What Is a Medical-Vocational Allowance In Social Security Disability?
By Chris Sharry on July 23rd, 2013 in
A medical vocational allowance is the term used by Social Security (SSA) when your condition does not meet the criteria in SSA’s listings but it is determined that you are still unable to work.
To be approved for Social Security disability benefits, SSA will evaluate your claim using the five step sequential evaluation process. At steps 1 and 2, SSA addresses whether you are performing substantial gainful activity and if you have a severe impairment. At step 3, SSA evaluates your claim to determine if you meet a listing. To meet a listing, you must meet specific criteria to be found disabled. The criteria is different for each listing as it applies to different conditions and, unfortunately, most claimants do not meet a listing.
If you do not meet a listing, SSA will further evaluate your claim under steps 4 and 5 to determine the impact your disability has on your ability to work. SSA will examine your illness, conditions and limitations to determine if you can do your past work, and if not, if there are any other jobs that you could still perform based upon your age, education and work history. This is called your residual functional capacity. If it is determined that there are no jobs that you could perform based on your residual functional capacity, then your claim will be approved under a medical vocational allowance.
