Friday, March 22, 2024

Can You Get Disability For Breast Cancer

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Disability Benefits For Breast Cancer Patients: Three Things To Know

Social Security Disability For Breast Cancer

The growing list of celebrities who have had breast cancer is proof enough that the disease doesnt discriminate based on income. However, having medical insurance and the financial means to pay premiums and deductibles can help detect breast cancer early, in a localized stage, leading to improved survival rates. Our founder, Janelle Hail, a 35-year breast cancer survivor, founded NBCF because she was thankful she had received good care and wanted women in need to have this same access to screenings and breast health education. Today, our programs help close this gap for underserved women across the United States.

We provide screenings, diagnostics, and patient navigation services to women in need through our wonderful hospital partners. Some women may also benefit from individual financial assistance, particularly in cases where their ability to work has been affected by breast cancer. For these patients, disability benefits may be a meaningful form of support.

We spoke with Deanna, a Community Outreach Manager at Social Security Disability Help, an agency that assists applicants with their disability claims. She explained that many women dont realize breast cancer may qualify them for financial assistance, depending on the nature of the diagnosis and response to treatment. Here are three more helpful things to know about applying for disability assistance with breast cancer:

Qualifying For Social Security Benefits With Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a disease in which malignant cancer cells form in the tissues of the breast. It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer for women, with over 200,000 women being diagnosed per year.

Although you will be facing some tough challenges, if you have been diagnosed with breast cancer, there may be resources available for your family to make things a little easier.

A diagnosis of breast cancer will almost always require surgery and/or radiation. Most breast cancer patients will also require chemotherapy.

Without insurance, the costs of these treatments can be astronomical.

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Living Well With Breast Cancer And A Disability

No two people with a disability will have the same experience.

In this video, BCNA members Niki, Angela and Sara share their experience of being diagnosed with breast cancer while living with a disability. Health professionals also speak about the unique challenges for people with a disability diagnosed with breast cancer.

Watch – with captions

Watch – without captions

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Critical Illness And Breast Cancer

Some insurance policies and employment benefit schemes may cover you for critical illness. Critical illness cover pays out a tax-free lump sum to help with the costs of a critical illness. Breast cancer is usually classed as a critical illness. If you are unsure, check with your insurance provider or HR department.

If you need any help understanding your insurance or critical illness cover, you can call Macmillans financial guidance team on 0808 808 00 00.

Social Security Disability Benefits For Breast Cancer

Get Disability for Breast Cancer
Details

Far too many of the over 200,000 people diagnosed with breast cancer each year are eventually unable to maintain gainful employment due to the condition and/or treatment. This blog shares expert information on the Social Security Disability benefits available to ease the financial burden of those with breast cancer unable to work.

A diminished ability to work has predictable and negative results. Bills pile up, some of them medical, and without a steady income there is no way to pay them. However, if you have been diagnosed with breast cancer and are expected to be out of work for at least 12 months, you may be eligible for Social Security Disability benefits.

Eligibility

The Social Security Administration will consider you disabled and eligible for benefits if your condition:

  • Is anticipated to last at least a year or end in death
  • Prevents you from doing any work that you are trained and qualified for and
  • Makes it unreasonably difficult for you to master a new occupation.

What Benefits Are Available?

The SSA has two different benefit programs available to support people with disabilities and serious health conditions. Each offers financial help to a different group of people.

Medical Eligibility with Breast Cancer

Sarcoma of the breast requires one of the following criteria to be met for eligibility:

  • Ongoing and soft tissue sarcoma that keeps coming back after treatment or
  • Soft tissue sarcoma with local or distant metastases.

Compassionate Allowances Program

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Compassionate Allowances And Breast Cancer

When a disability severe and an applicant clearly needs assistance, the SSA will expedite the application process. Instead of having to wait for 5+ months to be approved like the typical applicant, conditions that qualify for a Compassionate Allowance will be approved in as little as ten days.

Breast cancer that is advanced can usually qualify for a Compassionate Allowance if it meets one of the three following conditions:

  • Your breast cancer has metastasized .
  • Your breast cancer has returned despite undergoing chemotherapy or another cancer treatment.
  • Your breast cancer is inoperable.

Applying for disability benefits successfully typically requires a wealth of medical history or paperwork, but if you can have one piece of medical evidence showing that you qualify for a Compassionate Allowance, you should be approved quickly.

Examples of qualifying medical records could include a surgeons testimony stating that your cancer is inoperable, or an oncologists record of your cancer returning despite you successfully undergoing a year of chemotherapy. You could also provide a biopsy report that shows that your cancer has spread to nearby organs, such as the lungs.

