Government Assistance thru the Social Security Administration

The United States government fully understands that the rise and fall of a nation primarily lies on its working population. With this in mind, the government sought ways to alleviate the problems within the labor sector. Problems that may soon come up were countered through laws and acts. One of these problems was the continuous rise of the number of disabled persons. This had long been determined by the Social Security Administration (SSA) - a government agency which is tasked on assisting workers with disability. As a matter of fact, a 20-year old person who is a regular wage earner has 3 in 10 chances of getting disabled.

The government, in line with protecting and providing the well-being of its citizens, has created different mechanisms that are now available through the SSA. It was already in effect when the cases of disability claims in California had risen. This occurrence stemmed from the incapacity of local officials to handle the high rate of road activity brought by the large traffic volume in the state. In 2009, about 3,081 fatal crashes has already taken place. Events such as these pose a ghastly effect. Those who had the mishap were in turn incapacitated and could not work like before. The SSA then included the different requirements for people to avail of these benefits.

Definition of Disability according to SSA

The Social Security System defines disability as the inability to do work. Through the Social Security, rules here are the following premises that clearly show such predicament:

• Inability to do a job like what was done before the mishap had occurred
• Lack of ability to adjust in the working conditions after the accident took place
• The disability had lasted for one year or 12 months and is expected to be prolonged, or may result to death.

The SSA even made certain measurements to fully determine if there really is a disability. This is thru the Substantial Gainful Activity or SGA. This is the level of work activity or earnings. Substantial, on the other hand, means that there is a noteworthy physical or mental activity or a combination of the two. The SSA has two programs that cater to different types of people; however the one that refers to the former working employees is called the Social Security Disability Insurance or SSDI. The fund for the SSDi comes from people's taxes and it is one of the leading disability claims in California that is still being done today.