Category: Social Security Disability

The Social Security Administration (SSA) will consider your past work experience and your ability to work in the same job or another job when it decides whether or not you are disabled. However, if you can still do the kind of work you did before you became disabled, the SSA will not consider whether or not you can get a job when it is deciding whether or not you are disabled.

The following factors are not relevant to your Social Security disability eligibility determination and will not be considered when deciding whether or not you should receive Social Security disability benefits if it is determined that you can still do the same kind of work that you used to do. Specifically, the SSA will not consider whether:

• You will be hired
• A job opening exists
• You would be required to move. For example, if you live in Richardson, the SSA will not consider whether you would have to move to a different part of Texas or a different state in order to keep working in the same kind of job.
• You want to do the work
• You still have the necessary licensure, certificate, or other credentials to do the work

However, if you cannot do the same kind of work that you did prior to becoming disabled, the SSA may consider what other jobs you can do and may consider the prevalence of those jobs in the national economy when deciding whether or not you should receive Social Security disability.

If you have any questions about how your work experience and ability to continue working impact your Social Security disability application, please start a live chat with us today so we can get your questions answered.

Yes, you can apply for social security disability while you’re in a rehab facility. The Social Security Administration (SSA) does not have any restriction on where you are living at the time you file for Social Security disability benefits, and you may file for Social Security disability while you are in a rehabilitation facility.

That said, your concern is likely that you are in a rehabilitation facility in order to make continued medical improvements. It is important that you continue your treatment and improve to the maximum extent possible. If, according to your doctors, you are likely to recover enough that you can go back to work and your daily activities, you may not be eligible for Social Security disability and an application may not be worth your time.

However, Rehab Won’t Always Allow You to Fully Recover

Instead, while you may be making some progress in rehabilitation therapy, if your prognosis remains the same, you may be considered permanently disabled. The following conditions may qualify you for benefits:

• Your condition is expected to last at least 12 months or result in death.
• Your condition prevents you from working or engaging in substantial gainful activity.
• You have paid enough into the Social Security system to qualify for Social Security disability benefits.

If you believe that you will continue to be eligible for Social Security disability after your rehabilitation therapy is completed, you can apply for benefits at any time—even while you are still in rehab.

For more information about the Social Security disability application process and for help getting started with your own application, please start a live chat with us today.

It can be frustrating to hear your doctor tell you that you are not disabled when you are physically unable to go to work. The Social Security Administration (SSA) looks closely at doctors’ determinations when it considers an applicant’s eligibility. Thus, you are right to be concerned about your doctor’s disability determination.

There Are Steps You Can Take to Protect Your Rights

In order to qualify for Social Security disability benefits, you will need to prove that you are permanently disabled. If your doctor tells you that you are not permanently disabled and you disagree with your doctor’s opinion, then it is important to:

• Ask your doctor to provide more specific information. It isn’t just your doctor’s conclusion that matters, but also the specific information documented in your medical record. Accordingly, it is important that all of your symptoms, the impact of those symptoms on your daily life, the treatments you have tried, and your prognosis are included in your medical chart.
• Get a second opinion. You have the right to talk to another doctor about your condition and to ask that doctor to also document your symptoms, the impact of those symptoms on your life and ability to work, and your prognosis. In some cases a second opinion may come from the same kind of doctor you had been seeing and in other cases you may choose to see a specialist.

Additionally, it is important to talk to an experienced Social Security disability lawyer as soon as possible to discuss your potential eligibility and to begin the Social Security disability application process, if appropriate. For more information, please start a live chat with us today.

You may be eligible for Social Security disability if you are blind and you have a job; however, special rules apply that are relevant to your eligibility. These rules are known as work incentives.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has work incentives in place for people with all kinds of disabilities, including low vision or blindness. Work incentives allow a Social Security disability applicant to earn a certain amount of money monthly and still receive Social Security disability benefits. The SSA defines work incentives in two ways: (1) for people with disabilities who are not blind; and (2) for people who are blind. The amount that a person can earn and still remain eligible for Social Security disability changes annually. In 2015, a person who is blind may earn up to $1,820 a month and remain eligible for Social Security disability and a person who is disabled, but not blind, may only earn up to $1,090 a month and remain eligible for Social Security disability.

Special Rules Apply If You Are 55 or Older

If you are blind, you are 55 or older, and you are doing a job that requires a lower skill or ability than the job you did before you reached age 55, your Social Security disability benefits will not end even if you earn more than $1,820 a month. Instead, your disability benefits will be suspended for any month that you exceed $1,820 in income and will be available to you again for any month that you do not earn at least $1,820.

Both your work and your Social Security disability benefits may be important to you. Accordingly, it is important to understand the law and to protect your rights. For more information about that, please call us today at (214) 373-3761.

In order to be considered disabled, a Social Security disability applicant must be unable to engage in any substantial activity because of a physical or mental condition that is expected to last for at least 12 months or result in death. According to this definition of disability, it is not enough that you cannot do your current job. You must be unable to work in any job and meet the other requirements to receive Social Security disability.

The Social Security Administration Will Want to Know About Your Skills

In order to determine if you can do another job, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is going to examine your work skills. The agency may want to know if you have other skills that could transfer to other jobs. When considering the transferability of your skills, the SSA can only:

• Consider your skills from past relevant work that is semi-skilled or skilled.
• Transfer the skills to other semi-skilled or skilled work—not unskilled work.
• Determine the transferability of skills after taking the specific steps described in the agency’s transferability of skills analysis.

A transferability of skills analysis is one of the last steps in a Social Security disability determination, and it need not be completed for every Social Security disability applicant. Instead, the analysis only has to be done if it could make a difference in the outcome for an individual applicant. Transferable skills should be a vocational advantage when looking for a new job.

