Opinion
No. 08-2078.
Submitted: December 1, 2009.
Filed: December 4, 2009.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.
Joseph L. Feldpausch, Maquoketa, IA, pro se.
Anne M. MacKland, Assistant Regional Counsel, Kansas City, MO, Kristi Schmidt, Deputy, Social Security Administration Office of General Counsel Region VII, Kansas City, MO, Stephanie Johnson Wright, U.S. Attorney's Office, Cedar Rapids, IA, for Appellee.
Before WOLLMAN, RILEY, and SMITH, Circuit Judges.
[UNPUBLISHED]
Joseph Feldpausch (Feldpausch) appeals the district court's order affirming the denial of disability insurance benefits. His August 2003 application for benefits alleged a disability onset date of July 1, 1985, as a result of ulcers, migraines, sleep apnea, night cramps, fatigue, back problems, and pain in his right foot, ankle, and leg. Following a hearing, an administrative law judge (ALJ) determined Feldpausch was not disabled within the meaning of the Social Security Act before the expiration of his insured status in March 1992. The ALJ relied in part on the testimony of a vocational expert (VE) about the existence of a significant number of jobs Feldpausch could be expected to perform. After careful de novo review, we find substantial evidence in the record as a whole supports the ALJ's determination. See Cox v. Barnhart, 471 F.3d 902, 906-07 (8th Cir. 2006) (standard of review; explaining, to be entitled to benefits, a claimant needs to prove she was disabled before her insurance expired); Hilkemeyer v. Barnhart, 380 F.3d 441, 447 (8th Cir. 2004) (deciding VE testimony constituted substantial evidence in support of the ALJ's determination that claimant was not disabled).
The Honorable Jon Stuart Scoles, United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Iowa, to whom the case was referred for final disposition by consent of the parties pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c).
Accordingly, we affirm. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.