4 THINGS SOCIAL SECURITY CONSIDERS

According to the federal regulations, there are 4 things that Social Security must consider when determining whether a person is disabled under their rules:

1.  RESIDUAL FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY (RFC):  What is the maximum that a person is able to do in terms of work-like activity or function?  This is based on medical evidence. The most restrictive RFC is sedentary work.

2.  PAST RELEVANT WORK (PRW):  What full-time work has the claimant performed in the past 15 years.  This is especially important to claimants who are at least 50 years old.  SSA will consider skill level and exertion level of all past relevant work.  If a person has done skilled work or sedentary work, it may make approval more difficult.

3.  AGE:  The most difficult age category for approval is "younger individuals," those who are below age 50.  Social Security assumes that persons under age 50 can more easily adapt to new or different kinds of work.  Ages 50 - 54 fall "in between" in a category of "Approaching Advanced Age."  Claimants age 55 and over are in the "Advanced Age" category, which gives them the greater advantage of the medical-vocational guidelines or "grid rules," as they're sometimes called.

4.  EDUCATION:  Social Security will consider how much education a claimant has and how it effects the ability to work.  Generally, the more education a person has, the more likely he/she will be to adapt to new types of work.

So, the "perfect" claimant (if there is such a person) would have an RFC limited to sedentary work, would have past work at the heavy or very heavy RFC, would be at least age 55 and have a limited education.

On the other hand, the most difficult case would involve a person under age 50, who can perform medium to heavy work, has an advanced education, and who has performed sedentary, highly skilled past work (with transferable skills).

Of course, almost nobody meets all of the favorable characteristics.  Most claimants will meet one or two of them, not all 4.  Some claimants don't meet any of the 4. 

What's the best advice for someone thinking about Social Security disability?  It's best to talk to a Social Security attorney or representative to get a free case evaluation. That can give a pretty good idea of the odds of meeting the basic requirements.  There is never a charge for this service.