The SSDI Podcast - EP7

Speaker 1 0:00
You know, getting approved for social security disability, it can feel like, like a huge weights been lifted, right? But then they tell you about this continuing disability review thing, a CDR, and it feels like all that stress comes rushing back. It’s like, Wait, do I have to climb that mountain all over again?

Speaker 2 0:15
Yeah, it’s, it’s definitely understandable to, you know, to feel anxious about a CDR. But the good news is, and this is important to remember, the good news is, you’re not starting from scratch, okay?

Speaker 1 0:25
So, like they’re not just assuming I’m, I’m magically cured or something, not

Speaker 2 0:30
at all. Nope, you actually start with what they call a presumption of continuing disability. So the burden of proof is actually on the Social Security Administration, the SSA,

Unknown Speaker 0:41
so they have to prove, I’ve, I’ve gotten better enough to, like, actually go back to work exactly.

Speaker 2 0:45
They have to demonstrate that you’ve, you’ve medically improved enough to work. Think of it this way, you’ve already climbed that mountain, right? And now you’ve got, you’ve got a base camp set up. You don’t have to start from the from the bottom again. Okay,

Speaker 1 0:57
I like that. That’s a much, much better way to look at it. So let’s, let’s get into the nitty gritty here this eight step evaluation. It sounds a little overwhelming. What’s the first step all about?

Speaker 2 1:07
So the first step is all about something called substantial gainful activity, or SGA for short. And basically, SGA is all about your earnings. The SSA wants to see if you’re making enough money to be considered capable of working right,

Speaker 1 1:22
right? Because I guess if you’re, if you’re out there working and earning a good living, they’re probably going to think you don’t need those benefits anymore,

Speaker 2 1:29
exactly. So for 2024 that SGA threshold is $20,550 per month. So if, if you’re earning more than that, the SSA might determine you’re no longer eligible for benefits. Okay?

Speaker 1 1:41
So even if my condition hasn’t changed much, if I just happen to earn a bit more than that limit, I could lose my

Speaker 2 1:47
benefits. It’s, it’s possible, yeah, and that’s why it’s really important to understand the SGA rules and to kind of plan accordingly. You know, for example, let’s say you, you were a skilled carpenter before your disability, right? And you started making and selling like handcrafted furniture from home. It. It might be a great way to express your creativity and maybe, maybe make a little extra income. But if you go over that SGA limit, it could raise a red flag for the SSA. It’s

Speaker 1 2:15
that’s a really good example. It really shows how important it is to to know those rules and be careful about how much you’re earning. So what about step two? We’ve got meeting or equaling a listing that one sounds a bit, I know, intimidating, yeah,

Speaker 2 2:30
it sounds a little jargony, doesn’t it? But basically, the SSA uses what they call the listing of impairments, which is often referred to as the Blue Book. The Blue Book, yeah, and it’s basically a big comprehensive list of medical conditions that are that are considered severe enough to prevent someone from working. If your condition still matches what’s in that blue book, or is equal in severity to a listed condition, then your benefits would would continue. So

Speaker 1 2:55
like, let’s say, let’s say someone has a really bad back injury, you know, that keeps them from from standing or walking for very long? Would that maybe qualify as a listing?

Speaker 2 3:05
It’s it’s possible. Yeah, there are specific listings for for spinal disorders in the blue book, and each listing has, like, detailed criteria that have to be met. So, you know, for a back injury, they’d be looking at like, how bad the pain is, limitations in in range of motion, evidence of neurological involvement. If the person’s medical records, you know, really clearly show that their back problem meets all the criteria from that listing, then, then they’d be considered disabled.

Speaker 1 3:34
Got it so it’s, it’s all about like matching up your condition with what’s what’s written in that blue book.

Unknown Speaker 3:40
Right? Exactly. Okay. So

Unknown Speaker 3:41
that’s step two. Now step three, what happens there?

