 SSDRC What is the Application Process for Social Security Disability and SSI? How do you Win Benefits under Social Security Disability or SSI? If I am determined disabled, how far back will Social Security pay benefits? How do you prove your disability case if you have a mental condition? What Can I Do to Improve My Chances of Winning Disability Benefits Common Mistakes after Receiving a Denial of Social Security Disability or SSI Benefits How to File for Disability - Tips for Filing If You Get Approved For SSDI Will You Also Get Medicare? How much does a Social Security disability attorney get paid? Social Security Disability SSI Criteria and the Evaluation Process How long does it take to be approved for SSI or Social Security disability? What do you Need to Prove to Qualify for Disability Benefits? Social Security Disability SSI and Fibromyalgia Social Security Disability SSI and Degenerative Disc Disease Can I Qualify For Disability and Receive Benefits based on Depression? Answers to questions about SSD and SSI disability What Disabilities Qualify for SSI and Social Security Disability Benefits? Social Security Disability Status Social Security Disability Tips — how a claim gets worked on Social Security Disability, SSI Disability - Terms, Definitions, Concepts |
What Disabilities Qualify for SSI and Social Security Disability Benefits?How to prove you are disabled and win disability benefits The social security administration has two separate systems of approval for mental and physical disabilities. The first is to indentify whether or not a condition is included in the social security disability list of impairments. This is a reference work that is used by disability examiners and administrative law judges, the two types of decision-makers who decide the outcome of title II benefits (social security disability) and title 16 benefits (SSI disability claims). This reference work is also known as the blue book since it has historically been published with a blue cover. Conditions that are listed in the blue book are organized and grouped according to body systems. So things like myocardial infarctions (heart attacks) and congentital heart disease and congestive heart failure are listed under the cardiovascular section, while conditions like diabetes and thyroid disorders are listed under the endocrine section. The listing book contains separate listings for mental and physical conditions and also differentiates between conditions that are held by adults and conditions that held by children. To be approved for disability benefits via the listings, a person would have to present medical evidence that satisfies the disability approval criteria for a listed impairment. For example, since the epilepsy listings (under the neurological section) specify that a person must have a certain frequency of seizures and that the seizures must occur in spite of medication, for a person to be approved under one of the epilepsy listings, their medical records should, ideally, indicate A) when their seizures have occurred, B) what types of seizures occurred and C) what the patient experienced as a physical or mental manifestation of their condition, either prior to or following the seizure episodes. To qualify for SSI disability or SSD disability on the basis of satisfying a listing can be fairly difficult. Most claims that are eventually approved are not approved on the basis of meeting or equaling the requirements of a listing. If this is the case, how do you qualify for SSI, or for social security disability? The social security administration has a second route for approvals which are called "medical vocational allowances". Med-voc allowances are decided through something known as sequential evaluation. This system is fairly simple though most disability claimants, undoubtedly, have never heart of it. Under sequential evaluation, the person responsible for deciding whether to approve a claim or deny it (a disability examiner or a judge, depending on the level of the cliam) has to first decide if the claimant's condition is severe or non-severe. Most alleged impairments will be considered severe; however, some individuals apply for conditions as insubstantial as sprains and conditions as routine as pregnancy. These individuals will be given denials on the basis of an NSI, or non-severe impairment. continued at: Qualifications for SSI and Social Security Disability 
Return to: SSDRC, or the Questions, Answers, Tips, and Advice page Topics and Questions SSD and SSI are Federal Programs The title II Social Security Disability and title 16 SSI Disability programs operate under federal guidelines and, therefore, the program requirements--medical and non-medical--apply to all states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming Recent approval and denial statistics for various states can be viewed here: Social Security Disability, SSI Approval and Denial Statistics by state Special Section: Disability Lawyers and unnecessary claim denials |