Form HA-4631: Updating Medical Treatment for Hearing

The form SSA uses to collect updated medical treatment information before a disability hearing is Form HA-4631, titled Claimant's Recent Medical Treatment. SSA's forms page for the related work-history form explains that completing HA-4631, along with Form HA-4632 for medications, is how the agency ensures it has current medical information for your hearing.

A word of caution about form numbers, because they are easy to mix up. SSA's hearing packet includes HA-4631 (recent medical treatment), HA-4632 (Claimant's Medications), and HA-4633 (Claimant's Work Background). If you were told to update your medical treatment on an "HA-4633," check the form's printed title: per SSA's own forms pages, the number for medical treatment is HA-4631, and HA-4633 covers your work history.

What Form HA-4631 Is For

According to SSA's page for the form, you use HA-4631 when you have requested, or are requesting, a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). Its purpose is to tell SSA about medical treatment you have received since you, or someone on your behalf such as your representative or your doctor, last furnished medical information to SSA.

The form bridges a gap that matters in appeals. By the time a hearing is scheduled, the medical evidence in your file often stops months earlier, back around the reconsideration stage. The judge is required to look at the whole record, and under 20 CFR 404.935 you must submit written evidence or tell the judge about missing records no later than 5 business days before the hearing. HA-4631 is SSA's own tool for identifying the treatment that occurred after the file went stale.

Include Everything, Even What You Are Unsure About

SSA's instruction on the form page deserves emphasis: if you are not certain whether you told SSA about treatment you received, or you remember treatment you forgot to report earlier, include that information as well. The agency is telling you that over-reporting on this form is harmless, while gaps are not.

When you complete the form, gather the details before you start writing:

• Every doctor, therapist, clinic, and hospital you have seen since the last time medical information was submitted, including emergency room visits and urgent care trips.
• The approximate dates of treatment for each source, since the judge's staff will use them to request records.
• Any new diagnoses, new medications, imaging such as MRI or CT scans, and diagnostic tests such as nerve conduction studies or cardiac testing.
• Upcoming scheduled treatments, such as a surgery that is booked, so the judge knows evidence is still being generated.

Where to Send the Completed Form

SSA's form page gives a single instruction: complete the form and mail it to the hearing office where your claim is located. The address and telephone number of that hearing office appear on the letter SSA sent acknowledging receipt of your request for hearing. If you cannot find that letter, call the hearing office, confirm the mailing address, and note the date and the name of the person you spoke with.

Timing matters as much as the address. The 5-business-day evidence rule in 20 CFR 404.935 applies to this form like any other written evidence, so mail it early enough to arrive well before that window. HA-4631 identifies sources and dates, which also helps satisfy the alternative in the regulation: informing the judge in writing about evidence you have requested but not yet received.

When to Complete the Form

You do not have to wait for the hearing to be scheduled. The request for hearing acknowledgment letter SSA mails after you appeal already tells you which hearing office holds your claim, and SSA's page for HA-4631 points to that letter for the mailing address, so you can return the form as soon as your appeal moves to the hearing level.

The calendar gives you room if you use it. Under 20 CFR 404.938, SSA mails the notice of hearing at least 75 days before the hearing date, so the notice itself is your signal to finalize the form and mail it. If you are unrepresented, HALLEX I-2-1-80 explains that the same acknowledgment letter includes information about organizations that provide free legal services, and a representative you later appoint can update or supplement the medical treatment information for you.

What Happens After You Mail It

The form does not replace your medical records; it maps them. Once HA-4631 identifies each source and treatment period, hearing office staff can request the records directly, and under HALLEX I-2-5-70 the judge can route a request through your servicing SSA field office when attempts to obtain the evidence from the source fail. Records the office obtains become exhibits in the file the judge reviews, and any medical or vocational expert testifying at the hearing answers questions drawn from that file.

Keep your own copy of the completed form and note the date you mailed it. If a source you listed still has not produced records as the hearing approaches, send the judge a short written notice under 20 CFR 404.935 identifying the outstanding records and the date you requested them, which preserves your position if the records arrive late.

How HA-4631 Differs From Its Companion Forms

SSA's forms pages draw the lines clearly:

• HA-4631, Claimant's Recent Medical Treatment. Treatment since medical information was last furnished, including treatment you may have forgotten to report.
• HA-4632, Claimant's Medications. The medicines you take, which lets the judge connect treatments to current therapy.
• HA-4633, Claimant's Work Background. Any work you performed before and after you filed your application, which feeds the step four analysis of your past work under 20 CFR 404.1560.

The SSA page for HA-4633 states that to ensure SSA has current medical information, you should also complete HA-4631 and HA-4632, and all three completed forms go to the same hearing office address. Doing all three at once avoids piecemeal mailings.

Why This Form Can Matter at the Hearing

The judge, and any medical or vocational expert testifying under HALLEX I-2-6-70 and I-2-6-74, works from the exhibit file. When HA-4631 leads the hearing office to obtain recent records, the expert testimony and the judge's residual functional capacity assessment rest on your current condition rather than on a snapshot from the reconsideration level. Under 20 CFR 404.936, the judge may also reopen the record or adjourn the hearing to receive additional evidence, and a form that accurately maps your recent treatment gives the judge somewhere to hang that development.

Be accurate rather than strategic. List every source even if you think a visit hurt your claim, because judges compare your testimony against the record, and unexplained gaps in treatment are their own problem at the hearing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Form HA-4633 the medical treatment form for an SSDI hearing? No. According to SSA's forms pages, HA-4633 is Claimant's Work Background. The medical treatment update form is Form HA-4631, Claimant's Recent Medical Treatment, and HA-4632 covers medications.

What information does Form HA-4631 ask for? SSA's form page says to report medical treatment you received since you, or someone on your behalf such as a representative or doctor, last furnished medical information to SSA, and to include treatment you are unsure you already reported.

Where do I send Form HA-4631? SSA's form page instructs you to mail the completed form to the hearing office where your claim is located. The address and telephone number are on the letter SSA sent acknowledging your request for hearing.

This article provides general information about Social Security Disability Insurance rules and is not legal advice. Program rules, regulations, and administrative structures change over time, and all figures reflect standards applicable in 2026. Consult a qualified representative or contact the Social Security Administration directly for guidance regarding your individual claim.