Speaker 2 3:43
Step three is all about medical improvement. Mi, basically, the SSA, compared your current medical records to the ones they had when you were first approved. They’re, they’re looking for any big improvements in your condition. So

Speaker 1 3:54
it’s not just about like, Oh, I’m feeling a little better, but like, it’s, it’s gotten better enough that it, it could change whether I can work or not.

Speaker 2 4:02
Yeah, that’s, that’s the key little ups and downs in your condition. Those are, those are normal, and they won’t necessarily count against you. They’re looking for, for substantial, lasting

Speaker 1 4:11
changes. Makes sense. So what if, like, let’s say I was approved for, for chronic fatigue syndrome, right? And I still get fatigued, but, but I figured out some ways to cope with it, and I have a little more energy on some days. Would would that count as medical improvement?

Speaker 2 4:29
Not necessarily the SSA would be looking at the whole picture, you know, the the frequency and severity of your fatigue, your ability to, you know, do everyday things, take care of yourself and and any objective medical evidence that that supports your claims, just having a good day here and there wouldn’t necessarily mean, you know, a significant improvement.

Speaker 1 4:47
Okay? So, so they’re really trying to understand how, how my condition is affecting my my whole life, not just, not just a single day or or a moment, right?

Speaker 2 4:55
And that’s why it’s so important to to keep good records, detailed records, of your. Symptoms, your treatments and any limitations you have.

Speaker 1 5:03
Okay, so we’ve got to paint a clear picture for the SSA, precisely. All right, on to step four. This one’s called, am I related to ability to work? And I have a feeling this is where things might get a bit, I don’t know,

Speaker 2 5:15
tricky. Yeah, you’re right. This is where they really start digging into the connection between your medical improvement and and whether you can work. There are a couple of different scenarios here. Okay, so

Unknown Speaker 5:27
what are we what are we looking at here?

Speaker 2 5:28
So first, let’s say you were approved for benefits because you met a listing in the blue book. Right in that case, they’ll check if you still meet those criteria. But here’s the thing, they use the criteria as they were written back when you were first approved.

Speaker 1 5:42
So even if, even if the blue book’s been updated since then, they’ll, they’ll use the old version.

Speaker 2 5:47
That’s right, it’s about, you know, consistency. It wouldn’t be fair if you lost benefits just because the definition of your impairment changed. Right,

Speaker 1 5:54
right? Okay, that that makes sense. So what about the other scenario? So

Speaker 2 5:58
the second scenario is, if you were approved based on on both medical and vocational factors. So that means they looked at your condition, but also your age, your education and your work history. Okay, in this case, they’ll compare your ability to work and now to your abilities back then they’re trying to figure out if your medical improvement is is big enough that you could now potentially find a job, even if you couldn’t before.

Speaker 1 6:23
So they’re really looking at the big picture, how my condition affects my my whole leg go to work exactly. Okay. This is, this is making a lot more sense. So, so what happens if my condition hasn’t really improved much at all? Do I do I just automatically pass the rest of the steps?

Speaker 2 6:38
Well, not quite. That’s where Step Five comes in, exceptions, exceptions, oh, yeah, that

Unknown Speaker 6:43
doesn’t sound good. What are we talking about here? It’s not

Speaker 2 6:45
necessarily bad news. It just means that even if your condition hasn’t changed much, there are certain situations where you might still lose benefits. Okay,

Unknown Speaker 6:54
like, what? Give me an example. One common

Speaker 2 6:56
example is, is if you don’t cooperate with the SSA during the review. So like, if I,

Speaker 1 7:01
if I just ignore their letters and request for information

Speaker 2 7:05
exactly, it’s, it’s really important to be responsive. Give them the documents they ask for, go to any appointments they schedule, because even if you’re still disabled, if, if you don’t work with them, it could look bad and you might lose benefits.

Speaker 1 7:17
Okay, I’m writing that down. Respond to the SSA, don’t ignore anything Exactly.

Speaker 2 7:21
Communication is key here, and if you’re ever not sure what they’re asking for or you need help with the process, you can always talk to a lawyer who specializes in disability benefits. That’s

Speaker 1 7:31
a really good point. It’s it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Okay, so we’ve made it through the first five steps. I already feel like I understand this whole process so much better. So let’s move on to Step six. What’s waiting for us there.

