What Happens When You File an SSI or Social Security Disability Application?

Generally, you file a Social Security application or SSI application with a claims representative either in person at your local Social Security office or through a telephone interview. Either way, the claims representative will ask questions about your disabling conditions, medical treatment, and work history. You should be able to provide the claims representative with your medical treatment sources including their names, addresses, phone numbers, and the dates you received treatment. Additionally, you should have a list of your current medications, which medical professional prescribed them, and any side effects you are experiencing. Lastly, you need to provide a list of the medical tests you have had along with who referred you for the test and where it was done.

When you file a Social Security disability or SSI application, you should also be able to give the claims representative information about the various kinds of work you performed prior to becoming disabled. Social Security considers all work activity you performed in the fifteen years prior to filing for disability. However, a job can only be relevant to your disability determination if you performed the job three months or more, had time to learn the job, and your earnings were considered to be substantial gainful activity (SGA). To be considered SGA, you simply needed to have made a certain amount or more (The social security earnings limit). Disability examiners use your relevant work history to make their disability determination.

The Social Security definition of disability mandates that you must have a medically determinable mental or physical impairment and that the impairment has prevented you from performing SGA for the past twelve months or can be expected to prevent SGA for twelve months.

Claims representatives gather the medical and work information for your disability claim and then send the claim to a state disability agency (DDS, or disability determination services) for a medical determination. Once your disability file is received at the state disability agency, it is assigned to a disability examiner, who then sends for your medical records and schedules consultative examinations, if needed.

Social Security uses consultative examinations to provide clarification of information found in your medical treatment notes, or to get a current status on your medical condition if you have not had medical treatment in the past ninety days. Disability examiners must have current medical treatment information to make their disability decision.

Once the disability examiner has enough medical information from your treating medical sources and/or consultative examination reports, they will make their medical determination. They consider the limitations imposed upon you by your disabling condition. If your limitations are so severe that they meet or equal the disability criteria of an impairment listing iyou may be approved for disability. If not, the examiner evaluates your ability to perform any of your past work. If they determine that you are unable to do your past work, they must consider your ability to perform other types of work.

If you are not able to do past work, and the disability examiner determines that you are unable to do other work, you may be approved for disability benefits.