RECENT UPDATES IN DISABILITY REGULATIONS

Social Security has made some important updates and revisions to its disability rules.  We will discuss a couple of these changes here.

SSR 12-2(p) was issued in 2013.  This ruling clarifies how Social Security should consider Drug or Alcohol Abuse (DAA) in deciding disability claims.  In effect, it continues the policy followed for the last sixteen years but adds a great deal of clarification.  The summary of SSR 12(2)(p) is that a disability claim cannot be denied due to DAA unless the abuse is material to the impairment(s) of the claimant.

SSR 12-2(p)  makes it clear the Fibromyalgia is a medically determinable impairment.  In short, if it is severe enough and well documented, Fibromyalgia may qualify an individual for disability benefits.  In the past, many judges refused to acknowledge Fibromyalgia as "a real disease."  With this ruling in place, the disease must now be considered on the same basis as other impairments when it is medically documented.

Comments

  1. Charles W. Forsythe, MSJuly 19, 2014 at 4:36 PM

    Note that it is helpful to have a rheumatologist to diagnose Fibromyalgia because more weight is given to a specialist in the field. Also, Social Security requires that Fibromyalgia be diagnosed using the guidelines of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and a rheumatologist will certainly be familiar with those guidelines. As with all other issues, Social Security has very definitive rules for what they will accept and what they will not.

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