How To Qualify For Social Security Disability Benefits With Breast Cancer By Mark Steele

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers, and one of the deadliest. Every year, there are more than 200,000 cases of breast cancer diagnosed. Women have a one in six chance of developing breast cancer with breast cancer being the second leading cause of death in women. If you have been diagnosed with breast cancer and cant work because of the cancer or because of the treatment that you are going through, you could be eligible for Social Security disability benefits. Social Security disability benefits can pay for things like housing and food so that you can concentrate on your health.

Social Security Disability Benefits For Breast Cancer

The requirements that must be met in order to qualify for disability benefits because of breast cancer are very specific. There is a listing for breast cancer in the Social Security Administrations Blue Book that lists the criteria that a woman must meet in order to be eligible for benefits because of breast cancer. The Blue Book listing states that a womans cancer must meet one of these requirements:

  • inflammatory carcinoma
  • tumor with direct extension to the chest wall or skin
  • distant metastases
  • metastasized to the supraclavicular or infraclavicular nodes
  • metastasized to ten or more axillary nodes
  • metastasized to the ipsilateral internal mammary nodes
  • recurrent carcinoma
  • late-stage or terminal

Medical-Vocational Allowance For Breast Cancer

Starting a Claim

Additional Resources:

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When You Have Long

Many cancer survivors suffer permanent side effects from their treatment for cancer often these complications do not appear for months or years following the successful treatment of their cancer. When the long-term side effects of chemo or radiation are disabling, it’s easier to get Social Security disability benefits than for the short-term effects.

Chemotherapy has been associated with the following long-term impairments:

  • heart problems
  • cognitive dysfunction, and
  • bone weakness.

If you develop any of these conditions as a result of your cancer treatment, the SSA will evaluate the impairment on its own, without consideration of the cancer. For instance, if you have heart problems following chemo, your condition would be evaluated as a cardiovascular disability.

Disability Benefits And Breast Cancer

Do I Qualify For Social Security Disability Benefits If I Have Breast Cancer?

You may be able to claim the following disability benefits:

  • Personal Independence Payment a benefit for people who struggle with daily tasks or mobility. You may be able to claim PIP if you have breast cancer and are aged over 16 and under state retirement age.
  • Attendance Allowance a benefit for people over state retirement age who have difficulty looking after themselves because of an illness or disability. You dont have to be receiving care to qualify for this benefit.

Both Attendance Allowance and PIP are tax free and non-means tested. Non-means tested benefits dont take into account your income and savings. Attendance Allowance and PIP can be paid on top of almost all other benefits. If you are awarded Attendance Allowance or PIP you may be entitled to extra benefits as a result.

Many people with secondary breast cancer are entitled to PIP or Attendance Allowance.

An additional mobility component can also be paid as part of PIP if you have problems planning and going on journeys or moving around. If you are approaching state retirement age it is important to begin the claim before then, as there is no mobility component in Attendance Allowance. Neither benefit can be backdated.

For more information on these benefits, see the gov.uk website.

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Disability Benefits For Breast Cancer

Social Security Disability Lawyers: OC, Riverside & San Bernardino

Breast Cancer

Breast cancer can occur in women and men. Of course, it is much more common in women. The cause of breast cancer is not known. Breast cancer can originate in different parts of the breast.

Diagnosis

Current mammography guidelines recommend screening mammography starting at age 45 or 50, unless you are at high risk of the disease, when screening may start at an earlier age.

Screening is usually performed with a mammogram, ultrasound or possibly MRI of the breast. A biopsy is performed if the findings are suspicious for breast cancer.

If a diagnosis of breast cancer has been established, staging is performed with radiographs and imaging studies that usually include CT scans, PET scans, and/or CT/PET.

Sometimes, changes or mutations occur that prevent genes from doing their job properly. Certain mutations in the BRCA genes make cells more likely to divide and change rapidly, which can lead to cancer.

Types of Breast Cancer

Ductal carcinoma in situ is not breast cancer, but it is a breast disease that may lead to breast cancer. The cancer cells are only in the lining of the ducts and have not spread to other tissues in the breast.

Invasive ductal carcinoma means the cancer cells are growing outside the ducts into other parts of the breast tissue. They can spread or metastasize throughout the body.

Grade

Grade 2 or moderately differentiated cells grow faster and no longer look like normal cells.

Protecting The Legal Rights Of Breast Cancer Patients To Individual And Group Long

Next to skin cancer, breast cancer is now the most common cancer that women contract in the United States. Many people dont know that breast cancer can strike men, too. Men account for about 2,500 of the 268,000 new breast cancer cases every year.

Breast cancer treatments continue to evolve each year, as do breast cancer mutations. Advanced screening methods effectively catch breast cancer during its early stages, but people seldom discuss the professional impact of a diagnosis.

