Knowing Your Symptoms And Their Severity
Before embarking on the quest for winning disability benefits for lupus, you must know if your symptoms and their severity meet the requirements for qualification. The most important symptoms are pain and fatigue. To qualify for benefits, you must have disabling pain that is preventing you from working.Likewise, chronic fatigue also presents a strong case for qualifying for benefits. Ultimately, you have to ask yourself if the problems you are facing are disabling you from performing your duties at work. Once you come to this conclusion, you should look at the options for disability benefits available to Canadian residents. Identifying the best option for you will give you a clearer path to winning your benefits.
How Do I Qualify For Disability Benefits For Lupus
Posted by Danny Cornell | Oct 18, 2018 | 0 Comments
If you have lupus, you might qualify for Supplemental Security Income or Social Security disability income . In order to qualify for benefits, your condition must significantly impair your functions. Your impairments must also meet the criteria set by the Social Security Administration . The Social Security Administration only lists systemic lupus erythematosus as an official disability. Discoid lupus is not on the SSA’s official list.
Even if your symptoms don’t meet the criteria used by the SSA, you can still seek disability benefits through a medical-vocational allowance. To do this, you have to show that your symptoms limit your ability to work to such a degree that you cannot find a job that fits your education, previous job experience, and age.
You can qualify for the SSA’s official listing by meeting the required medical criteria or meeting specific required functional limitations. You will need an official medical record to prove that you have been diagnosed with lupus. You must also establish that you have two of the four constitutional problems listed below:
- Severe fatigue
- Malaise
- Fever caused by your condition
Two or more body systems or organs must also be affected by your lupus. Affected organs/body systems include:
What You Need To Qualify For Ssd
Having some form of income allows patients to take care of themselves and their families. Social Security disability benefits provide economic assistance to Lupus patients who meet the SSAs requirements. Heres how to qualify.
A lupus diagnosis isnt enough for you to qualify for SSD benefits. You must have a specific diagnosis. Systemic lupus erythematosus is the form of lupus most recognized by the SSA. Because it is frequently associated with serious symptoms or signs, it is generally the most severe. To qualify as disabled under this listing you must meet the following requirements:
- One of the organs/body systems involved to at least a moderate level of severity and
- At least two of the associated symptoms or signs
If you do not meet any of the above requirements, you can still meet the qualifications if:
- Activities of daily living
- Maintaining social functioning
- Completing tasks in a timely manner
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Get Lupus & Fibromyalgia Disability Lawyers To Help With Your Claim
Experienced fibromyalgia disability lawyers can apply the 2012 ruling and all other rules and regulations for Social Security Disability to support your claim.
Your lupus disability attorney knows how to present to Social Security medical problems that get better or worse from day to dayand explain how they prevent you from working .
An attorney for fibromyalgia disability claims also knows how to provide evidence and confirmation for symptoms that you know you suffer from, but other people cant easily see or understand.
Fibromyalgia disability claims can be challenging to build on your own. And when youre already struggling with debilitating health problems and limited energy, applying by yourself is a heavy burden.
Dont take any chances with this opportunity to get financial support and move on to the next chapter of your life as you cope with lupus and fibromyalgia.
At Levine Benjamin Law Firm, in addition to providing an initial evaluation of your case for free, we wont charge a fee unless you win Social Security Disability benefits.
Weve helped more than 50,000 people win benefits since 1964 in Detroit, Toledo, Flint, Lansing, Grand Rapids and all across Michigan.Let us help you.
Was Your Claim Denied
You have gone through the entire rigorous process you have gathered every piece of relevant evidence that you can, and youve completed each and every piece of paperwork you had to, but you still get rejected disability benefits for lupus. After the countless hours you spent filling in every detail you thought you could, you still stand in the same place that you started.I understand that this experience can be completely demoralizing. It is alway tough for me to see my clients, who seemed to have done everything right, get denied any benefits.Even the smallest detail that is missing allows the insurance companies to deny you benefits, even if you do have lupus. They need to have clear proof anything less will result in a denial.
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How Social Security Determines If You Are Disabled
There are five steps along the path to being declared disabled.
