How Social Security Disability Could Provide Financial Help
Obesity can be part of a successful Social Security Disability claim.
There is no weight or body mass index (BMI) that automatically qualifies someone for benefits, but obesity can be disabling by itself or in combination with other medical conditions when its effects prevent you from maintaining full-time work.
Obesity doesn’t have its own entry in Social Security’s official Listing of Impairments that qualify for disability benefits. But Social Security can recognize it as a work-stopping impairment with strong enough medical evidence.
The decision to award benefits depends on the everyday limitations you can document in your case, not the number on a scale.
Obesity may increase joint pain, worsen breathing problems, contribute to fatigue disorders, serve as an exacerbating factor in multiple other health conditions, and make it harder to stand, walk, lift, bend and keep active through a workday.
If you are experiencing these symptoms, you must talk about them with your doctors. Assuming they know isn’t enough for Social Security.
For help documenting your case to Social Security, work with the Phoenix and Tucson disability lawyers at Slepian Ellexson. We have helped Arizonans pursue disability benefits they need to achieve more stable lives since 1978.
Our current attorneys have more than 50 years of combined experience handling Social Security Disability claims, including for conditions like obesity that aren’t always seen as a “disability” and take special care explaining to Social Security.
With Slepian Ellexson, you will get personal attention and direct support for your case from a fully licensed disability lawyer.
No attorney fee until you win benefits.
How Does Social Security Evaluate Obesity in Arizona Disability Claims?
Social Security first determines whether your obesity is medically established. Evidence may include measurements of your height, weight, waist size and BMI recorded by medical providers over time.
Your own report of your height and weight is not enough. Social Security looks for a consistent pattern in the medical record.
At the same time, no specific BMI determines whether obesity is severe enough for disability benefits. Social Security makes an individual assessment of how the condition affects you.
Winning disability benefits for obesity often includes documenting other, related conditions, which sometimes may be the stronger grounds for disability benefits than obesity itself.
Obesity is commonly associated with conditions involving several body systems, including:
- Osteoarthritis and other joint conditions
- Back and spinal problems
- Respiratory impairments including asthma and sleep apnea
- High blood pressure and cardiovascular disease
- Diabetes
- Stroke-related impairments
- Depression and other mental health conditions
When obesity and conditions like these occur together, Social Security must consider their combined effects—and you need to make it clear how the totality of your health conditions prevent you from working.
Suppose you have arthritis in your knees. Arthritis may already cause pain and reduced mobility. Additional stress on joints from obesity may make it even harder to walk, climb stairs or stand for extended times.
Your disability claim should describe these struggles in detail. Discuss how the extra weight makes it harder and more painful to move around.
Or sleep apnea and obesity may combine to cause daytime fatigue that affects both your physical stamina and mental concentration. You need to present a full picture to Social Security of how this hinders your ability to get through your day without taking extra breaks to rest, lie down or nap.
When your diagnosed medical conditions don’t meet or equal a Social Security-listed impairment, Social Security will assess your “residual functional capacity,” or RFC.
Your RFC measures how much you can still function despite your medical limitations.
RFC includes your ability to:
- Sit or stand for extended periods
- Walk without pain or shortness of breath
- Lift, carry, push or pull objects
- Climb stairs or ladders
- Balance, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl
- Reach or manipulate small objects
- Tolerate heat, humidity or workplace hazards
- Sustain activity without frequent rest
- Remain alert and focused
- Attend work regularly
Social Security’s own guidance recognizes that obesity may affect both physical and mental endurance and that people may be able to perform an activity briefly but be unable to sustain it throughout a normal workday.
The disability attorneys at Slepian Ellexson can help organize your evidence of these combined limitations.
We can show Social Security why your health problems prevent you from maintaining dependable work—not just that you’re living with obesity.
Start with a FREE disability claim consultation.
How Do I Prove Obesity Is a Disability to Get Benefits in Arizona?
An effective obesity-related disability claim focuses on function and includes hard evidence.
Your records should explain exactly what happens when you try to complete ordinary activities. For example:
- Do you need to change positions frequently?
- Does pain interfere with sleep?
- Do you experience shortness of breath with light activity?
- Do you need assistance bathing, dressing or putting on shoes?
- Do fatigue or sleep problems make it difficult to focus on work?
- Have you reduced your hours, changed duties or missed work?
- Do you use a cane, walker, brace or other assistive device?
- How much recovery time do you need after physical activity?
Specific information is more useful than general statements such as, “I cannot walk very far,” or “I am always tired.”
Explaining that you can stand for only ten minutes before needing to sit, for example, gives Social Security a clearer idea of how your limitations would affect you in a job.
Medical records you provide with your disability application should fully describe your conditions. This means you should consistently talk to your doctors and other providers about these symptoms and limitations.
A primary care provider may document your weight, while a sleep specialist treats sleep apnea and an orthopedic provider treats knee or back pain. Social Security must receive enough medical evidence to understand the overall impact of your health issues.
Relevant evidence may include:
- Recorded height, weight and BMI measurements
- Primary care and specialist treatment records
- Imaging of the spine or weight-bearing joints
- Sleep studies and CPAP treatment records
- Pulmonary or cardiac testing
- Diabetes and blood-pressure records
- Physical therapy notes
- Assistive-device prescriptions
- Medication records and side effects
- Statements from others on your ability to sit, stand, walk and sustain activity
- Work attendance or accommodation records
The Slepian Ellexson Arizona disability lawyers can review the whole record rather than allowing obesity, arthritis, sleep apnea, diabetes, depression or other conditions to be treated as isolated problems.
Our attorneys can help you:
- Determine whether you may qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
- Identify all impairments that should be included in your claim
- Gather and organize medical evidence
- Explain how the conditions interact
- Complete a thorough disability application
- Address questions about your daily functioning
- Appeal a denied claim
- Prepare for a hearing with a disability judge
- Continue your appeal when further legal review is needed
Slepian Ellexson has helped thousands of people pursue disability benefits and stabilize their lives.
You’re already dealing with pain, fatigue, reduced mobility or other problems. Let our firm handle the paperwork, deadlines and legal process for getting disability benefits while you focus on your health.
