New Rule Modernizes How We Award Disability Benefits
Reading Time: 1 MinuteLast Updated: February 24, 2020
The Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income programs protect some of the most vulnerable people in our society. A successful disability program must evolve and support making the right decision as early in the process as possible. To help us do that, we must modernize the rules and standards we use to evaluate how we determine disability benefits. We are moving forward with a rule change that has been in the works for a number of years and serves to update a more than 40-year-old policy that made the inability to communicate in English a factor in awarding disability benefits. The new rule is effective April 27, 2020.
We are required to consider education to determine if your medical condition prevents work. In 2015, our Inspector General recommended that we evaluate the appropriateness of this policy. Research now shows the inability to communicate in English is no longer a good measure of a person’s education level or the ability to engage in work. The new rule also supports the Administration’s longstanding focus of recognizing that individuals with disabilities can remain in the workforce.
To make the right disability decisions, Social Security disability rules must continue to reflect current medicine and evolution of work. We need to update our rules to keep up with society’s changes.
We owe it to the American public to ensure that our disability programs continue to reflect the realities of the modern workplace. Please share this information with your family and friends.
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About the Author
Andrew Saul, Commissioner, Social Security Administration
Commissioner of Social Security Administration (June 17, 2019 - July 9, 2021)
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Adrianna P.
Hello I’m Adrianna avila perea .I was born with mental health and epelapsy seziers and my mother is a alcoholic she did it her pregnancy with me and on top of that she trie aborting me few times I could never understand why I had problem learning and development issues and staying focused and consintratation and can’t handle being aro d people and I am the perfect example of why you don’t drink while pregnant and do drugs or try aborting my whole life I have suffers and suffered voices seeing things and it’s not getting better I have been on so many levels of meds and nothing helps council meeting therepy nothing and I have worked but and had lots of jobs oh but also I have multiple personalty disorder but I have tried to get ssd ssi and denied denied I’m so tired that because of people on drugs mess it up for people like myself that I didn’t ask to be born or born like this my mother has told me I’m a mistake and I also have chronic depression chronic personality disorder every thing I have is chronic not to mention that I had cancer in one kidney and had it removed so I only have one kidney I got hert at my last job as a care giver the lady fell on me and my boss didn’t care they fired me and o have fibromyalgia and sciatica and diabetes they SS HAS BEEN GETTIING ALL MY INFO AND DR INFO AND STILL NOTHING I LOST MY KIDS BECAUSE I WENT TO GETTING HELP MENTALY FOR MEDS AND BECAUSE OF THAT THEY SAID I AM NOT FIT TO HAVE MY KIDS 5 BOYS AND NEVER ABUSE OR NEGLECTED MY KIDS OR NEVER DRUGS JUST MY PSCCH MEDS NOW MY OLDER BOYS ARE BACKI LIVE IN RAPID HOSING I am a servivor of domestic VIOLANCE my husband almost killed me twice I was forced to stay with him he said or he would have my kids kills if I left or divorced him the second time that was it thank God my boys were here to save my life no longer with him but I’m STILL at the apartment were it happen to this day I am trammatized of the shower but and my apartment manager tore down my fence and denied my medical companion dog so my safety is compromised and I couldn’t move cause it was the holidays and and I couldn’t find a place that takes my voucher and so I’m still in this apartment scared paranoid depressed and I never know when he’s going to send another threat on my life but with all said I wasas born this way and 49 years old and have been trying and turned down since 1990 please help me thank you adrianna Avila perea
A.C.
Hi, Adrianna. We are sorry to hear about your health condition and situation. Social Security pays disability benefits to people if they have a medical condition that has prevented them from working or is expected to prevent them from working for at least 12 months. We use the same five-step process to make a decision on each application. To see the process that we use, visit here. If you need to apply for disability, please visit our Disability benefits web page. We hope this helps.
A
So take a person who applied that speaks English and take someone who speaks another language they both have all the same diagnosis but yet the one who speaks English gets denied and the other approved god bless America.
It’s the truth tho
J w.
Your ignorance and Xenophobia really shines!
