Social Security recognizes the debilitating quality of certain medical conditions, and have compiled a list thereof. If you can prove that you’ve been diagnosed with one of the listed conditions and satisfy the specifics of that listing, you become automatically eligible for disability. An examples of a condition qualify is that may automatically metastatic cancer.

Even if a claimant’s medical condition doesn’t quite meet the disability listings, Social Security might find that their symptoms make them just as disabled as someone who does meet the listing. To equal a listing, a claimant must show that their impairment is equivalent in both severity and duration to a listed disability. Social Security allows a claimant to equal a listing in one of three situations:

If you have a listed impairment that doesn’t meet one or more criteria of the listing, you will be evaluated for other medical issues deemed of “equal medical value” in the listing.

If your impairment doesn’t meet a listing, but has symptoms similar to those described in a specific criteria found in a similar listing, the SS may deem your condition equal to the listing.

If you have a number of impairments but none meet a listing in isolation. Social Security will evaluate your different conditions and compare them to listings that have similar symptoms. If the combined effect of your multiple impairments is deemed equal to the symptoms in a similar listing, you can be found equal to the listing.

You can work with a Social Security Disability lawyer, to increase your chances of equaling a listing. This type of lawyer can help you gather supporting medical evidence to back up your claim as to why you equal a specific listing.

Sources:

Getting Social Security Benefits by Equaling a Disability Listing
disabilitysecrets.com

Disability Evaluation Under Social Security
ssa.gov