Cite as: 535 U. S. 212 (2002)
Opinion of the Court
cede, nowhere explicitly says that the "impairment" must be that severe (i. e., severe enough to prevent "substantial gainful work") for 12 months. But that is a fair inference from the language. See Brief for AARP et al. as Amici Curiae 13 (conceding that an impairment must remain of "disabling severity" for 12 months). At the very least the statute is ambiguous in that respect. And, if so, then it is an equally fair inference that the "inability" must last 12 months. That is because the latter statement (i. e., that the claimant must be unable to "engage in any substantial gainful activity" for a year) is the virtual equivalent of the former statement (i. e., that the "impairment" must remain severe enough to prevent the claimant from engaging in "substantial gainful work" for a year). It simply rephrases the same point in a slightly different way.
Second, the Agency's construction is "permissible." The interpretation makes considerable sense in terms of the statute's basic objectives. The statute demands some duration requirement. No one claims that the statute would permit an individual with a chronic illness—say, high blood pressure—to qualify for benefits if that illness, while itself lasting for a year, were to permit a claimant to return to work after only a week, or perhaps even a day, away from the job. The Agency's interpretation supplies a duration requirement, which the statute demands, while doing so in a way that consistently reconciles the statutory "impairment" and "in-ability" language.
In addition, the Agency's regulations reflect the Agency's own longstanding interpretation. See Social Security Ruling 82-52, p. 106 (cum. ed. 1982) ("In considering 'duration,' it is the inability to engage in [substantial gainful activity] that must last the required 12-month period"); Disability Insurance State Manual § 316 (Sept. 9, 1965), Government Lodging, Tab C, § 316 ("Duration of impairment refers to that period of time during which an individual is continuously unable to engage in substantial gainful activity because
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