As mentioned in a previous post entitled “Failure to Follow Prescribed Treatment,” medical evidence is a cornerstone in proving a Social Security disability claim. However, some individuals are sometimes not able to receive the necessary treatment due to various factors including lack of medical insurance or other economic barriers. In many cases, individuals experience symptoms relating to their disability before medical evidence is available. When this occurs the Social Security rules allow for a reasonable inference to be made as to the onset of a disability.
Social Security Ruling 83-20 states:
In some cases, it may be possible, based on the medical evidence to reasonably infer that the onset of a disabling impairment(s) occurred some time prior to the date of the first recorded medical examination, e.g., the date the claimant stopped working. How long the disease may be determined to have existed at a disabling level of severity depends on an informed judgment of the facts in the particular case. This judgment, however, must have a legitimate medical basis.
Therefore, it is possible to establish the onset of a disabling condition prior to the first recorded medical evidence by evaluating other factors such as the nature of the impairment and when an individual stopped working.
