DISABLING IMPAIRMENTS

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A disabling impairment is a disease, injury, or impairment determined by a doctor to be severe enough to cause you problems performing basic work activities at your job.  To qualify for LTD/STD and SSA disability, the impairment(s) must have lasted or are expected to last beyond the qualifying period or for more than 12 months.

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Let's break that definition down:

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• A disease may be chronic, like diabetes or hypertension, or acute, like brain trauma.

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• An injury could be a torn knee ligament that hinders your ability to walk and/or stand.​

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• An impairment may be psychiatric, like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

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• Or you may be suffering from a combination of any of these things.

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Determined by a doctor means that your impairment(s) has been confirmed by a licensed physician, who used physical exams, objective lab testing, and diagnostic tools like X-rays, MRIs, and CAT scans, to arrive at his/her diagnosis.

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Severe enough means that, because of your impairment, you have more than minimal functional limitations in performing the basic tasks of your job or daily living activities. The LTD/STD Plan Administrator and SSA will consider all your impairments, alone or in combination, job-related or not when determining if your impairment is severe enough to qualify.

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The SSA12-month rule means that your impairment(s) has to have already lasted or, your doctor believes will last, for 12 consecutive months or more. Social Security benefits are designed to help those with long-term disabilities. If your impairment(s) haven’t gone on that long or aren’t expected to last that long, you may still be eligible for short-term disability benefits from your state.

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The lawyers at the Law Offices of Sima G. Aghai can help you in either case.

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We are able to represent you at any stage of your claim.