How Age Makes a Difference in a Social Security Disability Claim
The Kansas City Social Security Administration (SSA) takes many factors into account when evaluating your disability claim. As you get older, the chances of being approved for disability are strengthened. As disability lawyers in Kansas City, we get asked often about whether age matters. If you are 50 years or older and you live in Kansas City, pay close attention to the following information.
The Kansas City SSA believes it is harder for an older person to make a vocational adjustment – in other words, to learn a new job skill or make the transition into a new work place. Due to the difficulty of older claimants being able to make vocational adjustments, SSA uses grid rules as one possible decision-making device.
The grid rules take into account the applicant’s: age, education level, skill level or past work, transferability of skills, and residual functional capacity (RFC). As you get older, it becomes easier to get approved for disability in Kansas City. The SSA divides applicants into the following age groups for the purpose of grids:
- Younger individuals (18 through 49 years old)
- Closely approaching advanced age (50 to 54 years old)
- Advanced age (55 and over), and
- Closely approaching retirement age (60 and over).
After SSA makes a finding on your RFC (exertional level), they will look at the corresponding grids and match your age, education, and past work which will direct a finding of disabled or not disabled.
Let’s suppose that you just turned 55 years old last week and are a disabled individual in the Kansas City area. Your highest level of education is high school and you have only unskilled past work experience. SSA has already decided that you have a sedentary exertional level – meaning, you can only exert up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and you are confined to work that mostly involves sitting with brief periods of walking or standing possible.
Rule | Age | Education | Previous Work | Decision |
201.04 | Advanced Age | High school graduate or more – does not provide for direct entry into skilled work | Unskilled or none | Disabled |
If the SSA decision maker determines that the facts of your case and the evidence in your record supports the above Grid, they have to find you disabled. It is very important to have medical evidence to support your limitations. If your treating doctor can fill out an RFC or an Ability to Do Work Related Activity form, it can be extremely helpful to your disability claim. Every case is different and if you are an individual 50 years or older in Kansas City and would like to see if your age could make it easier for you to be approved, the attorneys at BurnettDriskill are just a phone call away.