Deirdre
My son is 25 years old with paranoid schizophrenia and was diagnosed in February 2014 he is on medication that causes dementia like symptoms and his medication cause him to sleep 8-10 hours at a time he could not stop hearing the voices and the attorney Dr Bill Latour office did not do a good job helping him we did not see them but only 5 min in 11/2 years that was the day of the hearing and the judges stated my son didn’t argue for himself or did his attorney my son did not know to argue for himself that’s why we hired an attorney my son wants a normal life and would love to work no one will hire him and the ones that did let him go a week later he has not had a Job when he work 3
Weeks in years but they are still denying him benefits my lil income is causing is to be homeless and you have these ones that are frauding the system they get the benefit so we are on the next level to appeal cause no attorney will help us at the appeals council level I’m praying they have a heart and realize my son needs income his doctor said she don’t see how they won’t give him his benefits
Debbie
I HAVE TRIED TO GET DISABILITY. I WENT ALL THE WAY TO CIVIL COURT! HOWEVER THE STATE OF KANSAS WON’T GIVE IT TO ME. I AM WANTING TO WORK. BUT I KNOW MY BODY!!!! I WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO KEEP A JOB OR BE DEPENDABLE ENOUGH TO KEEP A JOB. I NEED MEDICAID OR INSURANCE HELP SO I CAN TAKE CARE OF MY MEDICAL PROBLEMS!!!!! THEN I CAN AND KEEP A JOB!!!! THE CATCH 22 IS THAT THEY WON’T GIVE ME MEDICAID UNLESS I HAVE A DISABILITY!!!! MY HUSBAND IS A VETERAN ON REGULAR ( NOT VA) RETIREMENT.. AND HE CAN’T AFFORD MEDICAL INSURANCE FOR ME!!! SO THAT’S ANOTHER CATCH 22!! I HAVE HYPOTHYROIDISM,. HBP, ANXIETY UNFER STRESSFUL SITUATIONS,, AND SEVERER BACK PAIN DUE TO MY DEMANDING JOB AS A CERTIFIED NURSE ASSISTANT FOR 11YRS ( WHICH I LOVED. AND MISS). AND MILD COPD. I AM ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE THAT WOULD LIKE TO GET BACK TO WORK. BUT I NEED MEDICAL HELP FIRST!!! CAN I GET TEMPORARY DISABILITY UNTIL I’M ABLE TO WORK AGAIN??????? WHEN I GET A JOB I LIKE TO BE ABLE TO PUT EFFORT INTO MY job.and I ALSO WANT TO BE DEPENDABLE. I CAN’T DO ANYTHING ELSE BUT BEING A CERTIFIED NURSE ASSISTANT.. I HAVE TRIED OTHER JOBS AND I AM NOT GOOD AT OTHER JOBS.. BEING A CERTIFIED NURSE ASSISTANT IS MY LIFE’S CALLING!!!! Please!!! Is there anything you can do to help me with this???? Thanks for your help and time.
Rory
Good day friends is a what a good press release 2019
https://mbacklinks.com/posts/telecentro-wifi-zone-zona-wifi-telecentro-info-actualizada-al-2020
Sally A.
