If you want to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), you will need to prove you are disabled according to the standards of the Social Security Administration (SSA). This can be more difficult than most people realize, since not every medical condition qualifies as a disability for the purposes of obtaining SSDI or SSI. But what exactly does it mean to prove you are disabled, from a legal standpoint?
What Does it Mean to Be Disabled?
In the context of applying for disability benefits from the SSA, being disabled means that you have a physical or psychological condition that is bad enough that it prevents you from working or performing daily tasks. In other words, it means your medical issues must impair you enough that you cannot earn a living or take care of yourself. Interestingly, this criteria is dependent on what kind of work you are able to perform, meaning certain conditions that might be considered disabling for one person might not be treated the same for someone else.
How Does a Condition Qualify as a Disability?
To qualify as disabled for the purposes of disability benefits, you must be able to demonstrate with medical evidence (such as records from your physician or psychologist) that indicate a condition or collection of conditions severe enough to prevent you from working. Notably, it must be a condition that impairs you despite getting medical treatment and following your doctor’s orders. This means that you may be disqualified from being considered disabled if you never sought medical treatment for your condition, or failed to follow your doctor’s prescribed treatment without good reason.
Who Determines if You Are Disabled?
Ultimately, your doctor’s assessment is usually not enough to qualify as disabled. Instead, the SSA typically requires people to get checked out by independent medical examiners through Disability Determination Services (DDS), who performs necessary testing to verify a person’s medical condition. Based on this assessment, they determine whether or not you might qualify as disabled under the standards of the SSA.
What Should You Do?
Ultimately, to give yourself the best chances possible of obtaining SSDI or SSI benefits, you should make sure to speak to a lawyer with experience handling disability applications like yours. Not only can they guide you through the process of applying for benefits, they can also argue on your behalf if your application faces legal hurdles. The sooner you call, the sooner they can get to work for you.
If you or a loved one need assistance applying for SSDI or SSI benefits, it is important that you seek the guidance of an experienced Social Security Disability benefits lawyer. The lawyers at Sullivan & Kehoe, LLP have over 50 years of combined experience between its attorneys and are available to you or your loved one in obtaining Social Security Disability or Supplemental Security Income benefits. To schedule a consultation with our New York Social Security Disability benefits lawyers, call (631) 823-7155.
