You Can Help Us Enhance Our Disability Process
Reading Time: 1 MinuteLast Updated: March 24, 2016
As a part of our commitment to bring you world-class services, Social Security is looking for ways to improve how we develop and evaluate medical evidence relating to severe limitations in attention, concentration, and persistence. The Social Security Act sets out a strict definition of disability. Our agency pays benefits to eligible people who can’t work because of a disabling mental or physical condition expected to last at least one year or result in death. This medical condition must prevent the person from doing not only their previous work, but also any other substantial work in the national economy.
Gathering and assessing medical evidence is a key part of how we make our decisions. On Wednesday, March 30, we will host our next National Disability Forum, Developing and Assessing Medical Evidence for Extreme Limitations in the Ability to Focus on Tasks.
The discussion will focus on the level of severity at which impairment-related limitations in attention, concentration, and persistence can prevent people from working. For example, at what point does the inability to focus cause enough ‘off task’ behavior that someone would be unable to do any job in the national economy? What are employer expectations around productivity and reasonable accommodations for affected people? Are there standard tests for assessing and evaluating these ailments, and who should be consulted to evaluate a person’s capacity to focus on job-related tasks?
Your input will help us further enhance our disability determination process. You can share your ideas about how our disability determination process can better serve individuals with extreme limitations in attention, concentration, and persistence on our IdeaScale page or by commenting below.
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About the Author
Gina Clemons, Associate Commissioner, Office of Disability Policy
Gina Clemons, Associate Commissioner, Office of Disability Policy
Comments
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Teresa
I applied in 2012 when I had open heart surgery and was told because I had not reported income of at least $10,000 in five out of the last ten years I did NOT qualify! I had the right number of credits according to the table specified but no income in the last ten years! WHAT is wrong with this picture! After my tenth wedding anniversary I sent, through this site 4 emails asking if I now qualified on my husband’s Social Security, NEVER received a reply of ANY kind!
Jenna Y.
Hi Teresa. First, we are sorry your application for disability benefits did not go the way you hoped. You are correct, generally, you will need to have 40 credits, or 10 years of work paying Social Security taxes, to qualify for any type of Social Security benefit. In addition, to qualify for disability benefits, you generally need to have worked for five out of the last 10 years before you became disabled. The rules are different for younger workers who become disabled or die. You can visit our Social Security Credits page for a complete explanation of credits needed for the different types of benefits.
Secondly, you may file for spousal benefits under your husbands record as long as he is already receiving benefits. However, if you are between age 62 and your full retirement age, your spousal benefit will be permanently reduced by a percentage on the number of months up to your full retirement age. Also, if you are under full retirement age and you continue to work while receiving benefits, your benefits may be affected by the retirement earnings test. For more information, please read our publication: “What Every Woman Should Know.”
Christine P.
You know what is the worst thing about getting the disability, having to wait 2 years for Medicare to kick in. If you are disabled you need medical coverage now, not 2 years from now. Also post on your web page the best disability representatives in the county and state where you live. When I applied, my attorney never contacted me about anything, so I found out I could fire them and got help from a reputable person. Why do some people have to prove every so many years that they are still disable? I am sure you get loads of people drawing who are not or no longer disable, but I just don’t understand. I noticed that sometimes it is who you know in the system.
Kimberly C.
I’ve been on SSI disability for 5 years now I have to go thru the process all over again. I have no feeling in my foot and leg. They want to do back and neck surgery on them. If I do it can paralyze me. So to anyone that would be a NO. MRI and another type of MRI of my whole body showing all my damage that I have. I could go on with everything but I won’t. But this should be enough. I shouldn’t have to prove anything cause Dr and all the MRI don’t lie. What is the world coming too!!
DisabledSupporter
Sounds like you are having a problem with a Continuing Disability Review (CDR).
SSA really needs to clean up the way they treat individuals with the CDR process. Sure, Congress mandates that from time to time an individual check-in to see if they are still disabled, but that does not say, harass the disabled person and put them through that god awful process again.
You are completely right it’s “their process” not the process congress told them to follow. SSA needs to clean up it’s act with the disabled of America, it’s it troubling to see how the disabled suffer and SSA shows not attempt to accommodate.
Deborah
Ask my husband. He knows everything I forget. Forgetting, also I do not listen because I do not pay attention due to leaving one thought or something goes by me and another one jumps in, or a baby cries when someone is talking to me. I named it Hypersensitivity to Immediate Stimuli and I am unable to focus on one particular person, task, thought or object. , often tell myself I have to stop, I must think and I cannot hear my thoughts. I need quiet. I have to read paragraphs and pages over and over, and feeling an nagging overwhelming feeling like I am putting out fires here and there. It feels like being deaf and I cannot follow, or understand perceive or remember instructions or follow the sequence and patterns of things. It takes the longest to get ready. Watching tv is hard and I loose interest or attention. A long time at the store deciding. The couldn’t even write a list because something else came up, missing exits, wandering around In my environment as well as thoughts . Loosing everything, keys, money, wallet because by the love of God I cannot focus never, ever on what I am doing with my hands the second I put something down. I had a good neurologist and a psychologist team who assessed me that I can no longer see them because it takes 24 months to get Medicare , marketplace premium went up and I can’t afford health insurance. It’s more than one problem. Employment accommodations were like the budget none whatsoever, I had to retire from my government jobs hat I miss dearly and I had to retire. Evaluation at home by a good neuropsychogist is best.
Lamp
Hello i served in the USMC I got out on a medical discharge for my back. I had a family and was young and worked from 1994 to 2011 with a back back filed for SSI went to see there doctor said i have back problems but i got denied. Know im a veteran with a bad back and PTSD. My status is unemployable because my PTSD and back but the guidelines that they use to determine social security there is a job out there for me. WHAT!!!! When i fill out a application and people see that who would hire me. Let’s be honest no one will. So i have a lawyer and it should have never gotten to this.
John O.
VA has service and non service disability programs, I’d also check with them.
Lamp
Im sorry used the wrong word my status is 100% with UNEMPLOYABILITY RATING and can’t work but social security denied me . HAVE not worked since July 2011
Jenna Y.
Thank you for your comment. We are sorry your application for disability benefits did not go the way you hoped. Generally, you will need to have 40 credits or 10 years of work paying Social Security taxes, to qualify for any type of Social Security benefit. In addition, to qualify for disability benefits, you generally need to have worked for five out of the last 10 years before you became disabled. The rules are different for younger workers who become disabled or die. You can visit our Social Security Credits page for a complete explanation of credits needed for the different types of benefits. Also, 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.
You have the right to file an appeal. There are four levels in the appeals process. A reconsideration is the first level. Typically, the length of time it takes to receive a decision on your reconsideration is about 60 days but the amount of time could vary from case-to-case. We reevaluate all evidence, plus any additional evidence submitted and make a new decision. If you disagree with the reconsidered decision, you can choose to go to the next level of the appeals process. We hope this information is helpful.
Lamp
I filed my appeal and was told it will take up to 18 months. I’m at 14 months and waiting. Have worked paying into social security from 1993 to 2011 over ten years. Also thought being part of the wounded warrior program would speed thing up but it didn’t. So im sitting waiting on my hearing . Hopefully this time i will get some good news back.
DisabledSupporter
Lamp, your later comment is a huge problem for those with disability. SSA plays a waiting game of years, after you have already had your time wasted with a State DDS’ that knew nothing and wasted anywhere from several months to a year of your life, with nothing productive to show for it. Then to a “ALJ” that you have no gurnatee will not be biased (SSA has a form for reporting biased judges since it is such a huge problem).
SSA needs to stop being lazy and start processing applications. An 18 month wait to see a judge, despicable. And SSA considers that to be a “service” to the disabled, come on.
There is no excuse, SSA needs to stop blaming it on an “influx of applications”. If that’s the problem, hire better actuarial’s to prepare, don’t punish or make a disabled person wait because you were unprepared and have been poor stewards of the disability program and trust fund. No more excuses, fix the problems with the process, don’t sit around making excuses for why you can’t get a simple determination processed promptly.
May
Agreed. This process only makes people more ill. How the heck are mentally ill people supposed to be able to organize all the medical records and document dates and remember things from years ago. If we could do that we wouldn’t need the SSDI.
Robert W.
I think by my experience one of the best things that would help with process is that when the application goes to the state disability to determine disability a licensed person should review and evaluate the application. The application is to important not to have a license person doing the evaluation.
Don J.
I agree Robert ad the people at all levels of the process should have medical background and knowledge. There needs to be a better system qualifying those who make determinations including the judges. Medical background with documented medical knowledge is required. Just like we have to prove our medical problems those employees should have to prove they are qualified to understand medical issues and be trained and qualified to do so
Dee A.
My daughter has fibromyalgia, narcolepsy, neuropathy and sciatica, she was turned down because her health problems are not visible. To look at her, you would think she has never had a bad day, but she is a trooper. She keeps trying. She has 4 children left at home and yes, she has a wonderful.husband. Thanks to affordable health care, they can’t afford all the medicines she has to take. There was was no reason for her to be turned down. I read one of the statements a while ago, I truly hope this person who is sitting in judgement of other, never gets any of th debilitating diseases or illnesses others have.
Lynn C.
I never thought I would be dealing with the Disability part of the Social Security system, but here I am. And I am horrified by what I am seeing. Like many others here, I deal with multiple problems. I take a handful of drugs to control/manage all the various conditions (many of which have the side effects of drowsiness and cognitive slowness), and I had hoped to be able to continue working until I was 62 (I’m almost 60 now). But it has all become too much, and I had to stop work and apply. I’ve gotten my first rejection, and will start looking for a lawyer to handle my appeal. I love the United States, but find it embarrassing the way we treat those who have to file for disability. To have a government program that everyone knows denies most claims on the first application is ludicrous. Especially for those of us with mental health issues, just filling out the forms is incredibly difficult. I have been trying to do some research about the US disability process, and what comes through is that other countries are way ahead of us in this area. Both Canada and Great Britain evidently have financial programs to help applicants from the day they apply. And most applicants are approved on the first go. I don’t know if this is indeed true, but I have read several places that in our country, physicians are not involved in the initial stages of the disability process, that reviews are conducted by non-medical people using only the guidelines provided in the different books (e.g., a seizure disorder is not considered a disability unless one has three seizures a month for three months in a row while on medication). In my case, it’s not each individual syndrome that’s the problem, it is the combination of all of them. By the time I get to see a hearing judge and explain that, I will probably be drawing normal early retirement. But it would be nice, especially for those of us who have paid into the system all our working lives, to get a break now that we need one. I wish you good luck with making some much needed changes!
Bonzai
Due to years of experience dealing with the Social Security Administration, I would like to see more (read as any) transparency on disciplinary actions taken against outlier Administrative Law Judges (ALJ). Personally, I had an ex Air Force JAG attorney ALJ with a bias against veterans, because my attorney warned me about it before the 15 minute bum rush hearing I had before my Unfavorable decision. And then I waited 17 months to receive a ‘de novo’ hearing with SEVEN issues from the Social Security Appeals Council that the ALJ had to address in the remanded hearing. Initially, the ALJ completely ignored an RFC from my treating doctor (by regulation to be given greatest weight unless the ALJ can support not using it), and cherry-picked items from a Social Security Consultative Examination that had concluded I was disabled. That was in 2009, and the ALJ is still denying over 73% of his cases to this day. I find that the Social Security Administration has very poor quality control.
DisabledSupporter
SSA has lots of problems taking constructive critiques. File a complaint against a biased, rude, abusive “CE” examiner, SSA ‘handles’ the complaint behind closed doors. As you mentioned Bonzai, file a complaint against a biased, rude, abusive or corrupt ALJ, SSA ‘handles’ the complaint behind closed doors.
This manner of dealing with things is inconsistent with SSA policy of transparent operations.
Doing a quick credibility determination on SSA in this matter, this would wreak of denial of due process (to say the least) to the disabled person, and would make SSA look guilty of wheeling and dealing to keep biased adjudicators/CE examiners/ALJ’s in positions of trust with disability determinations when they are no longer worthy of such trust, for the purposes of denying legitimate claims that are worthy of payment.
In my decision, SSA, your claim as an agency of transparency has been denied due to lack of evidence showing an anyway transparent agency. I’ll see you at your appeal, I’ll be judge/adjudicator there too 🙂
Laura B.
I was on disability ,then when I turned 67 you changed me to s/s. You did not ask my doctors or me about it.. You just took my disability away. That might be o.k. for some, but I’m am still disable. You took away my disability programes at the same time…
John O.
You receive as much or more now. It makes no difference if your check comes from the disability trust funds of the retirement fund.
DisabledSupporter
Consider yourself very fortunate that your disability benefits converted to Social Security Retirement benefits (as does happen at retirement age). If you were already on Medicare, that should not have changed and the brighter side, you don’t have to deal with those ridiculous, inconsistent Continuting Disablity Review’s (CDR) that the SSA can never seem to get processed correctly.