By Texas Social Security Disability Attorney, Jennifer Scherf-Cook
When you are injured during the course of your employment, you may file a claim for worker’s compensation. Worker’s compensation will pay you lost wages while you are unable to work as well as paying for medical bills related to the injury.
When worker’s compensation determines that you have reached MMI or Maximum Medical Improvement, they will assess a disability percentage based on the nature of your injuries. This means their doctors do not expect further medical improvement. The higher your impairment rating usually means the higher the amount of a financial settlement they will offer conclude your claim with their insurance provider.
SSA does not work the same way. With SS disability, you are either disabled or not. There is no 10% or 50% payment schedule, so workers who find themselves unable to return to work they haveone in the past are often surprised to find that SSA does not consider them disabled under the different rules they use.
Age does come into play in this situation. If you are over 55 and you are unable to return to the type of work you’ve done in the past 15 years, you can be found disabled, but if you are under 55, SSA expects you to be able to either use the skills you’ve gained in a similar occupation or to find an entirely different occupation in order to support yourself.
Many people are upset to learn at 45 although they are no longer able to perform the career they’ve devoted their life to, they do not qualify for SS Disability. There are resources to assist those worker’s with finding new careers. The Texas Workforce Commission and the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services are two such resources in the State of Texas.
At the firm of Bailey & Galyen, we represent clients with both Social Security Disability Claim disputes and Worker’s Compensation disputes throughout the state of Texas. There is never a fee unless we collect a settlement on your behalf.