My Question is to Andrew Soul who is head of Social Security. I am an individual who applied for disability and was denied on January 11, 2020. The finding was unfavorable due to no having a severe impairment to Fibromyalgia yet I was found to have a severe impairment to osteoarthritis according to my letter from the judge who made his decision I believe very hastily. The vocational Expert for Social Security stated I did no have transferable skills. Your Grid rules say I am disabled secondary to my age and the fact that my skills are not transferable. All of my Doctors say I have Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis. These two reasons were why I applied for disability in the first place. Why then if I have a severe impairment of one diagnosis can’t I be approved for benefits? Why weren’t my medications not gone over during my hearing? How can your doctors diagnose me when they have never laid eyes on me how do they know how my body absorbs medication? Should I be put in the position of driving my car to work which is very early in the morning so that I can possibly injure myself or god forbid injure or kill another person because my body absorbs medication very slowly. So if I am so tired from lack of sleep, feeling the effects of medication, it is ok to go to work because you say I am not disabled. I am then being put in a position to operate machinery under the influence of medication. I am appealing with the most strength I have in my boy to answer these questions. I have appealed to the Appeals Council and want very much to be able to go before the judge again. I was unable to speak at the last hearing due to an anxiety attack because my son was once again going off to fight for his country. He left the day of my hearing. I am just wanting to know how some people who claim they are disabled due to anxiety, depression yet they live life free and fun going to casinos, concerts, and they are able to enjoy life because they played the system. I am an American. My doctors say I shouldn’t work due to my Fibromyalgia & Osteoarthritis. I am in pain every minute of everyday. I am forced to work causing more pain. I don’t go to casinos, concerts and do very little due to my illness. Even if I were approved for disability, I still have my condition. It is chronic and there is no cure for Fibromyalgia. Please I just want a quality of life so that I can live with some kind of peace. Currently this procedure has caused me more depression, and if not approved I could go homeless. Is this what our country has come to, making someone desolate. This is truly wrong…. The system is broken and the ones in social security that broke it haven’t a clue on how to fix it….Please All I want is answers.
James H.
Born in 1952, I ruined my back working part time after high school classes. Told my employer who invited me to lay on the office floor when the pain was intense, It took me until age 34 to hear the words “workmans comp” and find a surgeon who did a myelogram which clearly showed I had a herniated disc. The surgery made it worse because the injury was 15 years old.
Beginning in 2006 I had over seven unrelated surgeries that cost me my 30 year job. Finally in 2013 I qualified for Social Security Disability. I divorced after 42 years in 2014. She is still working at age 66. I just returned from the Philippines engaged to a beautiful 35 year old Filipina. I am trying to find out if my new spouse can collect on my Social Security if we marry and reside in the USA. If not, I may have to move to the Philippines so we can be together. Any thoughts from you are welcomed.
K.O.
Hi James, thank you for your question. According to current policy, a spouse must meet a 1 year duration-of-marriage requirement just before filing for the spousal benefit. Check out our Benefits For Your Spouse web page for more details.
Shannon R.
Seriously …. ? Why don’t you focus on moving this 4-5 year long, unbearable process along because we’re forced to live with nothing and it takes so many years to make a decision which makes it impossible for people to live. We can’t work yet, ironically, the only people that survive to get disability are the ones that have families who can pay for all the medical costs or people who saved up thousands of dollars from working….. everyone else is screwed. Especially when you don’t have a family to support you. Stop focusing on politics and appeasing other agencies with P.C. and start working on helping the disabled who live in nothing because it takes you guys 5 years to make a decision.
Bruce G.
SSA Fraud comes from the SSA itself. You use non US Citizens grant US Computer access to non Citizens then wonder where the phone scam comes from. Well look at LE Staff those employees non Citizens steal information and sell it to agents of harm and corruption. Take all non US Citizens off of employment in foreign embassy
Paul J.
I`ve been on Disability then it changed to SSI for 16 at least yrs. I have a lot of physical problems that keep me from a Full-Time Job,I Used to Work For The Teamster Union Driving and doing work on Pipeline Projects and Movie Work. Every Now and Then I have a chance on the Union to work on Pipeline Jobs out of Town driving a Pick up to take workers to the Jobsite for maybe 1-2 months.I would like to add to my SSI in terms of money a month..Right now I get $1000.00 a month Not Much to Live for being 72 yrs of age. Although I cannot work continuously I could work Short Intervals Driving .once the workers get to work I don’t do much. How Can I Work Sporadically?? To Improve the amount I Get a Month? I see People on SS and they pay $134.00 a month and can work. I think the $134.00 is for medicare. Please tell me or explain to me what I can do and not get in trouble, and what Benefits I Lose or Gain. Thank You
James
I get about $27,000 SSD which changed to SSI when I turned 66. My disability did not change at 66. My income was not affected. SS sent me a letter (Michigan) saying I could earn up to $46,000. Anything over that and fifty cents on the dollar would go to the Govt.