Social Security Q&A
Posted on Tuesday, July 22, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Style/232072/
Q. How does Social Security decide if I am disabled ?
A. If you are an adult, essentially you must be unable to work for a year or more because of a medical condition or combination of impairments. The evaluation process considers any current work activity you are doing, and your medical condition and how it affects your ability to work. To be considered disabled:
You must be unable to do work you did before becoming disabled, and we must decide that you cannot adjust to other work because of your medical condition. Your disability must last, or be expected to last, for at least one year or to result in death. Social Security pays only for total disability. We don’t pay benefits for partial or short-term disability. To learn more about disability benefits from Social Security, read the publication Disability Benefits (SSA Publication No. 05-10029 ) available online at www. socialsecurity. gov / pubs / 10029. html. For more information, visit www. socialsecurity. gov or call tollfree (800 ) 772-1213 or TTY, (800 ) 325-0778.
This column was prepared by the
Social Security Administration. For
answers to specific Social Security
questions, call (800 ) 772-1213.