How to Qualify for Social Security Disability with Your Health Problems
You look at Social Security Disability benefits when you run into health problems and can’t keep up at work. Financial assistance would be such a relief.
One of the first questions you, and many others, ask is whether your medical condition qualifies for disability benefits.
Social Security doesn’t view “disability” the same way you, other people you know, or even doctors, view it. For Social Security, a disability is any health condition (or combination of health conditions) that makes it impossible for you to work.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) does provide a guide, often called its “blue book” listing of impairments, for how to qualify for disability benefits for over 100 medical conditions.
It spells out the symptoms Social Security considers to be disabling and the medical evidence you need to prove your health issues are severe enough for benefits.
The impairments listing is a place to start, but the health problems that can qualify for disability benefits aren’t limited to what’s on the list. If your diagnosis isn’t there, another path to benefits is documenting how your individual symptoms interfere with your ability to work.
The Arizona disability lawyers at Slepian Ellexson have seen just about any health problem you can think of as we’ve helped thousands of people win disability benefits. We know how to tie your medical records to your work history to show Social Security that you deserve economic aid to stabilize your life.
See below for a list of just some of the medical conditions we’ve helped people claim in their applications for disability benefits.
What Conditions Qualify for Disability Benefits? A Partial List
Our Social Security Disability lawyers have helped Arizonans get disability benefits with multiple physical health conditions, mental health conditions, and combinations of conditions.
These are some of the most common impairments we’ve seen among people seeking Social Security Disability:
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Back and joint pain
- Blindness
- Cancer
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Crohn’s disease
- Diabetes
- Emphysema
- Epilepsy
- Hearing loss
- Heart disease
- Hepatitis C
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Liver and kidney disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Neurological deficits
- Obesity
Some medical conditions come with special challenges to prove you can’t work and should receive Social Security Disability, but with a carefully prepared claim, you can still win benefits.
Conditions whose main symptoms are pain, fatigue or emotional distress are especially difficult to prove to the SSA because it’s so hard for other people, like doctors and Social Security claims examiners, to measure symptoms that only you experience and understand.
In cases like this, Slepian Ellexson Arizona disability attorneys know what to do. We have extensive experience documenting health limitations that aren’t physically visible. We frequently obtain benefits for health problems including:
- Anxiety
- Chronic fatigue
- Chronic pain
- Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
- Depression
- Fibromyalgia
- Lupus
- Migraine headaches
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD)
If you’re wondering what qualifies for disability benefits and whether your health problems count, you can talk to our disability lawyer team—at no cost—to learn more and see how you can proceed.
Get a free disability claim evaluation.
What if My Condition Is Not on the Social Security Disability List of Impairments?
Several of the health problems we listed above are on the official Social Security Disability list of impairments. Some of them, even some of the very common conditions, are not specifically listed as qualifying for disability benefits on their own.
But like we said before, even with disorders that don’t appear in the “blue book,” you have a path to win disability benefits.
Here are two major ways:
Measuring Your Residual Functional Capacity (RFC)
No matter your diagnosis, with help from your doctor you can demonstrate that the state of your health rules out working.
Your RFC is a measure Social Security uses of concrete activities you can and cannot do, such as:
- Standing for long periods
- Sitting for long periods,
- Walking for reasonable distances
- Reaching and grabbing things
- Lifting and carrying things
- Concentrating for sustained periods
- Understanding and following directions
Your individual symptoms, not the name of your illness, determine your residual functional capacity. Whether Social Security acknowledges your disorder or not, if your symptoms are severe enough, you may qualify for disability benefits.
Showing How Multiple Conditions Amplify Each Other
You don’t have to apply for Social Security Disability claiming one health problem and one health problem only.
It’s common to present multiple health issues in your benefits claim. Sometimes it’s the interaction of these conditions, rather than any one of the conditions alone, that leaves you unable to work.
Your Social Security Disability lawyer can help you tell this story to win benefits.
Conditions like diabetes and obesity, for example, are extremely common. But they don’t necessarily qualify for disability benefits on their own. Millions of people have them and can still work.
But it’s also true that diabetes and obesity are related to multiple other health problems. They can be part of an overall picture of why you can’t work.
You want a disability lawyer who knows what conditions qualify for disability benefits, all the ways they can qualify, and how to put together a strong argument for you.
In Arizona, talk to Slepian Ellexson. You pay no disability attorney fee until you win benefits.
Make sure that every detail of your health that affects your life is fairly represented in your disability application, so you have the best chance possible of winning benefits for a better future.