Speaker 2 7:46
So Step six is where they really get into the the severity of your current impairment, and this is where they bring in this idea of Residual Functional Capacity or RFC. RFC,

Speaker 1 7:56
that that sounds like a like a technical term, what? What exactly does that mean? Yeah, it’s

Speaker 2 8:02
a bit of jargon, isn’t it? But basically, RFC is all about what you can still do even with your limitations. It’s like, How well can you function, physically and mentally? The SSA uses this RFC to see like, how much your impairments are really affecting your ability to work.

Speaker 1 8:20
Okay? So it’s, it’s not just about whether my condition has gotten better, but like, how much it’s still limiting me, like, in terms of of actually doing a job you

Speaker 2 8:29
got it, let’s say, for example, someone was approved for benefits because they had really bad anxiety and depression, you know, to the point where they couldn’t handle a really fast paced job, right? Even if their symptoms have improved some that the essay is going to look at their RFC, you know, see if they can now handle things like interacting with coworkers, concentrating on tasks or dealing with stress.

Speaker 1 8:49
So RFC helps them figure out, like a more detailed picture of of what you can and can’t do specifically when it comes to work, exactly.

Speaker 2 8:57
Yeah, it’s a really important part of the evaluation, because it helps the SSA decide if your impairments are still considered severe enough to keep you from working, even if they’ve gotten a little bit better. Okay,

Speaker 1 9:07
I’m following, yeah. So on to Step seven, past relevant work. What? What is that all about? Past

Speaker 2 9:14
relevant work means any jobs you had in the five years before you were first approved for disability.

Speaker 1 9:19
So they’re, they’re basically looking back at my work history, seeing if I could maybe go back to one of those jobs.

Speaker 2 9:24
Exactly. They’ll, they’ll consider your RFC and see how it matches up to the demands of those past jobs. And if they think you could still do one of those jobs, then your benefits might stop.

Speaker 1 9:33
This makes sense. But what if? What if I just can’t do my old job anymore? Does does that mean I automatically keep my benefits? Not

Speaker 2 9:39
necessarily? And that brings us to the final step, Step eight, other work. So

Speaker 1 9:45
even if, even if I can’t do my old job, they’re still gonna see if there’s like iron in y job out there that I could do.

Speaker 2 9:52
Yep, that’s right. In this step, they look at your RFC, your age, your education, your work experience, the whole shebang. Basically, they’re trying to determine if there’s any other job out there that you could realistically do.

Speaker 1 10:04
So if, if they can find a job that fits all those things, my benefits might stop, but if they can’t find anything suitable, then my benefits continue.

Speaker 2 10:15
You got it? It’s a pretty, pretty thorough evaluation. But like we’ve been saying, it’s, it’s designed to be fair and look at, look at everything. Wow.

Speaker 1 10:23
We just went through all eight steps. That was a lot of information. So what are some of the like, the key takeaways from that Laporte law firm article, the things our listeners should really remember.

Speaker 2 10:33
Well, the biggest thing is documentation. Documentation, documentation. Keep good records of all your medical treatments, your appointments, any changes in your condition, that’s how you show them that you’re still disabled. So

Speaker 1 10:45
so it’s not enough to just like, tell them I’m still having problems. I need to, I need to have the paperwork

Speaker 2 10:50
to prove it, absolutely. The more evidence you have, the stronger your case is going to be

Speaker 1 10:55
okay. Got it a mountain of medical records. What else should our listeners be doing to get ready for their CDR?

Speaker 2 11:00
Don’t forget to communicate. Respond to everything the SSA sends you, and do it quickly and thoroughly. Remember that failure to cooperate thing we talked about. You don’t want to get caught up in that. Right,

Speaker 1 11:10
right? Because even if, even if my condition hasn’t improved, if I ignore their letters, I could, I could lose my benefits. Gotcha.

