INITIAL CLAIM APPLICATION

After all of your medical records arrive, a DDS worker (called an examiner) sends your records to a medical consultant. The medical consultant, usually an M.D. or Ph.D., will review the records and come up with your residual functional capacity (RFC). The RFC is a medical opinion that identifies what you can do and for how long.  An RFC for a physical impairment will estimate how long you can sit, stand, and walk for in an 8-hour workday. It will also include an opinion of how much weight you can lift and carry occasionally and frequently. “Occasionally” is defined as up to 1/3 of the workday, and “frequently” is defined as from 1/3 – 2/3 of the workday.

The least physical jobs are sedentary jobs (desk jobs). In order to be capable of performing sedentary work, you must be able to sit for approximately 6 hours and stand and/or walk for at least 2 hours in an 8-hour workday. Sedentary work does not involve a lot of lifting and carrying. Generally, you do not lift more than 10 pounds at a time at a sedentary job. The more weight you are capable of lifting, the more physical the job.  Light work requires the ability to lift and carry 10 pounds frequently, and 20 pounds occasionally. If you are able to lift and carry up to 50 pounds occasionally and 25 pounds frequently, then you are capable of medium work. Heavy and very heavy work involves jobs lifting up to or more than 100 pounds. Construction work can be characterized as heavy or very heavy work.

A physical RFC also rates your postural limitations, including climbing, balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, and crawling, as well as manipulative limitations such as reaching, handling, fingering, and feeling. Visual limitations, communicative limitations, and environmental limitations like exposure to extreme heat, extreme cold, wetness, humidity, noise, vibration, fumes, and hazards are also assessed by the medical consultant.  A mental RFC lists the degree of impairment found in various non-exertional capacities such as memory, concentration, and socialization. The medical consultant will offer an opinion in the areas of understanding and memory, sustained concentration and persistence, social interaction, and adaptation. Marked impairment in these areas will generally preclude work activity.

The Social Security Administration also recognizes that the inability to perform basic work-related mental activities such as understanding, carrying out, and remembering simple instructions; using judgment in making work-related decisions; responding appropriately to supervision, co-workers, and usual work situations; and dealing with changes in a routine work setting warrants a favorable decision in your case. Unfortunately, RFC forms completed by DDS medical consultants are rarely of any benefit to you. At DDS, RFC forms are used to facilitate denials significantly more often than approvals. That’s why it’s important to get your treating doctor to fill out an RFC for you.