SOCIAL SECURITY 5-STEP DISABILITY PROCESS: STEP 1

Social Security uses a sequential 5-step consideration process to determine who can get disability benefits.  The steps must be taken in order; you cannot consider Step 2 until you pass Step 1, etc.  

In this post, we want to discuss Step 1 in the process:

STEP 1

The question under consideration in Step 1 is:  Is the claimant now engaging in Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA)?"

If the answer is "Yes," the claim is denied here at Step 1 and nothing further is considered.

Step 1 is designed to prohibit individuals who are working from applying for Social Security disability or SSI benefits.  If you are working at a certain level, you cannot apply for benefits, no matter how sick or injured you are.  The work will deny you at Step 1.

We used a term that's very important and must be explained.  What is Substantial Gainful Activty (SGA)?

This term refers to a level of work that rises to the point of being substantial enough to deny a disability claim.  It tries to answer the question, "How much work is too much?"

So, some work is permitted (up to a point) but too much work will deny the claim at Step 1 and make you ineligible for any SSDI or SSI benefit right from the start.

So, what exactly is Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA):

In 2019, the dollar amount of wages, tips, commissions or self-employment income that rises to SGA level is $1,240 per month (gross).

If you earn at least $1,220 per month in 2019 (in salary, wages, tips, commissions or self-employment income), you are not eligible for Social Security disability or SSI benefits.  You are working and you cannot work and apply for a disability benefit.

This number increases slightly each year.  In 2020, the SGA amount will be $1,260 per month (gross).  Back in 2018, the SGA amount was $1,170.  But the 2019 amount is $1,240.  If you earn that much by working, you are not eligible for a disability benefit.

This rule is part of regulatory law and is not subject to appeal.  You cannot file an appeal and say, "I disagree that earning at least $1,240 a month should disqualify me for an SSDI benefit."  That's the law and it doesn't matter if we agree.

Here are some other arguments that won't fly:

• Well, yes, I am working at SGA level, but I'm really not able to work.  I'm really disabled but force myself to work, anyway. My doctor says that I need to quit.

• I'm really not able to work but will lose my home if I stop working before I get on disability.  The minute I get approved for disability, I plan to stop working.

• I am disabled but still working.  If I stop working I will lose my medical insurance and won't be able to go to the doctor or buy my medications.  So, I need to get on disability before I can stop working.

These all sound reasonable.  But the truth is:  If you are now working at Substantial Gainful Activity, you are not disabled according to Social Security law.

There are no exceptions, loopholes or exclusions to this rule.  It is black-and-white.  It doesn't matter why you are working or what will happen if you stop working.  Social Security doesn't care.  If you are working enough to earn $1,240 in 2019 (or $1,260 in 2020), you are not disabled according to Social Security law and cannot get a benefit, regardless of how sick or injured you are.

I want to say that the $1,240 rule is for WORK.  It is not an income or resource restriction.  The limit only applies to work that brings in at least $1,240 per month.  Other types of income which are not work related do not count.

For example, for purposes of SGA, Social Security will not count investments, child support, alimony, rent, debts collected, stock dividends, or money in the bank.  The restriction to earning less than $1,240 applied only to wages, salary, commissions, or self-employment--that is, income from the labor of your hands or mind.  It is a work or earnings limit, not an income limit.

The problem is that you are working, not that you have income.  SSDI is not income restricted.  It is WORK restricted.  Work is the problem, not the income.

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