​​​Social Security Disability and Veterans Compensation Attorneys

SSA Lawyers P.A.

                         Request for Reconsideration

​If you have been denied at the initial application stage, you have 60 days after receipt of the decision to request reconsideration ( receipt is presumed to be 5 days after the date on the notice) , unless you can show good cause for the late filing. 

​The request for reconsideration can be submitted in paper form to the Social Security Administration or can be filed online. The reconsideration process is similar to the initial application process. Updated medical evidence will be obtained and a different medical advisor will be asked to give an opinion as to your residual functional capacity.

A new adjudicator will be assigned to your case.

More often than not, the reconsideration decision will uphold the initial decision, absent new and material evidence . An example of new and material evidence could consist of an MRI report or a pulmonary functions test, which did not exist at the time of the initial decision, and shows your condition is more limiting than what was previously though to be the case.

If your doctors would not complete evaluations forms for you at the initial application stage,  you may want to let your doctors know that your case was denied and there opinions are essential for you to receive a full and fair decision. Even if your doctor said no the first time, it doesn't hurt to ask again.

In the event  the initial denial of benefits is upheld at the reconsideration stage, you can appeal the decision again by asking for a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge.