The Five Step Evaluation Process


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Social Security regulations provide for a five-step evaluation process to determine disability.

Step 1: Income Levels

Work generating more than $1170 (2017) per month after appropriate deductions constitutes substantial gainful activity (SGA) and generally disqualifies an applicant for disability benefits. Unsuccessful work attempts of up to 6 months generally don’t count.

Step 2: The Severity Step

You must have a medical condition (either mental, physical or both) which limits your ability to work full time.

The duration requirement: Your impairment must have lasted or be expected to last for 12 months. However, claimants with symptoms that wax and wane may still qualify under this requirement if the active periods of their illness are sufficient enough to keep them from working.

Step 3: The Listing of Impairments

This is a shortcut to being found disabled. The Social Security Administration has a list of illnesses which, if you meet them, will result in your being found disabled. It can be difficult to qualify but not being on the list does not mean you aren’t disabled. In that case, you go on to Step 4.

Step 4: Not Able To Work At Previous Job

If you are not found disabled at Step 3, the next question is whether you are capable of doing any work that you have performed in the last 15 years, in light of your current limitations.

Step 5: Other Work Available

If you are found unable to return to your previous work, then Social Security must prove that you can do work that exists in the national and local economies in significant numbers. In this part of the evaluation process, the older you are, the more likely it is that you will be found disabled. For example, a 50-year-old person who performed heavy unskilled labor all his life but is now limited to sedentary work due to an injury would likely be found disabled. A younger person with the same circumstances would not be likely to be found disabled.

Photo credit: Ines Hegedus-Garcia