This information may help claimants regarding disability qualifications. Understanding how to qualify for Social Security Disability system works can make the difference between winning or not winning the continuing disability benefits and backpay to which a person is entitled. To win a claim for ongoing and past due benefits, claimants should learn about the disability process to improve their chances of winning benefits. |
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How do you qualify medically for social security disability or ssi? It depends on your particular impairment, or set of impairments, i.e, your medical condition. Despite appearances, there really is an objective system in place to qualify individuals for social security benefits based on disability. Every impairment has it's own approval criteria, or qualifications . In fact, social security disability, or DDS as it's properly called, has a book devoted to this purpose (that of listing the approval criteria for certain impairments). So, for example, if you had congestive heart failure, the disability examiner reviewing your case would check the manual and your medical evidence to see if your condition met the listed requirements for CHF. The process works the same way for other listed impairments, or listings, as they're known, such as disorders of the spine, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. However, not every condition is listed in the manual. Fibromyalgia (about which there is an article on this site), for example, is not in the book. Nor is irritable bowel syndrome, or carpal tunnel syndrome, or a variety of other problems. How do you get social security disability if your particular problems are not covered in the disability listings? If your condition does not meet (or equal) the requirements of a listing, you can get what is called a med/voc allowance (medical/vocational allowance). A med/voc is how MOST people get approved for social security disability. This is how it works. DDS looks at the work you did in the past, referred to as past work. Then they look at your medical records and prepare an RFC (residual functional capacity) assessment which indicates your exertional limits. That is, are you capable of only sedentary work, light work, or medium work? After they decide what your limits are, they assess whether or not you can return to your past work...based on your RFC limitations. If your RFC says you are only capable of light work, and all your past work was at the medium exertion level (Examples of medium level jobs---jobs that require being able to lift 50 lbs occasionally and 25 lbs frequently---are heavy equipment operator, tractor trailer truck driver, plumber, etc.), then it is pretty obvious---you can't reasonably be expected to return to your past work. Almost everybody who applies for social security benefits based on disability gets out of having to return to past work. But that's not usually how Social Security denies people. The next step in the process is "other work". That is, if social security finds that you cannot do your past work, the DDS examiner will investigate other forms of work that you might be able to switch to. "Other work" has to be work which you are exertionally capable of doing. And, often, it has to be work which your particular job skills will transfer to. So, if you used to do a mechanic type job that was medium exertion, but now, because of your medical condition, the examiner concludes you can only do light work, the examiner might try to find (in a huge volume which lists thousands of jobs, including many that do not exist in your area) an "other work" job to send you to, such as a mechanic job that involves less lifting and is classified as light exertion. Now let me make this point. When DDS "sends you" to an other work job, that doesn't mean that disability is actually sending you anywhere. That's just the terminology used to describe the process---the process of turning you down for your social security benefits by saying that you are capable of doing "other work". I'll also make these last points. People in their fifties usually have an easier time getting approved for this reason: Social Security doesn't commonly expect individuals in their fifties to be able to transfer work skills as easily as a younger person might. So, for this kind of disability applicant, it's less likely that they will be sent to other work and denied on that basis. And, for individuals with conditions such as depression or anxiety, or learning problems, the disability examiner will sometimes find that the individual is incapable of performing SRRT's. These are "simple routine repetitive tasks". When an individual is found to be incapable of SRRT's, Disability Determination Services will have trouble sending that person to "other work". So---if you have depression, or anxiety, or any other "mental" impairment, in addition your physical problems, get this condition documented: go to mental health; be seen by a psychiatrist. Because, in some instances, this can definitely help you in getting your disability case won. Disability Advocates Help with Claims Free Case Evaluation |
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SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY ATTORNEY, REPRESENTATIVE LAWYER LIST ANSWERS TO YOUR SSD & SSI QUESTIONS PAGE 1 ANSWERS TO YOUR SSD & SSI QUESTIONS PAGE 2 |
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If you suffer from a medical disability such as hip, neck, shoulder, ankle, wrist, back, or other joint problems, disc herniation, degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, carpal tunnel syndrome, rsi or repetetive stress injury, inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis, dysthymia, depression or other mood disorders, congestive or chronic heart failure, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, diabetic neuropathy, high blood pressure (hypertension), seizure disorder, stroke, copd, emphysema, hearing loss or poor hearing, statutory blindness, peripheral field problems or other vision loss, clinical obesity, attention deficit hyperactivity or, simply, adhd, bipolar disorder or manic depression, panic disorder, schizophrenia, autism, head trauma, memory loss, low iq, mental retardation, learning disability, epilepsy, cancer, chronic fatigue, multiple sclerosis, lupus, anxiety, inner ear problems, meniere's, vertigo or dizziness, kidney failure requiring dialysis or other renal problems, cirrhosis, hepatitis, or other liver disease, pancreatitis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, asthma, bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, rsd or reflex sympathetic dystrophy, crohn's disease, sarcoidosis, peripheral vascular disease, lyme disease, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, hiv, aids, anemia, sickle cell, thyroid problems including hypothyroidism, esrd or end stage renal disease, reflux, gerd (gastroesophageal reflux disease), cfids, muscular dystrophy, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, or tachycardia, bradycardia or other arrhythmia and have initiated or been denied on a social security disability, or ssi, claim for benefits, this site may assist you with your case. Social Security Disability benefits are often difficult to win; however many claims for social security disability are lost simply because a claimant did not know enough about the disability process to their social security or ssi claim. For information re: representation on a social security disability or ssi claim (attorney or non attorney representative), see the "questions" & "how" pages. |
| Social Security Disability What if social security wants me to go one of their doctors ? |