FAQ

It is unfortunate when we run across physicians who are unwilling to help people access the benefits that they are entitled to, although it is a common problem.  Many doctors will say that they have not seen a person enough to support a report such as the MSR.  Sometimes doctors on ACT (Assertive Community Treatment) teams or in PSR (Psychosocial Rehab) programs may be willing to co-sign reports. When you can’t find a doctor to cosign the report, we recommend you submit the MSR as collateral information along with the medical records that you have collected that document the diagnostic information from a physician.  

You may want to find out why they are refusing to sign the report. Is it because they feel they don't know enough to sign it?  Or that it wasn't written by them so they don't want to sign it?  Are there other reasons?  One of the things we find is that the doctors often misunderstand what we are asking them to do. They believe that, by signing the report, they are "approving" the person for disability benefits. DDS makes that decision. What they're doing is simply attesting that the information contained in this report is true. It's fine if they even write a statement that they believe the information in this report is true. 

You might remind the doctor and the clinic/hospital that when someone is approved for SSI/SSDI they are also going to be eligible for Medicaid/Medicare which means retroactive reimbursement for services provided and ongoing payment for treatment and services in the future.  

One SOAR program contacted the state medical association for the names of retired physicians and asked if anyone was willing to do one assessment pro-bono.  It was fairly successful.

SSI has a monthly federal benefit rate that changes each year plus any available state supplement. You can find the current benefit amounts on our SSA Annual Updates page.

Yes! Please see Steps to Completing an Initial SOAR SSI/SSDI Application. This guide is intended to help you complete a SOAR SSI/SSDI application in stages so that you aren’t overwhelmed.

The SAMHSA SOAR TA Center considers a "SOAR application" to be one in which all (or most) of the SOAR critical components are done. These include serving as the person's representative with the SSA-1696, collecting medical records and writing a Medical Summary Report documenting the person's functional impairment. If the SOAR provider is unable to get all of the records or is unable to get the Medical Summary Report signed by a treating physician, it would still be counted as a SOAR application because all was done that could be done.

Read more about SOAR application critical components.