FAQs On Consultative Examinations (CE)

Social Security sends a lot of disability claimants out for medical or psychological exams at the agency’s expense. Here are some FAQs on these exams:

It’s an abbreviation for Consultative Examination. It’s what they call the exams that Social Security sends you to.

Probably. They can turn you down for refusal to cooperate if you don’t.

It’s neither, really.

In theory, they’re doing it because they feel they don’t have enough evidence. Sometimes, that’s really the case. Sometimes, it seems to be overwhelmed employees scheduling CEs to put your case off for a bit because they are too busy to work to your case. Sometimes, CE scheduling just seems random.

Sometimes they hurt. Sometimes they help. Mostly it’s neither. You wonder why they wasted the money and time on the CE.

Not so great. Nobody goes to medical school to do the CEs especially when you’re not paid much to do the exam, which is usually the case. You’re not getting the cream of the crop doing CEs. They’re mostly going through the motions.

Call Social Security as soon as possible and ask that they reschedule it

Sometimes doctors moonlight from their regular jobs to do CEs on Saturdays. They just rent some space from a chiropractor.

Look at the written notice you received about the CE. It should have a phone number and address on it. That’s who you contact to complain. They actually pay more attention to those complaints than you might think.

The biggest mistake is fakery. Don’t do it. It can really hurt you. If you’re asked to do something during the exam, do it to the best of your ability. You can say it hurts but do what you can. Also, don’t go in with an angry attitude. That’s not a good way to influence the doctor in your favor. Another mistake: Showing up intoxicated for the CE. They’re going to notice. Yes, a few people really do show up drunk for CEs.