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Social Security Disability Benefits
According to the 2000 United States Census, America's population was calculated to be 281, 421,906, with the median age for an American to be 35.3 years. 96 million Americans had reached the age 45 or older.
According to current Social Security Regulations, your full retirement age can be determined from the chart below:
| If you were born: |
Your Full
Retirement Age is: |
| Jan. 1st, 1938 or earlier |
65 |
| Jan. 2nd, 1938 - Jan. 1st, 1939 |
65 and 2 months |
| Jan. 2nd, 1939 - Jan. 1st, 1940 |
65 and 4 months |
| Jan. 2nd, 1940 - Jan. 1st, 1941 |
65 and 6 months |
| Jan. 2nd, 1941 - Jan. 1st, 1942 |
65 and 8 months |
| Jan. 2nd, 1942 - Jan. 1st, 1943 |
65 and 10 months |
| Jan. 2nd, 1943 - Jan. 1st, 1955 |
66 |
| Jan. 2nd, 1955 - Jan. 1st, 1956 |
66 and 2 months |
| Jan. 2nd, 1956 - Jan. 1st, 1957 |
66 and 4 months |
| Jan. 2nd, 1957 - Jan. 1st, 1958 |
66 and 6 months |
| Jan. 2nd, 1958 - Jan. 1st, 1959 |
66 and 8 months |
| Jan. 2nd, 1959 - Jan. 1st, 1960 |
66 and 10 months |
| Jan. 2nd, 1960 or later |
67 |
Unfortunately, you may not be able to reach your full retirement age because of a serious health issue, or combination of serious health issues, which affect your ability to work. Your health concerns may entitle you to social security disability benefits.
Under Social Security regulations, disabilities are not limited to physical health problems. They may be solely psychological by nature, or a combination or both physical and psychological health problems. Oftentimes individuals with severe physical health issues develop a psychological reaction to their loss of independence and their physical restrictions. The Social Security Administration will have a physician evaluate your behavioral health if you claim in a disability application that you have concerns about it.
What to Expect When Applying.
The following information is cited from the Social Security Administration Information Website about applying for disability benefits.You can access this site at http://www.ssa.gov/.
The following information is cited from http://www.ssa.gov/:
In addition to meeting our definition of disability, you must have worked long enough--and recently enough--under Social Security to qualify for disability benefits.
Social Security work credits are based on your total yearly wages or self-employment income. You can earn up to four credits each year.
The amount needed for a credit changes from year to year. In 2006, for example, you earn one credit for each $970 of wages or self-employment income. When you've earned $3,880, you've earned your four credits for the year.
The number of work credits you need to qualify for disability benefits depends on your age when you become disabled. Generally, you need 40 credits, 20 of which were earned in the last 10 years ending with the year you become disabled. However, younger workers may qualify with fewer credits.
IMPORTANT: Remember that whatever your age is, you must have earned the required number of work credits within a certain period ending with the time you become disabled. Your Social Security Statement shows whether you meet the work requirement at the time it was prepared. If you stop working under Social Security after the date of the Statement, you may not continue to meet the disability work requirement in the future.
To decide whether you are disabled, we use a step-by-step process involving five questions.
They are:
Are you working?
If you are working in 2006 and your earnings average more than $860 a month, you generally cannot be considered disabled. If you are not working, we go to Step 2.
Is your condition "severe"?
Your condition must interfere with basic work-related activities for your claim to be considered. If it does not, we will find that you are not disabled. If your condition does interfere with basic work-related activities, we go to Step 3.
Is your condition found in the list of disabling conditions?
For each of the major body systems, we maintain a list of medical conditions that are so severe they automatically mean that you are disabled. If your condition is not on the list, we have to decide if it is of equal severity to a medical condition that is on the list. If it is, we will find that you are disabled. If it is not, we then go to Step 4.
Can you do the work you did previously?
If your condition is severe but not at the same or equal level of severity as a medical condition on the list, then we must determine if it interferes with your ability to do the work you did previously. If it does not, your claim will be denied. If it does, we proceed to Step 5.
Can you do any other type of work?
If you cannot do the work you did in the past, we see if you are able to adjust to other work. We consider your medical conditions and your age, education, past work experience and any transferable skills you may have. If you cannot adjust to other work, your claim will be approved. If you can adjust to other work, your claim will be denied. |
If You Applied For Disability but were Denied - Call us.
If you receive an initial denial, call us. We will talk about your case with you initially without charge to screen whether we believe we can help you further. We will attempt to answer your questions. We cannot guarantee a result. With that understanding, if we believe we can help you by taking your denial to the next step, we must have you in as soon as possible. The Social Security Administration requires that your denial of benefits be appealed within sixty days of when you received your notice.
Please contact us today by email or at 216-621-8700. We look forward to hearing from you!
Chris Wincek Christopher.Wincek@wdblegal.com
Cell: 216-849-9035
Joe DeRosa Joe.DeRosa@wdblegal.com
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