Greenville Disability Lawyer Explains the Regulations and Legal Standards for Social Security Disability Determinations
Despite all the medical data and evaluations required from your doctor, your disability status is a legal decision that the Social Security Administration makes based on the rules and regulations that govern it.
The most clear-cut means of being found disabled is the Listing of Impairments, which contain all the medical conditions explicitly covered by Social Security disability benefits. This means of qualifying for disability benefits is called “meeting the Listings.” If your condition is not included within the Listings, you may still be found disabled by “equaling the Listings,” that is, proving that you have a medical condition and that your condition is similar to a condition in the Listings, both in nature and severity. Either “meeting” or “equaling the Listings” guarantees your disability status; you are not required to demonstrate how your impairment affects your ability to work. The Social Security Administration maintains an online copy of the listings on their website: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/index.htm.
Because of the legal nature of disability determination, the Social Security Administration officially asks that physicians—who are medical but not legal experts—refrain from giving an evaluation as to their patient’s disability status. However, an individual administrative law judge will probably still consider your doctor’s opinion on whether or not you meet or equal the Listings, as long as it is supported with solid evidence.
If there is no way you can be found disabled under the Listings, you will have to be found disabled under the Medical-Vocational Guidelines in order to receive benefits. These Guidelines set criteria for disability status that are based on your condition’s effect on your ability to work, rather than your medical condition itself. Being found disabled under the Guidelines requires that you demonstrate your inability to work most jobs you held in the past or at most jobs you are not excluded from due to your age or lack of experience and education.
The criteria for being found disabled are complex and numerous, and it is more than possible that the government employee who reviewed your file among dozens of others may have unfairly denied you benefits. If you are appealing a disability denial, a Greenville disability lawyer at The Dennison Firm may be able to help you. Call today for a free consultation.