Your treating doctors will review treatment options, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery, clinical trials, and up and coming immunotherapy treatments. They may also prepare you for the side effects of certain medications and surgical recovery times, but theyll seldom prepare you for the impact of breast cancer on your occupation. This is where the experienced disability attorneys and top-rated ERISA lawyers at DarrasLaw can step in.

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Working During Cancer Treatment: What To Expect

Your ability to work during cancer treatment will depend on a variety of factors:

  • The type of cancer and its stage
  • Your treatment plan
  • The effect of those treatments on you
  • Your profession and job duties

For some people with cancer, work is a welcome distraction. For others, balancing work and their fight against cancer is simply too much.

As you weigh your options, work closely with your medical team to identify your unique risk factors, limitations, and capabilities during cancer treatment.

For some people with cancer, work is a welcome distraction. For others, balancing work and their fight against cancer is simply too much.

Social Security Disability Insurance For People With Cancer

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Social Security Disability Insurance is a federal disability insurance benefit earned by people who have worked and paid into Social Security. Its only available to people who have disabilities that keep them from working. If you have cancer, you may be able to have your SSDI application processed more quickly

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Where To Find Information About Benefits And Financial Support

In the first instance, you may find it useful to speak to your employer or HR department, to find out what sick pay you are entitled to. Its also worth talking to your treatment team, as they may be able to refer you to a welfare adviser at your local hospital .

Your local Citizens Advice is also a good place to go for guidance. They can tell you what local government assistance and benefits may be available to you, your family and carers. They can also help you fill out benefit claim forms.

Macmillan Cancer Support offers free financial guidance and support to people with breast cancer. They also produce a booklet Help with the cost of cancer, which includes information on the benefits available for carers, help with housing costs, childrens needs and transport. For more information, speak to the financial guidance team on 0808 808 00 00.

Applying For Social Security Disability For Breast Cancer

Having reviewed the above qualifications, do you believe that you, a friend, or a loved ones breast cancer meets the requirements for Social Security disability benefits? If so, you should begin the process of filing a SSD claim.

Thats where we come in. Having a seasoned attorney on your side who specializes in disability can make the experience smoother and less stressful, while strengthening your claim and helping you fight for the benefits you deserve.

We will guide you through this process and apply the law to the facts of your case with the ultimate goal of establishing disability so that you can go on with your life. Youve got enough to handle let us help you through this difficult time.

The process of filing a Social Security disability claim can be overwhelming and involve technical jargon and lots of paperwork. Contact Richard I. Feingold & Associates today to ensure you receive the support you need. We are only paid if we win your claim you do not need to pay an upfront fee.

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Where To Find More Information And Support

Did You Know That Cancer Is Classed As A Disability Under The Equality Act

Cancer and Social Security Disability

Sadly in the UK, one in two people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, and around 1 million people of working age, currently have cancer. Given the significant number of people affected , this is a hugely important issue for the Civil Service and one in which we quickly need to build capability and confidence.

Life-changing

Many people dont realise that cancer is recognised as a disability: this is from the point of diagnosis and for the rest of that persons life . In addition people diagnosed with cancer, often have life changing and lifelong conditions and disabilities caused by the cancer, treatment or medication they are then required to take as part of their ‘new normal’.

So, its vital we support managers and organisations to make best use of inclusion policies and the benefits of good communication plans with regular reviews.

Our award-winning Civil Service Working Through Cancer Network now has representatives from more than 30 departments and agencies, and is leading the way to ensure the Civil Service is Confident about Cancer. New departmental level networks are launching every few months, and most recent additions include Government Legal Department, Department for Education, and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

Buddy groups

For more information about the Working Through Cancer Network, please contact chairperson Seonaid Webb at

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How To Calculate How Much You Could Receive With Breast Cancer

Social Security taxes that you paid plays a major role in your disability benefit amount. Your earnings history and the taxes you paid will be reviewed. The SSA will then calculate your average indexed monthly earnings and your primary insurance amount . Your monthly disability benefits for breast cancer can be determined using those figures.

Blue Badge Parking Permits

You may be able to get a Blue Badge if your mobility is affected. You may be given it temporarily if you have primary breast cancer.

People with secondary breast cancer may be eligible for a Blue Badge long-term due to ongoing symptoms such as fatigue or pain. You will need to renew your Blue Badge every three years.

The Blue Badge scheme provides parking concessions for people with severe mobility problems. It can help the holder park close to a destination, whether they are the driver or passenger.

In England and Wales you can apply for a Blue Badge through your local authority and at gov.uk

There are separate websites for applications in Scotland and in Northern Ireland.

Your local Citizens Advice or Macmillan benefits adviser may be able to help you apply for the Blue Badge.

There are alternative badge schemes for people with restricted mobility who are in areas where the Blue Badge scheme doesnt apply.

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