It is important that you understand transferability of skills and other factors related to your Social Security disability application before you apply for benefits. To learn more, please start a live chat with us today.

If you are blind, you should not have to worry that working for lower wages will impact how much you can receive in future Social Security disability benefits. The Social Security Administration (SSA) does not want to discourage you from working now. Accordingly, there is a policy in place that allows you to protect your future Social Security disability benefits.

The Disability Freeze

The policy that protects your future Social Security disability (and other) benefits is known as the “disability freeze.”  A disability freeze excludes the years that you earned lower wages because of your blindness from how your Social Security disability benefits are calculated. Thus, if there comes a time when you file for Social Security disability, the amount that you can earn will be based on your earnings before your income was impacted by your disability. In other words, the time when your wages were lower is considered “frozen” and is not considered when determining the amount of your monthly Social Security disability benefit.

But You Have to Take Action

A disability freeze does not happen automatically, and it is not something that the Social Security Administration will consider on its own. Instead, you need to contact the Social Security Administration now to request the disability freeze.

If you have any questions about your rights or you need help getting the Social Security disability benefits you deserve, please start a live chat with us today and schedule an initial meeting with one of our experienced Social Security disability lawyers.

Generally, the same rules apply to nonprofit or charitable organizations that apply to other employers. If you were employed by a nonprofit organization, you and your employer were both required to pay Social Security tax on your earnings. Your part of the Social Security tax should have been withheld from your paycheck and submitted to the government by your employer.

However, some religious groups oppose paying into the Social Security system, and the law allows them not to participate. If you worked for such an organization and earned more than $100 a year, you were required to pay into the Social Security system as if you were self-employed.

The Same Rules of Eligibility Apply

If you work for a nonprofit or a for-profit employer, then you may be eligible for Social Security disability as long as:

• You paid into the Social Security system for the required amount of time. You need to earn a certain number of work credits based on your age in order to collect benefits.
• You have a medical condition that is likely to last for 12 months or more or that is likely to be fatal. Some, but not all of these medical conditions are included in the Listing of Impairments. Your doctors’ evaluations and prognoses will be important in determining how long your condition is expected to last.
• Your medical condition makes you unable to work. Your doctors’ evaluations will also be important in determining whether or not you can work. Additionally, your work history, education and other factors will be relevant.

If you have any questions about your eligibility, please start a live chat with us today and schedule an initial consultation with one of our experienced Social Security disability lawyers.

Your Social Security disability application has been approved and you are momentarily relieved that you will be receiving benefits to help with the financial strain of being out of work due to your medical condition. However, you can’t help but wonder if and when the benefits will end.

There Is No Set Time When Your Disability Benefits Will Cease

Social Security disability is not awarded for a period of months or years. Instead, it is awarded indefinitely and until you no longer qualify.

Three of the most common causes for Social Security disability benefits to end include:

• You go back to work. If you earn a substantial income beyond a trial work period, you may be found ineligible for Social Security disability because your medical condition no longer prevents you from working.
• You reach retirement age. When you reach retirement age, you will no longer receive Social Security disability benefits, but you may be eligible for Social Security retirement benefits instead.
• Your condition results in your death. Social Security disability benefits end with the recipient’s death.

Once your Social Security disability application has been approved, it will be subject to regular continuing reviews. In most cases, these reviews occur every 3-7 years, but the Social Security Administration can decide to conduct them more frequently.

If you have any questions about your continued eligibility, it is important to take action quickly so you can protect your rights and keep getting the benefits you deserve. Please start a live chat with us today if you need more information about your specific continued eligibility for Social Security disability.

You are probably not eligible for Social Security disability based on the facts you provide in your question. Social Security disability is only intended for permanent disabilities, and if you can return to work in about six months then your condition will not be considered to be permanent.

Typically, in order to qualify Social Security disability you must either be:

• Expected to be out of work for one year or more from the date on which you apply for Social Security disability benefits; or
• Diagnosed with a terminal condition.

The time that you already missed from work is not relevant to this part of your application and the disability examiner should not consider that time when determining your eligibility for Social Security disability benefits.

That Doesn’t Mean It’s Time to Give Up

It does, however, mean it is time to think carefully about your doctor’s prognosis and to consider getting a second opinion. If you agree with your doctor and feel that you will be able to return to work within the year then Social Security disability is probably not for you. However, your doctor’s prognosis is really just an educated guess. If you believe that your condition will prevent you from working for more than a year beginning on the date on which you file for Social Security disability, or if you believe that the condition which is preventing you from working is terminal, then you should get a second opinion and consider a Social Security disability application.

For more information about Social Security disability eligibility, please read our FREE book, Social Security Disability: What You Need to Know.

Yes, you may be eligible for Social Security disability if your work history and medical condition meet the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) requirements for eligibility.

Usually, you must be unable to work for 12 months or have a condition that is likely to result in your death in order to be eligible for Social Security disability. Thus, if you have already been out of work for a year and you are expected to be out of work for at least one more year, then you may meet this element of eligibility.

However, You Still Need to Meet the Work History Requirements

The work history requirements can be confusing because they depend on your age and because the number of work credits that you need to qualify for Social Security disability can change from year to year. However, there are some general rules that you should know.

In order to qualify for Social Security disability you typically must…

• Have earned 40 work credits. You can usually earn up to four credits a year. Credits do not expire and some of your credits may have been earned many years ago.
• Have earned 20 work credits within the last ten years before you became disabled.

Of course, some exceptions to these general rules do apply. However, you should not let a year out of work due to a medical condition prevent you from applying for Social Security disability. Instead, you should find out the truth about your potential eligibility by reading our free Social Security Disability Fact Sheet.