By Kirk Larson
Social Security Washington
Public Affairs Specialist
Disability isn’t something most people anticipate. The reality is, a 20-year-old worker currently has a one-in-four chance of becoming disabled before reaching retirement. In Washington there are more than 178,000 people receiving disability payments. Nationally there are more than 8.75 million.
This means Social Security disability benefits are something you should understand.
Social Security disability benefits replace part of your income when you become disabled and are unable to work. Other disability programs may have partial disability or short-term disability, but federal law requires a stricter definition—generally the same one used for Supplemental Security Income benefits.
Most people focus on the medical severity of their condition when filing for disability benefits. They provide medical records that show the severity of the condition. Since Social Security defines severity in terms of being unable to work, the agency also needs complete work information.
You can read a description about the process of evaluating whether you can work or not and the severity of your condition in the publication, Disability Benefits at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/EN-05-10029.pdf, under the section, “How we make the decision.” For information about how Social Security evaluates your work, review this section: www.socialsecurity.gov/disability/step4and5.htm.
Remember, when you provide details about your condition and your work, you’re creating a picture of your individual situation. These details show the extent of your disabling condition. These are examples of specific information you need to provide about your prior work:
Main responsibilities of your job(s).
Main tasks you performed.
Dates you worked (month and year).
Number of hours a day you worked per week.
Rate of pay you received.
Tools, machinery and equipment you used.
Knowledge, skills and abilities your work required.
Extent of supervision you had.
Amount of independent judgment you used.
Objects you had to lift and carry and how much they weighed.
How much you had to sit, stand, walk, climb, stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl or balance.
How you used your hands, arms and legs.
Speaking, hearing and vision requirements of your job(s).
Environmental conditions of your workplace(s).
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