Step 3.5: Residual Functional Capacity(RFC)
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The Un-Numbered Step: Residual Functional Capacity
Before proceeding to Steps Four and Five, Social Security determines your “residual functional capacity,” or “RFC.” This is a description of the most you can do despite your limitations. For instance, you might have a back injury that limits your ability to do heavy lifting, but still be able to lift around twenty pounds occasionally or ten pounds frequently. Or, you may have a mental illness that interferes with your ability to concentrate on complex tasks but still lets you concentrate on simple tasks.
How does Social Security know what I can do?
First of all, Social Security will gather your medical records from all your medical providers. These records contain objective evidence as well as your providers’ plans for your treatment. This tells Social Security a lot of information about what you should be able to do under normal circumstances.
Second, you tell them. During the course of your claim, Social Security will send function reports to you and possibly to people you know asking you about your daily activities. Knowing how your live your life gives Social Security an idea of what you are physically and mentally capable of doing, and they can use that information as a proxy to determine your potential capabilities in a work environment. It’s important to give an honest assessment of your capabilities here. You don’t want to exaggerate, but you don’t want to downplay anything either.
Third, you can ask your medical providers to give you a written opinion about what they think you are capable of doing. A medical provider can tell Social Security they think you can lift a certain amount, sit or stand for a certain length of time, perform certain postural activities, perform various mental tasks such as concentration or getting along with others, or perform other physical or mental tasks that are common in work environments. Social Security will take your providers’ opinions into account, particularly if those opinions are supported by objective evidence and consistent with other providers’ records and/or opinions.
Fourth, Social Security sometimes sends you to consultative examinations, which are brief examinations by doctors that Social Security hires to give an impartial opinion. These doctors are looking for some very specific things, so their examinations sometimes feel like you’re on an assembly line; but they often give vital information about your capabilities that can help your case.
What do you mean by “objective evidence”?
The most important evidence that Social Security uses in determining the severity of your impairments is actual, real-world measurements of what is going on with your body. That’s “objective evidence.” Measurable phenomena. Blood tests. X-rays and MRIs. Physical examinations. Your psychiatrist’s observation that you are visibly anxious during your medication management visit. Social Security places a lot of stock in what can actually be seen and measured.
Of course, everyone (including Social Security) knows that many symptoms, such as pain, fatigue, brain fog, depression, anxiety, panic, etc., cannot be objectively measured. This is why it is so important to give Social Security more than just the objective evidence.
It’s not enough to have objective evidence showing that you should be impaired. You also have to explain to Social Security how you are actually affected by the impairment and that it prevents you from working.
