 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 |
Medical Disability Requirements for SSD and SSIHow to prove you are disabled and win disability benefits The two disability programs administered by the social security administration (social security disability and SSI disability) have different types of eligibility requirements. However, they fit into two distinct categories: medical and non-medical. Medical Disability Requirements To be eligible for SSD or SSI benefits, your history of medical treatment must show that you have at least one impairment that could be considered severe. To be severe, it must reduce your functionality; in other words, the impairment must reduce your ability to engage in normal activities of daily living, which, of course, can include work activity. How does the social security administration assess whether or not your physical and/or mental functionality is impaired? 1. Social security will evaluate your medical records, looking through your physician's treatment notes, your lab reports, the interpretations of xrays, MRI scans and CT scans, and hospital admission and discharge summaries to find evidence of functional limitations. 2. Social security, through a disability examiner, will ask you (and often a third-party contact person as well, such as a friend, neighbor, or relative) about the activities that are a part of your normal day. This is done in an attempt to gauge what activities you may have trouble with. For example, disability examiners who are conducting an ADL (activities of daily living) phone call to a claimant will typically ask the claimant how well they are able to prepare meals, do household chores, and take care of personal hygeine tasks. Some claimants may wonder what such activities have to do with disability. However, many conditions can have an immediate impact on the ability to perform daily activities. For example, a person with reduced grip strength might have difficulty buttoning clothes or picking up cans of food. A person with shoulder problems might have difficulty putting dishes into a cupboard. A person with memory difficulties might have trouble writing bills or making shopping lists. Asking a claimant (or the person the claimant listed as a third-party contact) about their daily activities can help illuminate exactly how their condition impairs them and reduces their ability to function. This can be taken into consideration when the claimant's residual functional capacity is rated (all claimants are given physical and/or mental ratings of their remaining, or residual, functional capacity). The RFC rating is compared to the functional requirements of the claimant's past work and the requirements of any other work that the claimant might be considered capable of doing. What makes a person medically disabled under either the social security disability or SSI program? Basically, that they have a severe mental or physical impairment that is severe enough to prevent them from being able to work and earn a substantial and gainful income for at least twelve months. When a claimant satisfies this criteria, they are considered disabled according to the definition of disability used by the social security administration. continued at: The non-medical Disability Requirements for SSD and SSI 
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 |