Social Security disability benefits are for those who cannot work at all, those who really are in need. The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a strict sequential 5-steps disability determination process to judge whether the claimant genuinely deserves social security disability benefits. If, at any step, the SSA decision-makers find the claimant not genuine or up to the requirement, the evaluation ends. So what are the five steps the Social Security Administration takes to determine disability in California, and its evaluation process is:
Step 1: Determining Substantial Gainful Activity
In evaluating a claimant’s eligibility for social security disability benefits, the Social security Administration first reviews any gainful activity the claimant is doing while applying for the disability benefits. The gainful activity refers to any work that generates an income. The SSA will evaluate the claimant’s financial status and disqualify him if they find any source of income. If the SSA is satisfied that the claimant has no means of living, they will proceed with the evaluation process.
Step2: Assessing Severe Medically Determinable Impairment
To pass the second step, an individual’s physical or mental impairment(s) must meet the basic duration and severity requirements. The eligibility criteria are if the impairments will last 12 months or may continue for the whole life. The claimant has to prove his medical condition is severe enough to limit him from doing the work. The SSA considers the condition as serious if it interferes with the individual’s ability to perform basic work activities. The SSA will qualify the condition as a severe medical impairment if the duration and severity of the condition are up to the requirement.
Step 3: Evaluate medical Condition Severity to Blue Book Listing
The SSA will compare an individual’s serious condition to the medical severity listings in SSA’s Blue Book. The Blue Book enlists established medical criteria. The individual is qualified only if his medical condition matches with the listings of the Blue Book. If the impairments do not meet the ones on the listings, the application will not move forward. If a specific impairment is up to the requirement of the listing, the SSA will approve the claimant as disabled and eligible for benefits.
Step 4: Past Relevant Work (PRW)
If the claimant successfully qualifies the first three steps of the evaluation process, the SSA will review the previous work of the claimant and see whether an individual can still fulfill his job requirements. If the SSA finds the claimant’s condition is serious and cannot resume his job, they will proceed to the final step of the evaluation process. If they find the claimant is still capable of doing his previous job, the SSA will disqualify him for disability benefits. You may have to look into getting a VA disability attorney to look over the case for you.
Step 5: Alternative Work Review
The SSA will finally coordinate with a vocational expert to determine whether the claimant can do some other work. If this last step of the evaluation process determines the claimant cannot perform an alternative job, the SSA will consider him disabled and approve disability benefits.