The SSI Function Report is a tool that every applicant requesting Social Security Disability benefits or Supplemental Security Benefits must submit. It is sometimes referred to by other names such as Form SSA 3373 or The Activities of Daily Living Questionnaire. These names are interchangeable and can cause the process to be more confusing than it needs to be. This form measures the applicant’s ability to function in their day. More specifically, it looks at how well a person can perform the activities of daily living and then uses that data to determine if the applicant qualifies for disability or supplemental benefits. Here is a closer look at what all of this means.
How Form SSA 3373 Works
Form SSA 3373 is 22 questions long and uses the information provided to determine whether or not the application is eligible for assistance.
- where and how you live
- your illness or injury
- how the illness or injury impacts how you live and your ability to work.
The goal of the form is to provide the Social Security Administration (SSA) with a clear picture of how well you function throughout the entire day. It measures what you can do and what you cannot do. It also measures your credibility in providing information and uses many questions to ask for this same information, but in different ways. The goal is to provide the SSA with a baseline of how your illness or injury impacts your life. For example, if you say that you cannot work because of pain in your back and walking aggravates your condition and then you tell them you have a dog that you walk every morning, there is a conflict. The form will ask you what you do throughout your day and then ask you whether or not you have pets and what kind of care you provide for them. It will go further by asking you questions about who lives with you and whether or not they help you care for your pets or provide assistance to you.
The secondary goal of the form is not just to determine if you can work. Keep in mind that the SSA does not care if you can work your existing job or within your career field. They care only if you can work any job in the US marketplace. Social Security benefits do not guarantee you an income based on your current job. If you can work, then you do not qualify for Social Security Benefits, even if you must work the lowest paying job in the nation.
The Trap of the Activities of Daily Living Questionnaire
In, 2014, only 34.8 percent of all social security decisions were approved. [1] While the form gathers information about how you live, your job, and your illness, it is really looking to answer one question: Can you work? If you can work, even at a reduced capacity, the SSA will likely deny your application for benefits. At the very least, they might ask for more information.
Sources:
[1] Annual Statistical Report on the Social Security Disability Insurance Program, 2015 – Social Security Administration
