Since the definition of disability changed, the Social Security Administration (SSA) made a big change to its program for giving disability payments. Starting this week, the SSA will look at disabled people in a new way to see if they meet the requirements for the program and are therefore eligible.
The decision was made because it was found that some jobs that disabled people might be able to do were not usually available in the American job market.
Check this information out if you are disabled and already get SSDI benefits or if you want to apply for disability benefits. It could have a big effect on your chances of getting into the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program.
The disability definition changed for the disability benefits program in the United States
The Social Security Administration used to say that to be disabled, you had to be unable to do any substantial gainful activity (SGA) because of a medically proven physical or mental disability(ies) that was expected to kill you or had been going on for at least 12 months or was going to last for at least that long.
However, as we already said, the government agency said they would change this definition because the SSA found 114 positions with few job openings. These positions included those for models, astronomers, and agricultural engineers.
It was because of these results that the government agency said they would not use these jobs in the process of deciding who is eligible for disability benefits. Furthermore, the group also named 13 jobs where judges have voiced doubts about the suitability of workers who are labelled as “not disabled.”
In addition, the Social Security Administration (SSA) said that when deciding if a benefit claim is “not disabled,” it must also look at how many jobs are available for those people.
According to Martin O’Malley, the commissioner of social security, it makes sense to list jobs that are in very low demand right now in the economy. Because of this change, our decision-makers will no longer use these jobs as an excuse to turn down disability benefits applications.
Social Security wants to be more effective in the process of analyzing disability benefits applications
Changing the definition of disability is likely to make the process of deciding who is qualified for disability benefits better. Because of this change, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will be able to be clearer when they look over worker disability cases.
The government office also made it clear that when deciding whether or not a person applying for disability benefits can work in other roles, it will only look at the most relevant jobs. The Occupational Requirements Survey from the Bureau of Labour Statistics will continue to be looked at by Social Security in the long run. This information will help guide changes.
In May, 7.23 million disabled workers were getting Social Security payments from the government. This was 20,000 less than the previous month. People who worked for the government got paid just over $1,500 a month on average.
The Social Security Administration says that it gave out just over $11 million in benefits last month. As Newsweek noted earlier, Burt Williamson, PlanPrep’s retirement specialist, recently said that the lower number of disabled workers getting benefits from the company could be due to a number of factors.
He also said that he doesn’t know for sure, but he thinks that this could be because people have died, switched from disability benefits to retirement benefits, or are no longer eligible for benefits. Keep in mind, though, that this is just a guess that the retirement expert made.
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