Can you get Approved for Disability if your Doctor writes an RFC Letter for You?

This is something I discuss quite often. A letter from your doctor, referred to in social-security-language as your "treating physician" can actually win your case for you.

However, to be effective this letter cannot simply be a letter. And, in fact, if it is just a letter that states that, in the doctor's opinion, you are disabled, then it will carry very little weight and almost no value toward the outcome of a case.

Instead of a general letter, your physician needs to submit something known as a residual functional capacity statement for you. The term "residual functional capacity" refers to the functional ability that you still possess despite the effects of your physical or mental illness. RFC, or residual functional capacity, lies at the bedrock of social security disability and SSI claim decision-making because the social security administration is not concerned with the medical conditions with which you have been diagnosed, but, rather, the way they impact you and affect your ability to work.

The only type of individual that can actually complete an RFC statement for you is a medical doctor. How does your doctor submit this statement? He can write a letter for you as long as he makes sure it is not simply a "letter", but, rather, a detailed statement citing your specific limitations and remaining capabilities (for example, your strength, range of motion, ability to sit, stand, walk, reach, grasp, crouch, stoop, see, hear, etc, etc, etc). Or, he can use an RFC form. Typically, an RFC will be obtained from a disability claimant's attorney for use at a disability hearing. However, an RFC form can be sumitted earlier in the disability evaluation process. An RFC can be submitted at the disability application level, or at the request for reconsideration level (the first appeal).

Getting a Social Security Disability RFC form
Social Security Disability Information