Qualifying for Social Security disability benefits was already difficult, but after implementation of new rules about how the agency was going to consider medical evidence, the hill just got a little steeper.
Proving someone was medical disabled under Social Security’s rules was more difficult than nearly every other country in the world that also has disability programs for its citizens, but that didn’t stop Social Security from making two new rule changes that will likely increase the agency’s denial rate.
The first major change is that Social Security has rescinded a rule that the agency should give “controlling weight to treating source opinions.” Although it did not always happen even when the rule was in place, Social Security was supposed to defer to the opinions of a claimant’s medical provider more so than independent medical evaluations. Most claimants have medical providers who have treated them for years and understand what their limitations are, but independent medical examiners evaluate a claimant typically one time for as little as 15 minutes. The new rule would not encourage Social Security to consider a claimant’s medical provider’s opinion over an independent medical examiner’s.
A second major change is that Social Security will no longer give added weight to disability determinations that are made by other agencies. Many times a disability applicant has also been evaluated by other agencies, such and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, or state medical agencies, which have deemed them impaired. These distinctions do not necessarily require Social Security to find an applicant disabled, but is supposed to ad influence, but that is no longer the case.
Some people may believe these changes are being made because the number of people who qualify for Social Security disability benefits is growing out of the control, but that is not correct. The amount of people receiving disability benefits is the lowest it has been in five years.
