Dominick Rendina, Attorney at Law, Connecticut

Age Considerations for SSDI

Social Security Disability Insurance, commonly known as SSDI, provides monthly benefits to you if you can no longer work because of an injury or illness. Your disability must qualify under the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) definition. It can be a physical impairment or a mental impairment.

In the evaluation process, your ability to do the physical and mental activities that you were required to do in your past work are considered.

If the SSA decides you cannot do the work you did before, they consider your remaining ability to do other work considering your age, education and work experience. They assess these factors, along with your capacity to work, to determine if you can be expected to adjust to other work that exists in the national economy.

Those that are advancing into their senior years are asking if the SSA considers age in their assessment.

The SSA will not consider your ability to adjust to other work on the basis of your age alone. However, in determining the extent to which age affects your ability to adjust to other work, they will consider advancing age to be an increasingly limiting factor in your ability to make an adjustment to other work.

If you are closely approaching advanced age (age 50-54), they will consider that your age, along with a severe impairment and limited work experience, may seriously affect your ability to adjust to other work.

They consider that being at advanced age (age 55 or older) significantly affects your ability to adjust to other work. They do have special rules for persons in this category who are closely approaching retirement age (age 60 and above).

If you are closely approaching retirement age (age 60 or older) and you have a severe impairment(s) that limits you to no more than light work, The SSA will find that you have skills that are transferable to skilled or semi-skilled light work only if the light work is so similar to your previous work that you would need to make very little, if any, vocational adjustment in terms of tools, work processes, work settings, or the industry.

It is your responsibility to see that the SSA gets the information they need to determine whether you are disabled. If you do not provide the information they need about your medical condition(s) and your work history, they will deny your claim for disability.

Work with an Attorney experienced with Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income.  Attorney Victor Rodriguez serves clients with special issues and complex illnesses and shares in the proud day when a client with a challenging case is finally awarded the SSDI and SSI benefits they deserve. He knows how important those benefits are to people unable to work. Call Attorney Rodriquez for a Free Consultation at (203) 826-7996

Information in this post should be confirmed through an attorney and is for informational purposes only.