There are many people that suffer from medical conditions which limit their abilities to perform certain tasks leading them to file for Social Security benefits. While there may be provable medical problems, the decision as to whether or not someone will be eligible for benefits depends largely on what other kinds of things the person can still do.
The Social Security Administration will review applications for benefits to determine if the individual can perform other light duty work or different job tasks not limited by their disability. If the Administration believes there is other work to be done, they can deny benefits to the applicant.
Winning benefits, especially during the initial application process requires that an applicant have verifiable proof of their disabilities. The SSA will take into consideration not only the type of work that can still be performed but also the age of the applicant, their work history and experience, as well as their educational background.
In a disability case where a decision was overturned by the courts, an individual filed for benefits and was denied due to a SSA employee’s final decision that the plaintiff could find other work to do. However the court disagreed with the denial because there was official medical proof that said otherwise. The court ruled that the SSA employee should have only made a decision after consulting with a medical consultant concerning the information presented.
As the SSA employee was not a medical doctor, they do not have the ability to make the decision on their own and the court ruled that the SSA employee was not an acceptable medical source for making such a determination regarding benefits.
