Do You Have to Meet a Listing to Win Your Disability Claim? The Sequential Process

Do You Have to Meet a Listing to Win Your Disability Claim?

Understanding Step Three of Social Security’s Five-Step Sequential Evaluation Process

“My doctor told me I don’t meet one of Social Security’s Listings. Does that mean I can’t receive disability benefits?”  We hear some version of that question all the time.  Unfortunately, many doctor’s don’t want to get involved in a disability claim, and actually meeting a listing is difficult given the requirements.

Many people believe the only way to qualify for Social Security Disability benefits is to “meet a Listing.”  Fortunately, that’s simply not true.  In fact, many successful disability claims—including claims we’ve handled—are approved without ever meeting or equaling a Listing.

Understanding why is one of the keys to understanding how Social Security decides disability claims.

Where We Are in the Process

The Powell & Denny Guide to Social Security Disability

✓ Part One

How Social Security Decides Disability

✓ Part Two

Can You Work?

✓ Part Three

Severe Impairments

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► PART FOUR

Do You Meet a Listing?

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Part Five

Residual Functional Capacity

Part Six

Other Work

Part Seven

Pain

Part Eight

Burden of Proof

What Is a “Listing?”

Social Security maintains a publication commonly called the Blue Book.  Inside are hundreds of medical conditions, each with very specific medical requirements; these are known as the Listings of Impairments.

Think of the Listings as a shortcut.

If your medical evidence satisfies every requirement of a particular Listing—or is medically equivalent to one—Social Security may determine that you are disabled without continuing through the remainder of the evaluation process.  That sounds wonderful.  Unfortunately, it is also why so many people become discouraged.

Meeting a Listing Is Difficult

The Listings were never intended to include every person who cannot work.  Instead, they describe medical conditions that are considered so severe that additional vocational analysis usually isn’t necessary.  Because of that, the medical requirements are intentionally demanding.

Missing just one required finding may mean you do not satisfy a Listing.  This does not mean you lose your disability claim-it simply means Social Security moves on to the next step.

Figure 1

STEP THREE

 

Do You Meet a Listing?

 

│

YES ──┴────────► Disability Approved

 

│

NO

 

▼

 

Continue to Step Four:  Residual Functional Capacity

One of the biggest misunderstandings about disability law is believing that “No” at Step Three means “Denied.”  It doesn’t, it means keep going.

Most Successful Disability Claims Do Not Meet a Listing

Applicants often everyone who receives disability benefits must have met a Listing, but this simply isn’t the case.  Many claimants receive benefits because, after considering all of the medical evidence, Social Security concludes they cannot perform sustained, full-time work.

Those cases are usually decided later in the disability process.

In other words…

Failing to meet a Listing does not end your claim.  For most applicants, the most important part of the disability evaluation has not even begun.

An Example

Imagine two people who both suffer from degenerative disc disease.  The first person’s medical records satisfy every requirement of a spinal Listing.  That person’s disability claim may be approved at Step Three.

The second person has undergone multiple surgeries, continues to experience severe pain, cannot sit or stand for prolonged periods, takes narcotic pain medication, and cannot return to work; however, the medical evidence does not satisfy every technical requirement of the Listing.

Has the second person automatically lost?  No.

Instead, Social Security continues evaluating the claim by determining what that individual can still do despite those medical conditions.  That next step is called Residual Functional Capacity, or RFC, and it is where many disability claims are ultimately decided.

Powell & Denny Practice Tip

Don’t become discouraged if someone tells you that you don’t meet one of Social Security’s Listings.  Meeting a Listing is only one way to qualify for disability benefits.  In fact, most successful disability claims are approved because the evidence demonstrates that the claimant cannot sustain competitive employment, even though no Listing has been met.

What Is “Medical Equivalence?”

Sometimes a claimant’s medical condition does not satisfy every requirement of a Listing.  Even so, the combined effects of the claimant’s medical conditions may be just as limiting as a listed impairment.

When that happens, Social Security considers whether the medical evidence is equal in severity to one of the Listings.  This is known as medical equivalence.

Although medical equivalence is less common than meeting a Listing outright, it is another way a claimant may satisfy Step Three.

The Bottom Line

Step Three is one of the most misunderstood parts of the disability process.  Many people believe they must meet one of Social Security’s Listings to qualify for benefits, but fortunately, this simply isn’t true.

Meeting a Listing is certainly one path to approval-but It isn’t the only one.

For many disability applicants, the most important question still lies ahead: What are you still capable of doing despite your medical conditions?

That question is answered during Step Four.

And it is where many disability claims are won—or lost.

Recommended Reading

Continue the Powell & Denny Guide to Social Security Disability

✓ Part Three
What Does Social Security Mean by a “Severe” Impairment?

➡ Coming Next

Residual Functional Capacity (RFC): Where Many Social Security Disability Claims Are Won or Lost

Coming Next…

Residual Functional Capacity (RFC): Where Many Disability Claims Are Won or Lost

If you don’t meet one of Social Security’s Listings, don’t panic.  For many people, the most important part of the disability evaluation has just begun.

In our next article, we’ll explain why Residual Functional Capacity (RFC) often determines whether a disability claim is approved or denied, how Social Security evaluates your physical and mental limitations, and why your ability to function is often more important than your diagnosis.