In the last few weeks, Social Security implemented one of its biggest rule changes in years, that is already seeing more claimants approved at the hearing level more quickly.
It’s a pretty simple change with big consequences. Up until now, part of the disability process was to determine if a claimant could perform any of their past full-time jobs that they’ve had in the last 15 years. It was not uncommon for a severely ill person seeking disability benefits to be found not disabled by the SSA because the government found that they could do a cashier job that they hadn’t actually performed in a decade.
But under this new rule, Social Security only considers jobs an individual has performed in the last five years when making a disability determination.
Part of the reason this has made such a huge difference at the hearing level is that by the time a case gets to this stage, it’s usually been pending for at least two years. That waiting period is now ruling out some older past jobs from consideration, leaving claimants with the burden of showing there may only be one past job they cannot do. Others are finding they no long have any past work to worry about.
And still other claimants who were denied at the initial or reconsideration level because Social Security said they could do a job from 10 years ago now suddenly no longer have to worry about that at the hearing level.
This is truly a rule change making a big difference, and it’s helping many people get the benefits they desperately need.
