OVER AGE 50? YOU HAVE AN ADVANTAGE IN SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY

Age plays a critical role in Social Security disability decisions.  Claimants age 50 and above have an advantage.  Those age 55 and over have an even better advantage.  Let me explain why?

Social Security regulations assume that younger individuals can do harder work and also that they can adapt more easily to different kinds of work.

There are 3 basic age categories in the regulations:

• Ages 18 - 49   Younger Individuals

• Ages 50 - 54   Closely approaching advanced age
• Age 55 +         Advanced Age

A person in the age 18 - 49 category may be denied benefits if he or she is able to perform any full-time job found in the national economy.  So, a person who has worked as a concrete finisher (heavy work) who can transition to work as a sales attendant (light work) would not be found disabled.

However, at age 50, things change.   Individuals who are "closely approaching advanced age (50 - 54) are judged by their ability to perform their past relevant work, i.e., the work they have done during the most recent fifteen-year period. A person age 50 or above may meet a Medical-Vocational Guideline (also called "grid rules") that direct a finding of disabled.  Persons under age 50 cannot meet these rules.

At age 55, the grid rules will direct that a person who cannot perform his/her past relevant work is disabled, even if able to perform sedentary or light work.  Here again, age works in the claimant's favor.

Can younger individuals get Social Security disability?  The answer is, yes.  But their burden of proof is a bit higher.  Younger individuals must usually prove that their medical condition prevents them from being able to perform any full-time work that exists in the national economy--even sedentary or light work (the easiest categories of work).

Before reaching a decision about disability, the Government must establish a Residual Functional Capacity (RFC) for each claimant.  The RFC is merely a finding of the most that a claimant can do, based on age, education, past work history and medical impairment(s).  An RFC will find the claimant limited to one of the following 5 exertional categories, starting with the heaviest work and ending with the easiest:

1. Sedentary work
2. Light work
3. Medium work
4. Heavy work, or
5. Very Heavy work

 
 A person who is able to perform Very Heavy work can also perform heavy, medium, light and sedentary work, thus would have no exertional restrictions.

The older a person is, the less likely that a judge or decision maker would expect him/her to perform heavy work.  And if all the claimant's past relevant work was medium, heavy or very heavy--and the claimant is now restricted to light or sedentary work--the grid rules will direct a finding of disability.

Therefore, a person may very well be legally disabled at age 50 but not disabled at age 49 or younger.
________________
The Forsythe Firm
Social Security Disability Representation
7027 Old Madison Pike, Suite 108
Huntsville, AL 35806
PHONE (256) 799-0297

Free Consultations - Never a fee unless you win!

https://forsythefirm.wixsite.com/website