Will Social Security Review My Medical Records from Ten Years Ago?

Will Social Security Review My Medical Records from Ten Years Ago?

Social Security does not require you to have any past medical history for you to file for benefits. However, providing Social Security with past medical treatment records to make their disability decisions to help them evaluate your condition. If you have been treated for your disabling condition in the past by a specialist or even your primary care physician, their notes may provide information and insight that is not otherwise available.

For instance, hospital treatment notes generally do not include information about your limitations or your response to various treatment methods. Hospital records generally provide useful objective medical evidence (i.e. imaging, lab results, etc.) but they do not tell the individual reviewing your file much about the ongoing severity of your disabling condition or how these limitations prevent you working enough to be self-sufficient.

As you may have heard before, the key to winning disability benefits from the Social Security Administration is to have a condition that limits your ability to function so much so that it prevents you from doing ordinary daily activities such as work, shopping, household chores, paying bills, driving, etc. Past medical records can provide useful information as to how incapacitating your medical impairment has been over the course of time.

In sum, while Social Security will look at past medical records to see the way your condition has progressed over time, they will likely not go back many more than five years and they will also be interested in seeing current records. Therefore, it is important to continue treating for your conditions and let Social Security know about past and current physicians.

Harris Guidi Rosner
Harris Guidi Rosner

Harris Guidi Rosner, P.A. was founded in 1986 and our team of Jacksonville lawyers has never forgotten that the foundation of our practice was built on both the relationships we’ve built with our clients and the results we’ve delivered.