A Lowell Disability Lawyer on When Your Impairment Is Not in the Listing

There are many stages to being classified as disabled under the guidelines set by the Social Security Administration (SSA). A Lowell disability lawyer can tell you that entering stage three of the process, a claimant must have medical conditions and symptoms that match similar findings outlined in the SSA’s Listing of Impairments.

The list provides examples of medical conditions and findings that are considered to constitute disability under the SSA’s guidelines. However, even if a claimant’s medical problem doesn’t match identically, an attorney can argue in four situations that there is a medical issue equal to something in the list.

The Four Situations

A Lowell disability attorney can tell you one way to show that an impairment is equivalent to one in the listing is when a claimant doesn’t have one essential finding in the list for a specific medical condition but has others.

Another way to meet the Listings is when a claimant has all the necessary findings but some of them may not be considered very serious. As Lowell disability lawyer can tell you, a third way is when a claimant’s medical condition may not be defined at all in the listing but is as serious as a comparable condition that is described in the listing. Finally, a claimant may have a combination of medical conditions that don’t match any in the listing but as a whole are comparable to the listing.

In the end, there is a way to determine whether one claimant with certain medical conditions not in the list is as disabled as another with ones that are an identical match to the listing. An administrative law judge can determine whether a claimant’s medical condition is comparable to the listing if a report from a medical expert, who is hired by the SSA, is presented.

Contact a Lowell Disability Attorney for Assistance

If you have filed a disability claim and have questions, contact Gerard A. Palma, a Lowell disability lawyer, at 888-295-4955.