BASIC RULES FOR SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILILTY

Here is a crash course in the basic rules of Social Security disability benefits. My goal here is to explain the basic requirements for getting a disability check under Title II (the regular Social Security disability program).

1. You are not presently working at "substantial gainful activity." This means you do not have gross wages or self-employment income of at least $1,070 per month.

2. You have a severe, medically determinable impairment which has lasted, or is expected to last, for at least 12 consecutive months, or to end in death. This impairment significantly limits your ability to perform substantial gainful activity (work).

3. Generally, you will need medical records from a doctor or other "accepted medical source" to prove your medical impairment, including it's date of onset, symptoms and severity. Accepted medical sources include doctors (MD or DO), clinical psychologists (Phy.D. or Ph.D.), or licensed physician's assistants (PA). Certain other medical professionals can provide evidence for areas limited to their specialty: for example, an optometrist can provide evidence of vision problems and a podiatrist can provide evidence of diseases of the feet. Nurse practitioners, however, are not considered acceptable medical sources.

If you are under age 50, Social Security will generally require that you be unable to perform ANY job which exists in significant numbers in the United States economy. This includes unskilled, sedentary work which is often minimum wage and requires only simple, repetitive functions. If you are age 50 or over, you may meet one of the Medical-Vocational Guidelines. If so, you will only have to prove that you cannot perform any of the jobs you have performed during the 15-year period immediately before filing for disability benefits. This assumes that your disabling impairment is physical, not mental. (Mental impairments are not considered when applying Medical-Vocational Guidelines; although, a mental impairment can still be disabling).

It's only fair to state here that, even if you qualify for SSDI benefits, there's a good chance you will be denied anyway and that an appeal and hearing will be required to collect your benefits. That's because there is often a miscalculation about who qualifies for benefits and who doesn't. So, you may get denied--then, off to an administrative law judge you go, hoping to get the denial reversed and your claim paid. It's a very common, though unfortunate, scenario.