Thomas E. PRICE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Margaret M. HECKLER, Secretary of Health & Human Services, Defendant-Appellee

The sole issue for our decision is the constitutionality of the five month waiting period for entitlement to disability insurance benefits under 42 U.S.C. § 423 (a)(1). This presents a matter of first impression. The district court held that the waiting period advanced legitimate legislative goals in a rational fashion and was therefore constitutional. Accordingly it found that Thomas E. Price was not entitled to benefits during the five month statutory waiting period. We affirm the judgment of the district court.

The appellant, Thomas E. Price, filed an application for disability insurance benefits on March 21, 1980. The Secretary found that appellant was disabled as of November 12, 1979, and awarded benefits effective May 1980, the first month after the five month waiting period required by 42 U.S.C. § 423 (a) and (c). Appellant disagreed with the application of the five month waiting period. After exhausting his administrative remedies, appellant brought an action in district court challenging the constitutionality of the statutory five month waiting period.

Section 223(a)(1) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 423 (a)(1), requires an individual to meet several criteria…