Ascension Via Christi gives separate instructions for hospital and clinic records. Most hospital records are available through Ascension One or an online hospital-record request. For a clinic record, contact that clinic directly. Check both routes when your care included a hospital visit and ongoing clinic treatment.
Do I apply to Kansas DDS or Social Security?
Submit the Social Security benefits claim through SSA. Kansas DDS makes disability and blindness determinations for SSA on most SSDI and SSI claims filed or reviewed in Kansas. Its medical review role does not make it the place to submit the initial benefits application.
Should I wait for every medical record before applying?
No. SSA says not to delay applying because documents are missing. Provide the information and records you have and identify your treatment sources. Continue filling gaps while the claim proceeds rather than treating a complete records file as a filing requirement.
Does working with Downard by video mean my hearing will be online?
No. Meetings with our team do not determine the SSA hearing format. SSA describes four ways to attend a hearing: in person, audio by telephone, agency video using SSA equipment, and online video using a personal device. Online video requires your agreement. The 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 hearing notice for the scheduled method and location.
Discuss your claim
Talk With Downard About Your Wichita SSDI or SSI Claim
Tell us whether you are preparing an application, responding to an initial denial, or approaching an administrative hearing. We can discuss representation by phone or video and the evidence needed for the next stage.