DISABIITY INSURANCE YOU MAY NOT KNOW YOU HAVE

Nearly all workers in the US have deductions taken out of their pay.  If you look at your pay stub, one of those deductions will be for FICA, which stands for Federal Insurance Contributions Act.  Is is a payroll tax which funds Social Security and Medicare.

FICA tax is mandatory for most workers.  It just comes out of your check each pay period.  It provides Social Security Disability Insurance or SSDI.  If you become disabled, you can apply for a benefit or check, based on what you have paid into the program.

There is a catch, however.  It can be very difficult to prove that you meet the medical requirements for disability.  Social Security's definition of "disability" is very strict.  

Definition of Disability.  For most workers, disability is defined as the total inability to perform any full-time work which exists in the United States economy.  The disabling condition must have lasted, or be expected to last, for at least 12 consecutive months.

So, becoming unable to perform you most recent or customary work isn't enough.  If there are other jobs you can do, your claim will be denied.

This definition of disability is what most appeals and lawsuits against Social Security focus on.  Are you disabled according to the government's definition of disability?  

I have a client who was an assembler in an automobile assembly plant.  Because of a back back, he became unable to do the standing, lifting and bending required of that job.  Standing for 8 hours a day on a concrete floor caused unbearable pain.  Obviously, he cannot continue with this kind of work, which he has done for more than 14 years.

But, can he perform other work?  Because he is only 47 years old, Social Security's rules require him to try to adapt to lighter work--perhaps a job with less standing, bending and lifting involved.  If he is judged able to perform sedentary work (which can be performed mostly from a seated position), he will be denied benefits.

A suspect job that Social Security's vocational expert may propose would be that of a Check Cashier, DOT code 211.462-026.  It is a sedentary (seated) job which requires very little training.  

Or, the government might argue that my client can adjust to work at the light exertion level.  Suspect jobs might include Laundry Folder, DOT code 369.687-018.  Or, Quality Control Tester, DOT code 701.261-010.  Perhaps they might suggest Ticket Taker, DOT Code 344.667-010.  There are dozens of other jobs that might come up.

My job, as representative, is to show that all of these jobs are beyond the residual functional capacity (RFC) of my client.  I would use both objective medical evidence and the claimant's own testimony to demonstrate this.  

With an older claimant (age 50 or above), I would use a medical-vocational rule to show disability.  This, however, is not permitted in a younger individual.  So, we have to take a more round-about method of showing disability.

If you have been denied for SSDI benefits, you should consider hiring an attorney or advocate to assist you with an appeal.  This can be done on what's called a 'contingency fee,' meaning that you pay nothing up front and never pay a fee for representation unless you are successful in collecting benefits with back pay from the government.

Data continues to suggest that claimants who have professional representation are more likely to be approved than "unrepped" claimants who go it alone.

FORSYTHE FIRM: SOCIAL SECURITY JUSTICE