Skip to main content

STEPS 4 AND 5 OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY PROCESS

Social Security will use 5 steps to consider your application for disability.  Think of these "steps" as tests.  Nearly everyone passes steps 1-3.  So here we will discuss Steps 4 and 5:

STEP 4:  Are you now able to perform any full-time job that you have performed within the past 15 years?  This work is called "past relevant work."  If decision makers find that you can perform any  past relevant work you are not disabled under the rules and regulations.  Many claimants are denied at Step 4, but even more get denied at Step 5.

STEP 5:   Do you still have the capacity to perform any other which exists in the national economy?  In other words, you can't perform any past work but can you perform easier work?  If you can you are not disabled and will be denied.  Step 5 tricks up claimants who are under age 50 and considered "younger individuals" under the regulations.  No, you can't do your work as a construction worker but you could work as a garment tagger or eyeglass inspector.  (Or pie taster, as we joke)!  Some of the Step 5 jobs they find are about that ridiculous!

How You Must Approach Your Claim or Appeal to Win

If you are a Younger Individual, under age 50, you must show that are is no work in the national economy that you are able to perform.  No job.  Note:  The regulations say "no work in the national economy," which means the United States of America.  Not enough that no job exists in your town, your state or even your part of the country.  Generally, you will need a very  severe impairment which prevents you from sitting up 8 hours a day, remaining focused and performing minimal and simple work activity.   This is why it is very difficult to be approved if you are under age 50.  

So, in preparing a case for a person under age 50, we must dig deeply into the medical record and look for such things as...... (examples).....

  • an inability to use one or both upper extremities for manual dexterity
  • an inability to sit for 2 hours at a time or 8 hours in an 8-hour day
  • the inability to stand or walk for up to 2 hours per 8-hour day.
  • restrictions that prohibit lifting/carrying up to 10 pounds occasionally
  • impairments that will keep the claimant off task 20 percent of the day
  • symptoms that will cause absence from work more than 1 day/month
  • the inability understand, remember, carry out simple instructions

There must be overwhelming objective medical evidence showing that these impairments and restrictions have either 

  • lasted for 12 straight months
  • Will last for at least 12 straight months
  • Or will end in death of the claimant
As I have stated, it takes a rather severe long term medical or mental condition to satisfy the criteria for disability involving a claimant under age 50.


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IS IT HARD TO GET SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY IN TENNESSEE?

  How hard is it to get Social Security disability (SSDI) in Tennessee? It can be very difficult.  In the beginning stages of the process, it seems like the agency is out to deny as many claims as possible.  Later--in the appeals process--it takes more technical and legal skill to move through the labyrinth of obstacles. What's the usual reason for an SSDI denial? If you look at all the denial letters, the most comm on reason given is:  You are not disabled according to our rules. The 2 main explanation for finding claimants not disabled are: 1.  You are able to perform some of your past relevant work. 2.  You can't perform any of your past work but you are able to do other work. Those are the two "catch all" reasons Social Security gives for nearly all of their denials.  Both of these reasons fall into the category of a medical denial .  The claimant's condition is not deemed severe enough to prevent all work. There are other reasons for d...
Post a Comment
Read more

WHAT YOU WILL BE ASKED AT A DISABILITY HEARING

Most Social Security disability claims will be denied twice:  First at the end of the Application process, and again after the "Reconsideration" process.  The third stop will be a hearing before a federal Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). It is here at the hearing level that most SSDI claims are paid.  So, what do you need to know about your Social Security disability hearing?     First, the judge will follow the rules established by the Social Security Administration.  His or her job is to determine whether you meet the particular laws and rules to receive disability payments.  So, it is a legal proceeding where you must prove certain things in order to get paid. Among the things you must prove:  Your insured status with Social Security:  You have worked recently enough and paid into the Social Security trust fund to gain the required "work credits" to support your claim.  You have a severe medical or mental impairment supported by adequa...
Post a Comment
Read more

CAN YOU WIN YOUR DISABILITY APPEAL WITHOUT A LAWYER?

The Social Security Administration does not require you to have a lawyer to file an appeal or to appear at a hearing.  However, most people heading for a disability hearing will hire a lawyer or advocate to help them.   Studies have shown that you are about twice as likely to win with a lawyer.  A recent study found that claimants with no lawyer win about 30 percent of the time while claimants with a lawyer or advocate win 60 percent of the time.   " He just cooked his own goose." These statistics cover only one aspect of a disability appear--your odds of winning. The other important aspects are time and convenience. If you prepare and adjudicate your own disability appeal, expect to spend 12 to 24 months working on the case.  You will be collecting, reading and submitting hundreds or thousands of pages of medical records.  These records are complex and often difficult to understand.  And you must know how each medical record helps (or hurts) your dis...
Post a Comment
Read more