Many doctor’s have an “office policy” that they won’t fill out Social Security disability paperwork. If this happens to you, don’t lose hope. We have heard from many readers who found smart ways to still get the paperwork they needed!
What’s Up, Doc?
If your doctor does not want to fill out paperwork, there are different reasons why this might be happening. You will probably handle things in a completely different way, depending on the problem:
🌷 What to Do If Your Doctor Hates Paperwork – Please read this page if your doctor supports you, and believes you are disabled, but won’t fill out paperwork. This is a problem you may be able to overcome!
🌷 What to Do If Your Doctor Does Not Support Your Disability Application – Please read this page if your doctor does not agree you are disabled or does not support your application. This is a trickier situation, so it’s good to know your options.
🌷 How to Tell What Your Doctor REALLY Thinks – Please read this page if you’re not quite sure.
Print and Bring
If you are looking for some super helpful forms to print and bring to your doctor, take a look here: Sample Residual Functional Capacity Forms
Tip: Don’t Ask the Office Staff
Try to avoid asking the front desk or anyone who answers the phone or works there if the doctor will fill out disability paperwork. They will almost always say “no”. Whenever possible, try to set up a special appointment and ask your doctor directly.
Plan B: Get a Co-Sign
Sometimes doctors are not willing to take the time to write a letter or complete a form, but they are happy to review and consider co-signing something prepared by another practitioner: How to Get a Co-Sign
Success Stories
If these ladies can do it, you can do it too!
- Daisy Wins Her Case with a Doctor’s Letter
- The Dazzling Disability Doctor Letter of Miss Ruby Fierce
- Violet Gets More Function Forms than Anybody Ever
- Carnation Makes a Medical Outline
- Zinnia Uses the Social Security Ruling
- Belladonna Turns Water into Wine
This page is part of the free online guide: The Sleepy Girl Guide to Social Security Disability Art on this page by Robin Mead and Elizabeth D’Angelo.
How to Get On 
My husband needs the doctor to fill out the form for Medicaid disability and I am getting the run around. The specialist doctor says that the primary doctor fills out this type of form and the primary doctor says the specialist doctor fills out this form. So my husband was approved for Medicaid disability but can’t use his card because the doctor won’t fill out this form which is required from Medicaid. any suggestions.
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If you follow the links above, there are many suggestions.
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I read through this (and every amazing article on your page) before even beginning the process. It has been a great resource during this process. Thank you for compiling these examples, stories, guides, etc,. I have an upcoming appointment just to renew prescriptions, I’ll take one of the forms with me this time and give it another go.
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Do doctors charge for the form to be filled out? I have a friend who’s doctor is charging him $500 to complete the form for his SSI case.
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Some do charge.
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This site provides an invaluable service to our community. I reference the work regularly.
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Thank you! This website is super helpful.
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Do all doctors need to be listed and contacted? Or just the doctors that you’ve seen for your specific disability?
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I printed out a rfc form and asked my treating cardiologist of 2 years to fill it out, he said his office has a policy that they will only fill out certain things. He filled out the frequency of my symptoms, the test that diagnosed me, the name of my illness, treatment done so far, prognosis fair, yes for will/has lasted over a year, prevents me from standing 6-8h (but didn’t list how long I could stand) because syncope, yes for requires me to lay down (but didn’t explain why), and that was it. So he only filled like 9 out of the 23 things out and half way done those, he said to have my pcp fill the rest out. So I done that (my cardiologist signed it first then my pcp signed it), I was told though that ssa would not except something filled out by two different doctors. Is this true?
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I can’t say for sure, but I have definitely seen many letters for SSA that were co-signed by two different providers and were accepted.
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Something I would add is to build a relationship with your doctor. Don’t make one appointment and then ask to have paperwork filled out. That’s usually a no-go because, unless you bring significant records, a doctor has no idea if you’re telling the truth.
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Excellent suggestion. Thank you, Leah.
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I agree. What largely worked in my favor was that I had years of history with my doctors. My primary in particular, has been my doctor for over 20 years. I don’t think many people have relationships with their doctors like that now a days
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Just wanted to thank you for all the great info. Written in a clear and easy way. you’re awesome!
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My doctor initially said he did not do disability cases. He also had not ordered tests that would show some of the physical dysfunctions I had. I went to a specialist who ordered some tests that clearly showed immune, neurological and infectious disease problems. After studying the SSA Program Operations Manual so that I could understand the types of information they needed, I wrote the letters and filled out the Residual Functional Capacity forms needed from my doctors (4 doctors total). I attached the relevant lab results to the letters. I encouraged them to change the letters or forms in any way they deemed necessary to make them true and asked them to sign and send in the letters. This was the only way I was able to obtain cooperation from my doctors and from my last boss. Some did change the letters, but all cooperated. The disablity rules are so arcane, I don’t know how any physician who doesn’t specialize in disability cases could be expected to truly support a patient’s application. And, BTW, my attorney was little to no help. I had to ignore many of his suggestions in order to win my case.
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Excellent post disbins. Thank you.
Would you be interested in having this story as a guest post here? I think it is very helpful.
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