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By Aliss Higham
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The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced that it will simplify the process of applying for disability benefits.
As part of a new rule that has been finalized this year, applicants for disability benefits will need to provide only their past five years of work for review by the government agency. Its previous policy required applicants to provide detailed information regarding 15 years of work history, which the SSA has said "was difficult for individuals to remember and often led to incomplete or inaccurate reporting."
Two types of disability benefit are available to Americans: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSDI supports individuals who are disabled and have a qualifying work history, either through their own employment or a family member. SSI is for those with a qualifying disability and very low to no income.
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The SSA has also decided it will no longer consider previous work that started and ended in fewer than 30 calendar days.
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"This new rule will lessen the burden and time our applicants face when filling out information about their work history and will make it easier for them to focus on the most current and relevant details about their past work," said Martin O'Malley, commissioner of Social Security. "It also improves the quality of the information our front line workers receive to make decisions, improving customer service, and reducing case processing time and overall wait times."
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"Decreasing the relevant work period from 15 to five years will make it easier for people to accurately report their work history," Ann Biddle, litigation supervisor at the Urban Justice Center's Mental Health Project, said. "The reduction also makes sense given Social Security's recent efforts to modernize the vocational policy that is used to make disability decisions. Research indicates that certain types of skills – namely, 'manual' skills – can significantly deteriorate in five years."
It is not the first change the SSA has made this year that simplifies the process of applying for disability benefits. In June, the government agency announced it would it would remove obsolete or seldom-performed occupations from a list of jobs that were used to determine whether a disability benefit applicant could find another job based on their abilities. This could result in a rejection of benefits on the basis of being determined "not disabled."
The list of jobs included occupations such as reptile farmer, canary breeder and railroad telegrapher. An SSA spokesperson told Newsweek that the changes became effective as of June 22, 2024.
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