This is Part III of our 4 part series clarifying issues addressed and discussing issues not addressed in NPR’s recent article seen here: http://apps.npr.org/unfit-for-work/.
The NPR article appears to bring up several people collecting Social Security Disability or Supplemental Security Income and having the writer ask them their conditions. This fails to take into account a fact that the Social Security Administration has recognized for years: You cannot tell whether someone meets the rules to be found medically disabled by simply asking them. You have to check the medical records.
When Social Security evaluates a claim, they do so by reading the medical records. The treating records of a claimant document the existence and severity of the conditions, and often times have assessments of the claimant’s ability to function in important vocational areas. For example: two people may say they have diabetes, and leave it at that if you ask them, however their medical records may indicate two different scenarios:
Scenario 1: The claimant treats with their primary care provider every couple of months and is successful in controlling their diabetes, with little effect on their lives except mild dietary restrictions.
Scenario 2: The claimant, despite rigorous treatment and compliance with treatment and dietary plan, maintains being insulin dependant and the condition has progressed to neuropathy. As a result of that neuropathy stemming from diabetes, the claimant is limited in his/her ability to sit and stand, walk and lift, and physical therapists have prescribed the claimant a cane to help the person ambulate.
Medical records don’t just clarify functionality in many cases, medical records also contain necessary assessments and testing for a condition. A claimant often times doesn’t know the specifics of recent X Ray or MRI results, or know their most recent Global Assessment of Functioning scores (see our blog post for more information on GAF scores). Thus, you cannot always tell whether a condition is disabling until you open the medical records and see what is really going on.
