6. What are the other rules about medical report?

The medical report must be based on an examination done within 30 days of the date of the medical report unless your condition is chronic.  

In addition, if you have not had a recent medical or psychological exam, you will need to ask your doctor to schedule one unless you are an applicant for EAEDC and your impairments are chronic and not expected to improve.

The report must be received by the local DTA office within 30 days following the date it is signed. If the report is received by DTA too late, it will be rejected.

106 C.M.R. § 703.191(D). See Appendix A for a copy of the medical report.

Example 1: Jane was examined by Dr. Smith on June 20. She applies for EAEDC on August 1 and returns to DTA a medical report dated August 10 by the doctor. DTA will reject the report because Jane's exam was more than 30 days before the report was signed.

Example 2: Suppose that Jane is examined again on August 10 and the report is signed that day, but the doctor forgets to mail the report until September 15. Because more than 30 days have gone by since the signing of the report, DTA will reject it.

In general, you have 22 days to get in all the proofs you need for EAEDC. See Question 74. You can ask for extensions of time if you need it. 106 C.M.R. § 702.160(B).

Advocacy Reminder:

• If your application is denied because of missing proofs and you appeal the denial, the hearing officer must take proofs and decide whether you were eligible based on what is presented at the hearing. This is called a “de novo” (anew) review. If you submit all proofs at the hearing, the eligibility date is the date all eligibility conditions were met regardless of when the evidence was submitted. 106 C.M.R. § 343.500.