Social Security Disability Can Approve Your Claim When No Impairment Listing Fits
A medical-vocational allowance is a way for the Social Security Disability program to approve your claim even when your medical condition does not meet or medically equal one of its specific listed impairments.
To win disability benefits based on a medical-vocational allowance, you just have to meet the fundamental rule for a qualifying disability—that your health problems still prevent you from performing work that Social Security believes you otherwise could do.
So when you apply for disability benefits in Arizona, you don’t necessarily have to match the requirements of one of the medical conditions you might see in Social Security’s “Blue Book.”
Many people who are unable to work do not fit neatly into one of the listed impairments. You may have several medical conditions that together cause serious limitations, or you may have a condition that significantly affects your daily functioning without meeting every requirement of a particular listing.
The Arizona disability lawyers at Slepian Ellexson take the time to listen to your individual situation, learn about your health problems and work hard to pursue financial relief to make your life easier.
We can look at your training and work history and how your symptoms now interfere with the functions you need to keep working. We can create a complete picture of your needs for Social Security.
Slepian Ellexson has focused on Social Security Disability law in Arizona since 1978. Let’s explore whether a medical-vocational allowance may be your path to winning benefits.
If you work with a disability attorney, you pay no attorney fee until you win benefits.
What Are the Social Security Disability Grid Rules?
Social Security’s medical-vocational guidelines are commonly called the “grid rules.” They are one of the tools Social Security uses when deciding whether someone with health limitations can adjust to other work.
The grid rules consider factors including:
- Your age
- Your residual functional capacity (RFC)
- Your education
- Your past work experience
- Whether your previous work was skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled
- Whether skills from your past jobs can transfer to other work
One of the most important parts of the grid rules is age.
Social Security categorizes people under 50 as younger individuals, people ages 50 through 54 as “closely approaching advanced age” and people age 55 or older as being of “advanced age.”
Certain rules also apply to people age 60 and older who are closely approaching retirement age.
In some situations, the grid rules lead directly to Social Security approving a person’s claim.
In other situations, the grid rules just provide a framework for how it decides your disability claim.
When your limitations involve more than physical strength, Social Security will also factor that into the grid rules.
For example, difficulties using your hands, concentrating, interacting with others or tolerating certain workplace conditions may require Social Security to use these rules to determine your situation.
Despite the word “grid” in the name, the grid rules are not simply a chart where your age, cross-referenced with one other factor, determines whether you receive benefits.
The particular rule that applies depends on the combination of factors in your individual case.
At Slepian Ellexson, our Arizona disability attorneys can determine which Social Security grid rules may apply to your claim and explain how your particular age category, education and vocational background affect your claim.
Start with a FREE disability case review.
How Do RFC, Age and Work History Affect Disability Benefits?
Your residual functional capacity, or RFC—a key input to the grid rules—describes what you are still capable of doing despite the limitations caused by your medical conditions.
RFC describes how your health problems affect your ability to perform activities that may be required in a work setting, including:
- Physical abilities: How long you can sit, stand or walk; how much you can lift or carry; and whether you can bend, reach or use your hands.
- Mental abilities: Your ability to concentrate, remember information, follow instructions, stay on task and interact with other people.
- Work-related limitations: Whether your symptoms interfere with your ability to perform work activities consistently throughout a normal workday.
Social Security is interested in what you can do consistently in a work environment, not simply something you may be able to accomplish occasionally or on a particularly good day.
After determining your RFC, Social Security compares those abilities with the demands of your past relevant work. The agency looks at what your previous jobs actually required, rather than relying only on your job titles.
For example, a job that sounds relatively easy may have required hours of standing, frequent lifting, repetitive hand movements, detailed concentration or regular interaction with customers.
If your current limitations prevent you from meeting those demands, Social Security may determine that you cannot return to that work.
The next question is whether the experience and skills you gained from previous jobs could transfer to other work you are still physically and mentally capable of performing.
Your medical records are important to this analysis. They should document not just your diagnoses, but the specific limitations caused by your conditions.
Problems such as needing unscheduled breaks or symptoms that interfere with reliable job attendance can affect whether Social Security believes you can sustain employment.
At Slepian Ellexson, we understand that proving you cannot work involves more than submitting medical records and hoping Social Security makes the right decision.
We are a local Arizona firm helping people in Phoenix, Tucson and across the state. Our clients receive direct representation from attorneys who know how the disability system works and what Social Security looks for when deciding a claim.
Whether you are applying for disability benefits for the first time or have already received a denial, we can help you understand your options, gather the evidence you need and make the legal arguments for why you should qualify for benefits.
You have enough to worry about when your health has taken away your ability to work. Let us handle the Social Security process so you can put more of your energy toward living your life.
