THE FIVE-STEP SEQUENTIAL EVALUATION PROCESS

Generally the Social Security Administration follows a FIVE-STEP SEQUENTIAL EVALUATION PROCESS in determining whether you are disabled.  The steps are followed in order and, if social security finds that you are either disabled or not disabled at any step in the process, the evaluation ends and the process proceeds no further.  Likewise, if it cannot be determined that you are either disabled or not disabled at a certain step the evaluation proceeds to the next step.  Finally, before proceeding to step four it must be determined what your residual functional capacity for work activity is (i.e. the maximum amount of physical &/or mental activity you can do in light of your medical problems).  Your residual functional capacity or “RFC” will also be used at step five of the process, if the evaluation goes that far.  It should be noted that most cases are either won or lost at step 5 of the evaluation process.

STEP ONE

At STEP ONE Social Security considers any work or work-like activity you are currently engaging in (or have engaged in during the time you claim you are disabled).  Relevant will be any part-time, volunteer or self-employment activity you are or have engaged in.  Although Social Security strongly considers income derived from work activity, Social Security will not disregard work performed simply because nominal or no earnings or wages have been realized from this work.  It is the real ability to perform the physical &/or mental requirements of competitive employment that controls.  Social Security considers this nominal level of work “substantial gainful activity”.  If you are found to have and continue to be performing or capable of performing substantial gainful activity, Social Security will find you to not be disabled, and the evaluation will not continue to step two of the sequential evaluation process.  Likewise, if social security finds that you have and are not engaging in substantial gainful activity, the process will proceed to the second step, for a determination of whether your impairments are “severe”.

STEP TWO

At STEP TWO Social Security considers whether your medically determinable physical &/or mental limitations are “severe” under its particular standards.  If you do not have a ‘severe’ medically determinable physical &/or mental impairment that meets the durational requirement, or a combination of impairments that are severe and also meet the durational requirements, Social Security will not find you disabled and will deny you benefits.  With this the evaluation process will terminate and your claim will be denied.  If Social Security is convinced that your impairment(s) are severe under its regulations the evaluation will proceed to the third step, a medical determination that your condition precisely meets (or equals) one of a number of conditions Social Security deems severe enough to warrant an award of benefits without considering vocational factors.

STEP THREE

The third step is a pure medical evaluation of your impairments.  Consideration of your prior work, educational and other vocational factors are not considered, unless stated otherwise.  Proper analysis at this step is best done by or with the aid of a medical doctor, particularly one trained and skilled in the medical condition(s) being evaluated.  If you have a physical &/or mental impairment which precisely meets (or equals in severity) one of many prescribed medical conditions and associated findings (called ‘listings’ or ‘listings of impairments’) you are conclusively determined to be disabled by Social Security and likewise entitled to an award of benefits.  If you do not meet (or medically equal) a listed impairment, the analysis proceeds to STEP FOUR for a determination of whether you are capable of satisfactorily performing your past work.

STEP FOUR

As stated above, before a decision that you are either disabled or not disabled can be made at STEP FOUR (or STEP FIVE for that matter) a proper determination must be made of what you can or cannot do as a result of your impairments.  This is called your RESIDUAL FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY (‘RFC’) and at STEP FOUR is used to evaluate your past relevant work (‘PRW’) and more precisely whether you are physically &/or mentally capable of performing any of your past work (either as you actually did it or how it is generally done on the open labor market).  At this step Social Security only considers relevant to the process work you have performed in the last 15 years (or work you performed 15 years before the date you told Social Security you became disabled) and work that you performed long enough to be capable of fully performing the duties of this work on your own.  If you are found capable of performing any job you have done in the past 15 years either as you performed it or how it is generally performed you will be determined by Social Security to be not disabled and the evaluation process will terminate.  If, in fact, you are found incapable of returning to your past relevant work, the evaluation will proceed on to STEP FIVE of the sequential evaluation process for a determination of whether or not you are capable of performing other work.

STEP FIVE

Most cases are won or lost at the fifth and final step.  At STEP FIVE Social Security uses its assessment of your RESIDUAL FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY (determined as described at step four above) and considers whether, in light of these limitations, you are capable of performing other work you have not performed before (or at least work you have not performed within the past 15 years).  At this step Social Security considers various vocational factors such as your age, education, training and previous work experience to determine whether you are capable of performing other work in spite of your medical problems & limitations.  In some limited cases you may possess skills from your past work which would be readily transferable to similar, less strenuous work.  However, in most cases ‘other work’ translates into entry-level, unskilled, simple, repetitive and unfortunately minimum-wage or low-paying jobs.  If you can make such an adjustment to other work, Social Security will find that you are not disabled and you will be denied benefits.  If, however, your impairments keep you from performing simple, routine work, full-time on a competitive and sustained basis, you will be found by Social Security to be disabled and will be awarded your benefits.