There are many California residents who receive Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits, but are still able to manage to take care of many of their day-to-day needs. They are not completely incapacitated — it is just that their disability leaves them with a complete inability to work. That is the very definition of “disability,” according to the Social Security Administration (SSA).
But, as part of the application process to receive SSD benefits, the SSA will examine a person’s ability to do the job they were doing prior to the onset of the disability. This is in addition to the person’s ability to do any other meaningful work. One part of this is to examine what the SSA terms as “residual functional capacity.”
If our Los Angeles readers are thinking that this term sounds overly legalistic, they are probably right. What this term means is that the SSA will take a hard look at a person’s maximum capabilities, in spite of the onset of the disability. In short, now that the applicant has a claimed disability, what is the most that this person can do?
For many applicants, determining residual functional capacity may come down to what types of information is included in the medical documentation that is part of the application for SSD benefits. That is why it is very important to make sure that the documentation that is provided is geared toward proving what needs to be proved to receive SSD benefits.
Los Angeles residents who find themselves in this situation may need to get more information on how to package things correctly to achieve the greatest possibility of success. For more information on Social Security Disability law, please visit the residual functional capacity section of our website.
