What Social Security Looks for in a Disability Claim
When someone from the Social Security Administration (SSA) evaluates your claim, they’re trying to answer a few questions. They want to know:
Are you currently working?
If you’re working a significant amount, you won’t qualify for benefits.
Social Security has a measurement known as Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA). If you work enough to hit these numbers—$1,690 for non-blind individuals and $2,830 for blind individuals as of 2026—you’re unlikely to receive benefits.
Could you do another job?
It’s not enough to be unable to handle your current or most recent job. You also have to show that changing to another line of work, such as a job that’s less physically demanding, won’t solve your problem.
The SSA will evaluate factors like your age, skillset and education level to determine whether you could do a different job instead of receiving disability benefits.
How long will your health problems last?
You can’t qualify for disability if you have health problems that will heal or improve enough to allow working in the near future. Benefits are for people who will be unable to work for a year or more because of their health.
Do you have a qualifying impairment?
Social Security has a list of qualifying impairments, but you could still receive disability benefits if you don’t have one of these specific ailments.
If you have a diagnosis on the list, it spells out what you need to prove your eligibility. But the most important factor is that your symptoms, regardless of diagnosis, seriously limit your ability to work.
Do you have a significant work history?
This question determines which kind of Social Security Disability benefit you can receive.
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is for people who have been working and paying into Social Security. Like the name suggests, it’s a form of insurance the government created to save hard-working people from falling into financial crisis because of medical issues.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a need-based program. Even if you haven’t worked enough to qualify for SSDI, you could qualify for SSI as long as you don’t have too many other economic resources available to you.
Winning Social Security Disability benefits is almost always a challenge, but knowing more about what the government looks for in a disability claim can help you.
