Albuquerque disability lawyer, Donald D. Vigil, explains how Social Security determines whether your impairment qualifies you for an award of benefits
In more than three decades as an Albuquerque disability lawyer, I have found that most people do not understand what it means to be “disabled” for purposes of receiving Social Security disability benefits. It is not enough simply to have a physical or mental impairment. You must have a severe impairment that prevents you from working. Any number of common medical conditions may be an impairment (e.g., arthritis, asthma, depression, diabetes, fibromyalgia, heart disease, PTSD). Whether your impairment is severe enough to prevent you from working is determined using a two-pronged analysis:
1. Do you have a Listing impairment?
The Social Security Administration’s Listing of Impairments describes the criteria for more than 100 medical conditions that Social Security has determined are severe enough to render a person disabled, as a matter of law. The adult Listings are divided into fourteen categories, including Musculoskeletal System, Respiratory System, Cardiovascular System, Digestive System, Impairments that Affect Multiple Body Systems, Mental Disorders, and Immune System Disorders. Each category lists specific impairments and the criteria required to meet each one. If your impairment “meets or medically equals” the criteria for a Listing impairment, then you are entitled to an award of Social Security disability benefits based on this medical evidence alone. In general, only the most severe cases will meet or equal a Listing impairment. By way of example, the Listing for diabetes mellitus requires (a) significant vision loss as a result of retinitis proliferans (a disease of the retina); or (b) recurrent acidosis (a serious disturbance in blood chemistry); or (c) severe neuropathy (nerve damage) in two extremities, which impairs your ability to move.
2. Is your impairment severe enough to prevent you from working?
If you do not meet the criteria for a Listing impairment, then Social Security will consider whether, in light of all the evidence in your case, your impairment is severe enough to prevent you from doing work you have done in the past or any other generally available work. In making this determination, the Social Security Administration will take into account your age, education, work experience and present ability to work, despite the limitations caused by your impairment. If, considering all the medical and non-medical evidence, your impairment is deemed severe enough to prevent you from working, then you will be awarded Social Security disability benefits.
An experienced New Mexico disability lawyer can help you gather evidence to prove the severity of your impairment
Over the past three decades, I have helped Albuquerque Social Security disability claimants prove the severity of their impairments and their inability to work. If you would like my counsel, please submit the Free Claim Evaluation form on this page, or call or email me directly.
Donald D. Vigil
Albuquerque disability lawyer
100 Fourteenth St. S.W.
Albuquerque, NM 87102-2822
