The more that applicants for disability benefits know about how the Social Security Administration (SSA) considers and evaluates their type of disability, the more prepared they will be for the road ahead as the SSA considers benefit eligibility. As the claims process for disability benefits may not only be long and arduous, but complicated and… Read More

If you have a cardiovascular impairment that impairs your ability to perform everyday activities, such as performing those functions related to your job, you may have a disability that meets the criteria established by the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Listings of Impairments (the “Listings”). The Listings detail impairments considered severe enough to prevent an individual… Read More

The Listings of Impairments evaluate cardiovascular impairments that result in any congenital or acquired disorder that affects the proper functioning of the heart or the arteries, veins, capillaries, and lymphatic drainage of the circulatory system. Cardiovascular impairment results from one or more of four effects of heart disease. The first consequence of heart disease is… Read More

At the fourth step of the sequential evaluation process, the Social Security Administration (SSA) makes a function-by-function comparison of the individual’s residual functional capacity (RFC) and past relevant work (PRW). If an individual retains the physical and mental capacity to perform any past relevant work, he/she Is found not disabled. If the applicant cannot perform… Read More

At the second step of the sequential evaluation process, the Social Security Administration (SSA) considers the medical severity of an individual’s impairment(s). An individual must have a medically determinable physical or mental impairment (or a combination of impairments) that is severe and meets the duration requirement. For an impairment to be sufficiently severe under the… Read More

The Social Security Act and its accompanying Code of Regulations provide for a five-step sequential evaluation process to assess whether applicants have a disability that qualifies them for benefits under federal law. Each step may be expressed in the form of a question asked by the examiner or judge about an individual applying for disability…. Read More

Under the Social Security Act, a disability is defined as the “[i]nability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than… Read More

The Code of Federal Regulations of the Social Security Act contain provisions that detail a five-step sequential evaluation process for determining disability. Each step may be expressed in the form of a question asked by the examiner or judge about an individual applying for disability. These five steps flow from the definition of disability found… Read More

The Social Security Act (Act), The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR 20), and Social Security Rulings (SSRs) are the three cornerstones of policy that the Social Security Administration uses to regulate eligibility for Social Security Disability benefits. The Social Security Act’s regulations provide for a five-step sequential evaluation process for determining whether applicants have a… Read More

The Social Security Act’s regulations provide for a five-step sequential evaluation process for determining whether applicants have a disability that qualifies them for benefits under the Act. Each step may be expressed in the form of a question asked by the examiner or judge about an individual applying for disability. Step 1 –  Is the… Read More