How Much Can Having Lupus Cost You Determining If Lupus Is Disabling Enough
Lupus is a chronic condition that must be closely monitored to ensure systemic affects are minimized. In other words, you regularly see your doctor and have tests performed to find and prevent or limit damage caused by the disease.
Monitoring costs therefore add up quickly, though the exact expenses are different for each patient, due to the varying nature of the disease itself.
The Lupus Foundation of America reports that the average annual direct medical costs are $12,643 per patient. The type and severity of your symptoms significantly affect your direct medical expenses though.
For instance, a person for whom lupus affects multiple body systems will have higher treatment costs than a patient for whom the disease primarily affects only one body system.
Doctors must often prescribe multiple medications to control symptoms, and frequent prescription adjustments may be necessary, especially while trying to discover the right cocktail of drugs to effectively control your lupus.
Common prescriptions include corticosteroids, antimalarial drugs, and other autoimmune suppression medications, like Acthar and Benlysta.
If you have severe complications from lupus, then you may need additional prescriptions, including high blood pressure drugs, diuretics to reduce fluid retention, anti-seizure medications for seizures, or antibiotics to treat frequent infections.
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Increasing Your Lupus Va Disability Rating
The VA establishes a disability rating for lupus according to a fixed schedule. Under this schedule, your disability rating depends on the quantity, frequency, and severity of outbreaks. The three scheduled ratings are:
- 100% VA Rating: Acute, with frequent exacerbations, producing severe impairment of health
- 60% VA Rating: Exacerbations lasting a week or more, two or three times per year
- 10% VA Rating: Exacerbations once or twice a year or symptomatic during the past two years
If your lupus VA disability claim is approved, it will reflect a disability rating on the schedule. However, there are also ways to challenge a VA disability rating.
The Most Common Signs And Symptoms Of This Condition Include:
- fatigue
- chest pain
- headaches
However, a blood test, imaging, or urinalysis may be used to diagnose the condition. There are varying levels of severity with lupus. Similar to gout, Lupus has periods of flares and remissions. Meaning, you may experience a few days of feeling perfectly healthy but then a month of fatigue and joint pain. This condition is most commonly treated by medications which may include NSAIDs, antimalarial drugs, corticosteroids, or immunosuppressants.
There are two ways to prove you are disabled based on your Lupus condition. The first way is by meeting the requirements of the Social Security Listing for Lupus. Social Securitys Listing is a list of impairments for each major body system that are considered severe enough to prevent an individual from working full-time. Most of the listed impairments are permanent or expected to result in death. Social Securitys Listing for Lupus can be found at 14.02. This Listing requires a showing that two or more body systems are involved with one organ having at least a moderate level of severity and at least two signs or symptoms including severe fatigue, fever, malaise, or weight loss. Or, you could meet the Listing by showing repeated manifestations of SLE with at least two of the previously discussed symptoms and marked limitations in performing ADLs, maintaining the social function, or completing tasks in a timely manner.
- physician examinations and treatment notes
- mental health records
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Please Answer A Few Questions To Help Us Determine Your Eligibility
Systematic lupus erthymatosus, commonly referred to as lupus, is an autoimmune disease that causes the body’s immune system to attack itself. Depending on the severity of the disease, it can cause varying amounts of damage to joints, skin, kidneys, blood, the heart, and lungs.
There are two ways an individual can qualify for Social Security Disability benefits for lupus. An individual can meet the requirements of a listing set out in Social Security’s list of qualifying impairments or show that he or she is unable to work.
Applying For Disability Benefits For Lupus
To set up an appointment to submit an application for SSI or SSDI through your local SSA office, call the SSA at 800-772-1213. In your application, include how your lupus is affecting your ability to work, including how may sick days you are needing to take for flare-ups or for medical treatment.
If you’ve been diagnosed with a serious medical problem caused by lupus, such as kidney disease, heart problems, or arthritis, you should also apply for disability benefits under the specific disorder. For instance, if you have reduced kidney function requiring chronic daily dialysis, apply directly under kidney disease and you’ll automatically qualify for disability. The SSA also has impairment listings for coronary heart disease and other heart problems, pulmonary insufficiency and other respiratory problems, inflammatory arthritis, and anxiety.
If you need to apply for SSI for a child with lupus, the rules are different see our article on qualifying for disability benefits for a child with lupus.
