What if you don't meet a Disability Listing in the Social Security List of Impairments

For those who aren't aware, the social security administration has an impairment listing manual. This list of impairments is organized according to body systems (e.g. musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, endocrine, etc) and contains a number of known mental and physical impairments and the disability approval criteria for each.

Will you get approved for disability if you meet the requirements of a listing? As long as you satisfy other non-medical requirements of either the social security disability or SSI disability program, the answer is yes, you will be approved for disability benefits.

However, not every condition is listed in the social security list of impairments. In fact, most conditions are not, including many that you would think should be, simply because they are fairly well known and afflict a large number of individuals. Can you be awarded disability benefits if your particular condition is not in the list? Yes, and in that case a claimant would need to show that his or her condition is severe enough that it prevents them from working (at either a job they've done in the past or at some form of suitable other work) and earning a substantial gainful income.

This disability determination is rendered by a disability examiner at the initial claim and request for reconsideration levels, and by a federal judge at the disability hearing level. The determination is based on both medical and vocational factors. This means on one hand that your medical records will be gathered and evaluated. On the other hand, it means that vocational factors such as your work history, age, and job skills will also be used to determine whether or not you will be considered disabled and, thus, eligible to receive either SSD or SSI disability benefits from the social security administration.












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Social Security Disability Secrets

Social Security Disability Requirements




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Social security disability - letters and forms