Every year, there are changes that have a big impact on Social Security recipients. In order to stay abreast of these changes, it is important to familiarize yourself with these yearly changes. We have a history of helping people navigate these changes at Phillips & Ingrum, so if you have any questions be sure to give us a call.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has a multitude of laws, cases and regulations that dictate how SSA is handled in every aspect of your Social Security case. One of the ways SSA makes new rules is through a process called “Social Security Rulings” or “SSRs.” These rulings explain how SSA will carry out changes in the law, or how it will consider cases involving certain types of disabling impairments. Each year, SSA usually issues at least one or two of these SSRs on various topics. SSA issued a very important SSR in 2012 known as SSR 12-2p. It explains that SSA will now officially consider fibromyalgia to be a medically determinable impairment under their rules. The SSR also explains how claims examiners, judges and other persons adjudicating claims will review fibromyalgia cases to see if an individual’s claim for disability is approved. It also explains what kind of evidence must be gathered in a fibromyalgia case to prove the claimant has this condition.
If you have fibromyalgia and it is the basis for a claim for disability, this SSR is very important reading, and you or your representative should be familiar with it so that you can make sure SSA has all the right evidence in your claim to properly consider this debilitating condition. A link to this SSR is available on the Social Security Administration’s website at www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/rulings.