RESIDUAL FUNCTION CAPACITY - CRITICAL

"Without evidence of a limited Residual Function Capacity (RFC), you don't have a disability case."

Unfortunately, Social Security disability law is filled with technical terms that people don't understand, yet they are critical in the successful outcome of a disability claim.

One of those terms is Residual Function Capacity (RFC).

I hate to belabor this but let me try to explain what the RFC is and why it can make or break your Social Security disability claim.  This is critical to understand if you plan to handle your own case.

What is residual function capacity?  Simply put, it is the maximum you are able to do with regard to work-related activities, such as standing, walking, lifting and carrying, pushing and pulling, bending, stooping, remembering, concentrating, making decisions, etc.  Those are all job functions.  Capacity is the measurement of where your limits are.

Where does the RFC come from?  The residual function capacity (RFC) comes out of the medical records.  While a decision maker can take your testimony or statements into account, your statements must be supported by objective medical evidence.  What is most helpful is when your doctor will complete a form that defines your RFC. This is why I ask my client's doctors to complete a form that states, Mr. X can lift so many pounds, stand or walk for so many minutes, etc.  If your doctor does not complete an RFC form, the judge or other decision maker at Social Security will develop their own RFC.  That can cause problems.

What are the terms Social Security will use to put limits on my functional capacity?  Social Security will use terms such as:

• Constant - There are no limitations on this ability.
• Frequent - This function can be performed up to two-thirds of an 8-hour workday.
• Occasional - This function can be performed from very little up to one-third of a workday.
• Never - This function can never be performed and must be avoided.

One of the best things a claimant can do before a disability hearing is to scour the medical records to develop a proper set of qualifying limitations of his/her functional abilities.  For example:

• I would be limited to lifting and carrying no more than ___ pounds based on records from Dr. A.
• I would be unable to sit more than 1 hour at a time or 3 hours in an 8-hour workday, based on records from Dr. B.
• I can only occasionally stoop, kneel, crouch and crawl, based on my medical impairments treated by Dr. C.
• I would never be able to climb, operate machinery, or be exposed to unprotected heights, based on conditions treated by Dr. D.
• Dr. D and Dr. E both say that I would be absent more than 2 days per month because of ----------------.

Frankly, this is the type of thing I do all day, nearly everyday.  I scour medical records to justify functional limitations that prove my client is not able to perform past relevant work, or any other work.  When I get paid a fee, it is not because I went to a 45-minute hearing with my client.  Rather, it is because I spent hour upon hour reading the medical files to find objective medical evidence that proves that my client has a limited residual function capacity (RFC).  Without that limited RFC, you do not have a disability case.