It will likely take three to six months for the SSA to determine whether you are eligible for disability benefits. If you are denied, you’ll need to request a reconsideration of your claim, which will take another two to three months. If you are denied again, you’ll need to request a hearing in front of an administrative law judge . It can take 9-18 months just to get a hearing scheduled.
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Limitations For Specific Jobs
If you suffer from joint pain, you may find yourself unable to lift, bend, carry, squat, or reach so you cannot do physical jobs such as work in shipping or receiving, stocking merchandise, or work in a warehouse. The malaise may make sitting or standing long periods impossible because of your pain and discomfort without frequent repositioning. Fevers and fatigue can make concentrating or staying focused for long periods almost impossible, so you cant maintain records as required in administrative positions.
Your inability to concentrate and stay focused can make it impossible to work as an educator, in the healthcare field, or as a first responder. Your impaired mobility and lack of concentration can make working with equipment and machinery even more dangerous for yourself and coworkers. Kidney failure that requires dialysis, or lung problems that requires regular breathing treatments, can make handling any kind of work virtually impossible.
If you have lupus, which is an autoimmune disorder, and the condition is so severe that you are unable to work, you may qualify for disability benefits from the Social Security Administration . The chronic condition can lead to disabling symptoms, or you may experience symptoms that worsen over time. Lupus causes youre an individuals autoimmune system to attack itself. The severity of the condition affects its impact on the patient, but it can damage the heart, lungs, skin, joints, blood, and kidneys.
Can I Get Social Security Disability Ssdi For Lupus
Claims based on Lupus need to be credible and supported with strong medical evidence
Does Social Security consider Lupus to be disabling?
How exactly does Social Security evaluate a disability claim based on seizure disorder?
Step 1: Non-Medical CriteriaStep 2: Severe ImpairmentStep 3: Medical ListingsStep 4: Past WorkStep 5: Other Work
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Risk Factors And Causes Of Lupus
Anyone may develop lupus, but certain characteristics can make a person more at risk for developing the disease. Women are more likely than men to develop lupus, specifically those between the ages of 15 and 44. In fact, 9 out of 10 people with lupus are women.
Some racial or ethnic groups, such as African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic or Latino, Native Americans, or Pacific Islanders, may be at a higher risk for developing lupus. Additionally, people who have one or more family members with lupus or another autoimmune disease are more likely to develop the disease.
There is no known specific cause of lupus, however autoimmune diseases such as lupus can be genetic and do tend to run in families. Certain hormones or environmental triggers may also cause a person to develop lupus. Lupus is not contagious.
Talk To A Disability Lawyer
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Why Winning Disability Benefits Is Complicated With Lupus And Fibromyalgia
Lupus and fibromyalgia are the kinds of medical condition that change over time. Physical and mental symptoms might unpredictably wax and wane.
Thats difficult to explain to disability claims examiners.
Your medical records also might be complicated if you went to many different doctors searching for an explanation for your symptoms.
Fibromyalgia, in particular, doesnt often come with clearly observable, objective medical evidence to prove it is afflicting your body and affecting your ability to work. A diagnosis relies on your reports of how youre feeling.
Thats a tough hurdle for a Social Security Disability claim.
Social Security requires that a medically determinable impairment come with appropriate medical findings.
When your case reaches the level of a hearing with a Social Security administrative law judge, you might find the judge using this lack of objective diagnosis as a way to deny your disability claim for fibromyalgia.
Illness Worsened By Service
It may be possible to support a VA disability claim by showing that your lupus started prior to your service and your condition was exacerbated while you were serving. As mentioned above, lupus can affect many of the bodys systems, including the lungs, heart, brain, nervous system, skin, joints, and kidneys. In fact, kidney failure is the leading cause of death among those who suffer from lupus. It may be possible, for example, to establish a service connection if you suffered kidney disfunction or kidney failure as a result of your service.
Aside from being a disability in itself, kidney dysfunction or failure can cause other problems, such as high blood pressure or a build-up of fluid around the heart. Thus, under the principle of secondary service-connected disabilities, it may be possible to obtain a VA disability rating for these consequences after a service connection is established for kidney dysfunction.
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