HOW TO WIN SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY

Winning Social Security disability can often depend on
  1. the severity of your impairments
  2. your age
  3. your education
  4. past work history
  5. having good medical evidence
Since Social Security disability is governed by a very complex set of rules and regulations, it is important to know what you must prove - and how to go about proving it.

This post will focus on WHAT you must prove.  Another post on this same blog will focus on HOW to go about proving your case.

Here is what you must prove:  
  1. You are not now working at substantial gainful activity (SGA) - i.e., earning at least $1,070 per month.
  2. You have a medically determinable impairment (documented by a doctor).
  3. A Residual Functional Capacity (RFC) must be established.  This means, what is the most you can do in terms of work related activity?  How much can you lift?  How long can you sit, stand, walk?  How often can you bend, stoop, reach, crawl, climb, etc.?
  4. You must prove that you cannot perform ANY of your past work (going back 15 years).
  5. You must prove that you cannot perform ANY OTHER JOB which exists in the national, state or regional economy.  If you can, you are not disabled, in Social Security's point of view.
The next posting will focus on how to prove these things.  Some things are harder to prove than the others.  Let me close here by saying that you need both strong medical evidence and good vocational evidence (job related evidence).  Please see my post titled "How to Prove You Are Disabled."

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