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To qualify for social security disability or SSI disability, an individual's ability or inability to engage in substantial gainful activity (i.e., the ability to work) is really the key. However, how does the social security admninistration measure a disability claimant's ability to work? They do this by employing a very specific formula. And when we say "they" we are actually referring to the adjudicator. The adjudicator is the person who actually makes the decision on an SSDI (social security disability insurance) or SSI (supplemental security income) claim. At the lower levels---the application level and the first appeal level, known as the reconsideration or review---the adjudicator is a disability examiner. Disability examiners work at state agencies that process disability claims for the social security administration. At the disability hearing level, of course, the adjudicator is a federal judge. More specificially, the adjudicator is a federally appointed administrative law judge, or ALJ for short. The formula that is used by SSA to determine whether or not a person is disabled involves the following: 1. Determining whether or not a claimant's condition is severe. If it is found to be non-severe, the claimant will be issued a notice of denial. 2. Determining whether or not the claimant, despite having a severe physical or mental impairment, can return to work that they have done in the past (called, not surprisingly, "past work") or do some type of other work ("other work" is a social security concept that takes into consideration a claimant's age, job skills, school achievement, and rated limitations). However, a third aspect of the social security administration's disability determination process is duration. What do we mean by duration? Simply this, a person filing for social security disability (or SSI) must have a severe impairment that eliminates their ability to work for at least 12 full months. This is how long you have to be disabled to get disability benefits from SSA. Why does social security use a year as the minimum time required? Like other aspects of the two federal disability programs (SSDI and SSI), this is an arbitrary decision. 
Social Security Disability and SSI Disability Information
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