804
Opinion of the Court
For another thing, in order to process the large number of SSDI claims, the SSA administers SSDI with the help of a five-step procedure that embodies a set of presumptions about disabilities, job availability, and their interrelation. The SSA asks:
Step One: Are you presently working? (If so, you are ineligible.) See 20 CFR § 404.1520(b) (1998). Step Two: Do you have a "severe impairment," i. e., one that "significantly limits" your ability to do basic work activities? (If not, you are ineligible.) See § 404.1520(c).
Step Three: Does your impairment "mee[t] or equa[l]" an impairment on a specific (and fairly lengthy) SSA list? (If so, you are eligible without more.) See §§ 404.1520(d), 404.1525, 404.1526.
Step Four: If your impairment does not meet or equal a listed impairment, can you perform your "past relevant work?" (If so, you are ineligible.) See § 404.1520(e). Step Five: If your impairment does not meet or equal a listed impairment and you cannot perform your "past relevant work," then can you perform other jobs that exist in significant numbers in the national economy? (If not, you are eligible.) See §§ 404.1520(f ), 404.1560(c).
The presumptions embodied in these questions—particularly those necessary to produce Step Three's list, which, the Government tells us, accounts for approximately 60 percent of all awards, see Tr. of Oral Arg. 20—grow out of the need to administer a large benefits system efficiently. But they inevitably simplify, eliminating consideration of many differences potentially relevant to an individual's ability to perform a particular job. Hence, an individual might qualify for SSDI under the SSA's administrative rules and yet, due to special individual circumstances, remain capable of "perform[ing] the essential functions" of her job.
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