As a resident of Kansas or Missouri who has a disability that is severe enough to keep you out of the workplace, you may be looking for alternative ways to support yourself, and you may be considering applying for Social Security Disability benefits from the U.S. Social Security Administration. At the Law Office of Michael T. Joshi, we recognize that, in order to obtain these benefits, you first must qualify for them, and this involves meeting the administration’s strict definition of “disability.
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, you must be able to showcase that your condition is, in fact, severe enough to warrant you receiving Social Security disability benefits. To do so, you must show that your disability is one that prevents you from performing even the most fundamental tasks relating to holding a job, such as standing, walking, remembering and so on. Furthermore, your condition must be one that will persist for at least a year or longer in order to meet the administration’s definition of “disability.”
If your condition is severe enough that it interferes with your ability to work, you should next check and see if you can find it on the administration’s list of medical conditions that are typically severe enough to keep Americans from working. If it is on the list already, you may find that you do qualify as disabled in the administration’s eyes. If it is not, the administration will have to decide whether your disability is as severe as those listed.
Finally, the administration will consider whether your condition keeps you from performing job duties you had previously and whether other employment opportunities are available to you in determining whether to grant you disability benefits. You can find more on this topic on our webpage.