Social Security and the Definition of Disability

How does the social security administration define the concept of disability as it applies to SSDI and SSI benefits?

The definition of disability used by SSA is quite a bit more stringent and restrictive than others (for example, the VA). SSA's definition demands that an individual's disabling condition:

1. It must be severe enough to last for at least the length of a year (or be projected to last that long)
2. It must prevent a person from being able to work during that time at one of their former jobs or engage in any other type of work (suitable other work will be determined, to some extent, by a claimant's age, work skills, and physical or mental functional restrictions.

The definition of disability used by the social security administration does not in any sense include the concept of short-term or temporary disability benefits.

Is the SSA definition of disability fair to claimants? As it is currently written, the argument can be made that it is. And, as it is currently written, an ssd or ssi disability claimant does not actually have to be disabled for a year or more, as long as a person's medical records can indicate that the disability will eventually last that long.

The unfairness of the social security administration's disability system has more to do with the fact that chronic understaffing plagues the disability system. This understaffing, particularly as it regards hearing office staff, contributes heavily to a backlog of disability hearing cases that, essentially, forces applicants to wait more than a year for a hearing.

Information on Social Security Disability Claims