Winning Social Security disability benefits after age 50
If you are 50 years old or older, Social Security makes it easier to prove your disability case. Individuals between 18 and 49 meet a tougher standard discussed in this article.
Starting at age 50, and then again at age 55 and 60, Social Security lowers the requirements for proving disability. The rationale is that the older you are, the harder it is to work in a job that you have never done before.
After age 50, Social Security can approve you for disability benefits even though you are able to do some type of work.
The older you are, the more physically demanding the work can be and still allow you qualify for disability benefits.
However, this is not a free pass and do not leave this article before you read the “gotchas” at the bottom.
Reviewing your Social Security exhibit file – Part 3 work history
Now that I know the critical dates and the medical history I review the work history. Social Security reviews cases using the 5 step sequential evaluation process. At step 4, if you are still able to do any of the jobs you performed in the last 15 years before you became disabled, you can be denied benefits. There are a couple more wrinkles to this, such as the job has to be a substantial gainful activity, but the general idea is that if you can still do a …
How Social Security reviews cases: the 5 step sequential evaluation process
I have written about how Social Security defines disability, work, and a substantial gainful activity.
But, how does Social Security really evaluate a case?
Social Security reviews cases using the five-step sequential evaluation process to decide is a person is disabled. Here are the 5 questions that make up the sequential evaluation process:
Does your impairment keep you from being able to perform a substantial gainful activity (SGA), generally full-time, competitive, work?
Is your impairment severe? AND, is your impairment expected to remain severe for at least 12 months?
Does your impairment “meet or equal” one of Social Security’s “Listing of Impairments?” A listing of medical conditions, acceptable medical evidence, and the severity necessary for an impairment to be considered disabling. There are separate listings for adults and for children.
Does your impairment prevents you from being able to perform any job you performed over the last 15 years which was also a substantial gainful activity?
Does your impairment prevent you from being able to perform any other type of work which exists in substantial numbers of the national economy?
Let’s take these one at a time:
Am I disabled? Should I apply for Social Security benefits?
A lot of people ask me how Social Security decided if they are disabled.
I can’t do the work I have done for 35 years. Am I disabled?
I stopped working to take care of a family member, but now I am sick. Am I disabled?
I got hurt at work, then they fired me. I keep applying for jobs, but there just isn’t much work around here. Am I disabled?
The doctor tells me I will probably need serious surgery later on. Am I disabled?
I will need to be on medication for the rest of my life. Am I disabled?
Social Security focuses on ability to work to test for disability.
Under the Social Security system, in order to be disabled you have to have a physical or psychological impairment that is expected to keep you from being able to engage in a “substantial gainful activity” (SGA) – typically some type of full time work, for 12 months or longer. Or, simply put: do you have a condition that keeps you from being able to work?
How Social Security considers your ability to work in a disability case
Under Social Security regulations, disability is the inability to engage in a “substantial gainful activity.” This means that to win a Social Security disability case, you have to show that your impairments prevent you from being able to work.
More specifically, you have to show that you are unable to perform the duties of any work you have performed over the past 15 years AND that you are unable to perform the duties of any other work that exists in substantial numbers in the national economy. Note: these are steps 4 and 5 of the …
