How to Prove a Disability to Social Security

According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), a disability is a medical condition which prevents your ability to work at a job you worked before, adjust to a different type of work or the disability is expected to last (or has lasted) for one year or result in death. According to Veronica Diaz, Social Security Officer in Los Angeles, California, the "SSA disability rules are different from those of private plans or other government agencies. The fact that a person gets disability from workers' compensation, state disability or disability from their employer, doesn't mean they will get approved by SSA". Diaz states that a disability also prevents you from earning a substantial gainful amount. The SSA revises each year what they consider to be a gainful amount. To prove a disability to Social Security, you must qualify under their standards.

Things You'll Need

• Adult Disability Report Form 3368 (18 years and older)
• Child Disability Report Form 3820 (17 years and younger)
• Social Security ID number
• Paystubs and W-2s
• Documents about your disease
• List of names, addresses and phone numbers of all of your medical providers
• Letter from your doctor explaining why your disability prevents you from being able to work
• List of people who knew you before and after the disability
• Bottles of all medications you currently take

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Instructions

• 1

  Pick up the "Adult Disability Report Form 3368" or for children (17 and under) the "Child Disability Report Form 3820" at your local Social Security office or call 800-772-1213 and ask that it be mailed to you. Call the toll-free Teletypewriter (TTY) number (800-325-0778) if you are hard of hearing or deaf. Contact the nearest U.S. Social Security office, U.S. Embassy or Consulate or the Veterans Affairs Regional Office (VARO) located in the Philippines, if you live outside the United States. You may also download the application and apply online.

• 2

  Attach pay-stubs or W-2s to your Social Security application that shows your income is no more than $1,000 a month for a period of 12 months or longer if you are currently working.

• 3

  Gather documents from any medical source about your disease, and attach them to the application. Provide documents with the names, addresses, patient ID numbers, telephone numbers and dates of treatment for all doctors, hospitals and clinics where you have been treated since you became disabled. Make sure your disability is on the Social Security Administration Listing of Impairments: Adult Listings Part A and Childhood Listings Part B.

  "If your condition is not on the list," states the Social Security Online Disability Planner, "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."

• 4

  Bring a letter from your doctor stating how your disability prevents you from working at your old job or from learning new skills. Have the doctor describe your inability to work despite previous education or work experience.

• 5

  Compile a list of names, addresses and telephone numbers of people who Social Security may contact regarding your disability. Include co-workers, family and friends who knew you before and after the disability.

• 6

  Bring the medicine bottles for any medication you are taking with you to the interview with the Social Security worker. Provide the names and dates of medical tests you have had and the reports of the results.