When claimed for purposes of entitlement to disabled workers' benefits, a disability is defined as the following. The inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of medically determinable physical or mental impairment, which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months. A person must not only be unable to do his or her previous work with comparable wages and utilization of capacities, but also cannot, considering age, education and work experience, engage in any other kind of substantial gainful work which exists in the national economy. It is important to note the 12-month period mentioned earlier. It does not refer to the amount of time a worker needs to have been out of work. Rather, it refers to the continuous length of time the disability itself has lasted or is expected to last. When a worker applies for disability benefits, a determination as to whether he is disabled must be made. In general, disability determinations, including the beginning and ending dates of period of disability, will be made by the local social security district office. If you have filed an application and have been denied, do not become discouraged as the majority of claimants are denied initially. The denial may be appealed by filing a request for reconsideration or a request for a hearing before an administrative law judge. However, there are time requirements that must be met in filing this appeal. If you are interested in appealing your denial, please do not wait as the delay may cause you to lose your opportunity to obtain benefits.

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