Opinion ID: 543130
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Determination of Disability Under the Regulations

Text: 23 Supplemental security income benefits and disability insurance benefits are available only to those individuals who can establish disability within the terms of the Social Security Act. 42 U.S.C. Secs. 423(d)(1)(A) and 1382c(a)(3)(A). The Act defines disability as the inability to engage in 24 any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.... 25 42 U.S.C. Secs. 423(d)(1)(A) and 1382c(a)(3)(A). 26 Congress delineated four factors that the Secretary must consider in determining whether the claimant is capable of performing substantial gainful activity: the individual's age, his education, his job experience, and his functional capacity to work. See 42 U.S.C. Secs. 423(d)(2)(B) and 1382c(a)(3)(B). 27 The Regulations promulgated by the Secretary to administer benefit payments require that a five-step sequential process be followed in evaluating all claims of mental or physical disability. 20 C.F.R. Secs. 404.1520 and 416.920. First, the claimant must establish that he is not engaged in substantial gainful activity at the time he seeks benefits. 20 C.F.R. Secs. 404.1520(b) and 416.920(b). Second, the individual must show that he has a severe impairment; that is, an impairment or combination of impairments which significantly limits ... physical or mental ability to do basic work activities. 20 C.F.R. Secs. 404.1520(c) and 416.920(c); see Farris v. Secretary of Health & Human Services, 773 F.2d 85, 89-90 (6th Cir.1985). 28 A claimant who has been determined to suffer from a severe impairment proceeds to the third step of the process in which the Secretary must determine whether the medical evidence alone establishes the claimant's inability to engage in substantial gainful activity. At this stage, the claimant's impairment is matched against the specific medical disorders listed in appendix 1 of the Regulations. 20 C.F.R. Part 404, Subpt. P, App. 1. An individual who can show that he suffers from a listed impairment, or its medical equivalent, will be found disabled regardless of his age, education, or work experience. 20 C.F.R. Secs. 404.1520(d) and 416.920(d); Gambill v. Bowen, 823 F.2d 1009, 1011 (6th Cir.1987). 29