Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits help thousands of people each year who can no longer work because of their severe physical or mental health conditions. Along with hundreds of other conditions, SSD benefits may cover common health conditions like lupus, diabetes, multiple sclerosis (MS), or even a brain injury. If you have a health condition that affects your ability to work, you should contact a Social Security Disability attorney to see what your options are.
It can be challenging to understand the ins and outs of your disability case, as the Social Security Administration has its own definition of what “disabled” means. It’s a very complicated definition. That is why getting SSD benefits can be such a long and frustrating process. An experienced Social Security Disability attorney can help you understand whether your health condition means that you are “disabled.”
What Being Disabled Means to the Social Security Administration
When the Social Security Administration says you must be disabled, they mean something very specific: you must have a severe medical condition that prevents you from working. You can think of this definition as having two parts: first, what is a “severe medical condition?”, and second, how does that condition affect your ability to function day-to-day?
When Social Security says you must have a “severe medical condition” to meet their definition of disabled, they mean that you have a condition that has a big impact on what you are able to do on a day-to-day basis. It also means that your condition is going to last at least a year.
Most people who apply for benefits don’t have a problem proving that they have a “severe medical condition.” The real fight in disability cases usually has to do with the other requirement: that your condition prevents you from working. The question to ask yourself is: what limitations or restrictions does my medical condition cause?
The test for Social Security Disability benefits is: not only can you not do the work you used to do, but you also cannot adjust to any other job because of your disability either. For example, if you used to be a construction worker, but now your arthritis is so bad that you can’t even sit at a desk, you may want to talk to an experienced Social Security Disability attorney to see if you could be eligible for benefits.
How a Social Security Disability Attorney Can Help
A knowledgeable Disability Law attorney can help you with your disability claim. They can make the process easier for you by:
- Guiding your claim through appeals.
- Showing the extent of your disability to the Social Security Administration.
- Collecting medical documents to support your disability claim.
- Identifying what can be done to improve your chances on appeal.
What is most important to remember is not to give up if the Social Security Administration denies your claim. The vast majority of Social Security Disability claims are denied at least two times before they are finally approved. Most of the people that eventually receive disability benefits have had to appeal their claim more than once. It is important for you to keep appealing your denied claim in order to get the benefits you deserve.
I will be going into more detail about whether you qualify for Social Security Disability benefits and how to pick a good Disability Law attorney in later blog posts. If you need help now, call us at 319-519-4193 today and one of our lawyers will talk with you about any questions you have.