Speaker 2 11:18
And one more thing, don’t be afraid to gather other evidence too, not just medical records. Think about getting statements from people who know you well, people who can talk about how your disability affects your daily life. Oh, okay,

Speaker 1 11:32
so like, like a statement from a family member or a friend or even a therapist, exactly,

Speaker 2 11:37
they can give the SSA information about things that might not be in your medical records, things like your ability to concentrate deal with pain or handle social situations,

Unknown Speaker 11:47
like having character witnesses for your disability. Yeah, that’s

Speaker 2 11:50
a great way to put it. It adds another layer of credibility to your case. Okay,

Speaker 1 11:55
this has been so helpful I feel like I’m finally starting to wrap my head around this whole CDR process before we before we finish up. Do you have any any last pieces of advice for our listeners? Just

Speaker 2 12:06
remember this eight step evaluation? Yeah, it’s thorough, but it’s also meant to be fair, understanding the process, having your evidence ready and and communicating with the SSA that can make all the difference. I like

Speaker 1 12:19
that. Knowledge is power. The more you know about the process, the less scary it is. And don’t forget, you’re not alone in this. There are resources and support out there to help you. Absolutely,

Speaker 2 12:29
organizations like the Laporte law firm, they specialize in this stuff. Don’t hesitate to reach out for help if you need it.

Speaker 1 12:35
That’s great advice. Okay, before we let our listeners go, I have one last like thought provoking question for them to chew on. If, if you were designing this whole eight step evaluation process, how would you make sure it’s fair for both the individuals and the system as a whole?

Speaker 2 12:51
That’s a, that’s a great question. It’s something we should all be thinking about. What do you think? Hmm,

Speaker 1 12:55
that’s a, that’s a tough one. I guess, finding a good balance between like being thorough, but also being efficient. You know, we want to make sure that people who truly need these benefits can get them without having to jump through a million hoops, yeah, but at the same time, we got to make sure the system isn’t being abused,

Speaker 2 13:12
right, right? It’s a tricky balance. I wonder if there’s a way to maybe, like, streamline the process for people whose conditions are, are very obviously severe and and unlikely to get better. You know, that way they wouldn’t have to go through the whole eight steps every single time.

Speaker 1 13:29
Oh, that’s, that’s a great idea. It would save everyone a lot of time and hassle, yeah, but, but we’d still have to make sure that everyone gets a fair shot, that everyone’s situation is looked at carefully, absolutely.

Speaker 2 13:38
It’s a complicated issue, for sure, but that’s what makes these conversations so important, right? We need to think critically about how to make the system work better for everyone involved.

Speaker 1 13:48
It’s really amazing how much we we learned just from from looking at this one article from the Laporte law firm. It just goes to show you know how important it is to to understand your rights and how this whole disability benefits thing works. I

Speaker 2 14:03
couldn’t agree more. It’s it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the details and the rules and everything, but, but if you take it one step at a time like we did today, it starts to make a lot more sense.

Speaker 1 14:15
Yeah, absolutely. And speaking of learning more, if our listeners want to, to really dive deep into this topic, where, where should they go? Well,

Speaker 2 14:24
the Laporte Law firm website is is a great place to start. They have tons of information about Social Security, disability benefits, CDRs and all sorts of related stuff. Perfect.

Speaker 1 14:34
We’ll make sure to include a link in the show notes for everyone. And hey, if any of you out there listening have have gone through a CDR yourself. We’d love to hear about your experience. You know, share your thoughts in the comments. Yeah, let’s, let’s

Speaker 2 14:45
keep this conversation going. Your insights could really help someone else, who’s, who’s going through this process. That’s

Speaker 1 14:51
all for today’s deep dive into the eight step, sequential evaluation process. We really hope you found it helpful and. Even a little bit empowering. Remember

Speaker 2 15:01
facing a CDR can be tough, but, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. If you’re prepared and you know what to expect, you can you can get through it exactly.

Speaker 1 15:09
Stay informed, stay proactive and and most importantly, remember that you’re not alone until next time. Keep learning, keep asking questions and keep diving deep.