How can I pass the filename from a variable locally into ssh?

I am checking whether a file exists on a remote server but instead of hardcoding the filename I want to pass in a variable. Is this not possible this way? Should I take an alternative route?

Works:

if ssh "$SSH_USER"@"$SSH_IP_ADDRESS" "echo $OUTPUT1 && cd $SSH_LOC && pwd && echo $SSH_LOC && [ -f live_29-06-2018.txt ];"
    then
        echo "This file exists."
    else
        echo "This file doesn't exist."
    fi

Displays "This file exists."

Doesn't work:

if ssh "$SSH_USER"@"$SSH_IP_ADDRESS" "echo $OUTPUT1 && cd $SSH_LOC && pwd && echo $SSH_LOC && [ -f $OUTPUT1 ];"
then
    echo "This file exists."
else
    echo "This file doesn't exist."
fi

Displays "This file doesn't exist."