The process for getting disability coverage from the Social Security Administration (SSA) can be long and confusing. During the process, you may be asked to fill out a form called a “Function Report,” or “Form SSA-3373-BK.” This form is just a normal part of receiving Social Security Disability (SSD or SSDI), and helps the SSA understand your disability, how it affects your life, and why you need SSD payments.
If you are applying for disability in Arkansas, and need help with your application, talk to an experienced Social Security attorney. Fayetteville AR disability lawyer Ken Kieklak can help you file your application for disability and make sure that it is correct and complete the first time. If you have been denied social security, our attorneys can also help appeal a disability denial in Arkansas and get you the disability payments you are entitled to.
Form SSA-3373-BK Info
Social Security Form 3373-BK is also called a “Function Report,” and helps the SSA understand the condition you are using to apply for Social Security Disability benefits. Under the Social Security Act, the Social Security Administration is allowed to create the rules, processes, and procedures for disability applications. Along with medical evidence, the SSA needs other evidence to determine how your disability affects you.
To qualify for disability, you must have an approved condition. The disability must be severe enough that it limits your ability to do things, like work-related tasks. The SSA looks at a combination of medical evidence and your own statements about your condition to determine if your condition is severe enough.
A Function Report is a form the SSA may ask you to fill out that helps them understand, in your own words, how your condition affects you and your life. Some of the questions on the form are simply biographical information, like your name, address, and other things. From there, the form goes on to ask about your illness, injuries, or conditions. It asks you to describe how the injury limits you, describe what your day is generally like, say whether you can care for yourself, and give other details.
The following are all things Form SSA-3373-BK asks about:
- Ability to get dressed, eat, bathe, and use the toilet by yourself
- Ability to cook for yourself
- Abilities with house or yard work
- Ability to walk, drive, ride a bike, etc.
- Ability to shop for yourself
- Ability to handle finances
- Physical limitations (lifting, standing, kneeling, etc.)
- Mental limitations (memory, concentration, understanding, etc.)
- Sensory limitations (seeing, hearing, etc.)
- Any medical devices you use (walker, wheelchair, cane, hearing aid, glasses, etc.)
- Current medication
These questions are all important for the SSA to understand how you get through the day and what abilities you have.
Though the temptation may be to make your condition sound worse to ensure you get coverage, you should never lie on government forms or applications. Not only is it a crime to lie on an SSD form, it will also help guarantee your denial. Plus, you may not fully understand how the answers will be used, and lying to make your condition sound worse may not help your application be accepted.
Since so many of the questions deal with your ability to understand, write, concentrate, and perform other tasks, filling out the application properly may be too difficult for many applicants. If that is the case, you can always contact a social security attorney to help complete your forms.
Third Party Function Reports (Form SSA-3380-BK)
While Form SSA-3373-BK is something you, the applicant, fills out, the SSA might need more information. They will sometimes ask for a “Third Party Function Report” as well. This is something your doctor, therapist, or other healthcare provider submits to help verify and explain your condition and limitations. This form is called “Form SSA-3380-BK,” and is not something you will fill out yourself.
This form is nearly identical to the form you do fill out, but is to be completed by someone else. This helps the SSA verify what you put on your form. The SSA looks at what your doctor, therapist, or caregiver puts on the form so they can confirm that what you said on your form is correct and accurate.
Just because your form and the third party form have different answers does not automatically mean you are lying, nor does it mean you will be denied. Different people may word things differently, or might have different opinions about your abilities. Do not be concerned about trying to match anyone else’s answers when you fill out your own function report.
An Arkansas Social Security Attorney can Help
If you are having trouble understanding your Function Report, or need help filing for Social Security Disability, talk to an attorney. It is never too late to get help with your application. Our attorneys are available for free consultations. Call Ken Kieklak, Attorney at Law, at (479) 316-0438) today.