To apply for disability benefits, the
individual must go to the local SSA district office and complete application
and medical release forms. The application will include employment history,
identification of alleged impairment(s), names and addresses of treating
physicians and hospitals, and a description of how the alleged condition keeps
the claimant from working.
After completion of forms, the
district office will make a determination as to whether the claimant has paid
enough into the trust fund. A computer search will answer this inquiry. Next,
the district office sends the claim to the State Disability Determination
Service (DDS). The DDS obtains the medical records and then passes them, along
with the application, to a physician and an adjudicator.
The physician will review the medical
records and determine how the alleged impairments would affect the performance
of mental and physical tasks such as oral and written communication, bending,
lifting, walking, etc. The physician's report of findings is submitted to an
adjudicator who uses it to determine if any of the claimant's impairments equal
or meet the severity of conditions in the Listings. The Listings include
thirteen sections of impairments, ranging from ailments of the musculoskeletal
system to malignancies. A claimant meeting one or more of the conditions in the
Listings is automatically considered to be disabled since medical science has
concluded that substantial gainful activity is highly unlikely with these
conditions, and the impairments are expected to result in death or last for a
continuous period of not less than twelve months.
If the claimant's condition is not
clearly identified in the Listings, the State adjudicator should measure the
residual functional capacity of the claimant, ranging from "Very
Heavy" to "Less than the Full Range of Sedentary." This
determination assumes that disability can be ascertained by establishing an
applicant's ability to function despite an impairment.
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