Social Security Disability Benefits for Lupus

Lupus is a chronic disease that can cause inflammation and pain in any part of your body. It is considered an autoimmune disease, which means that your immune system — the body system that usually fights infections — attacks healthy tissue instead. Lupus most commonly affects your skin, joints, and internal organs. Because it can affect many parts of the body, it can cause a variety of different symptoms, such as: fatigue, headaches, joint pain, fever, edema, hair loss, and abnormal blood clotting.

Nobody knows what causes lupus, but it and other autoimmune diseases do tend to run in families. Experts also think it may develop in response to certain hormones or environmental triggers. An environmental trigger is something outside the body that can bring on symptoms of lupus — or make them worse. Lupus is not contagious.

There are two ways you can qualify for Social Security Disability benefits for lupus. You can either (1) meet the requirements of a listing set out in Social Security’s list of qualifying impairments, or (2) show that you are unable to work due to your limitations.

Lupus is one of the diseases specifically notated in Social Security’s listing of impairments. To qualify as disabled under this listing, you must meet the following requirements:

• Your lupus must affect at least two body systems or organs, (such as the kidneys and the lungs, or the heart and the brain), with at least one involved to a moderate level of severity; and
• Your lupus must cause at least two of the following symptoms: severe fatigue, fever, malaise (feelings of physical discomfort or illness resulting in low physical or mental activity), and/or involuntary weight loss.

OR

• You must have repeated symptoms of lupus, with at least two of the symptoms above, resulting in one of the following limitations at the marked level: 
  • Limitations of activities of daily living
  • Limitation in maintaining social functioning
  • Limitation in completing tasks in a timely manner due to lack of focus or ability to work quickly.

You can also qualify for Social Security Disability for lupus if you can prove that you are unable to work due to the health problems caused by lupus. For example, an individual with lupus might have the following physical symptoms: fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, headaches, and abnormal heart rhythms. These limitations can make it difficult to stand or walk for a lengthy period of time, which rules out many jobs. Furthermore, those with lupus may suffer personality changes, including anxiety and depression, and may have difficulty concentrating or have increased forgetfulness. Social Security will take these limitations into account when deciding if the applicant can do even simple, routine tasks that don’t require skill. 

Contact our office today if you or anyone you know would like to learn more about qualifying for Social Security Disability benefits.

Learn more about lupus: https://www.lupus.org/resources/what-is-lupus 

Adult Listing for lupus: https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/14.00-Immune-Adult.htm#14_02 

By: Devon Brady of Premier Disability Services, LLC®

Can Getting Help From an SSDI Expert Speed Up Your Case?

Hiring an advocate to represent you during the Social Security disability application and appeals process might speed up the process. While having an advocate doesn’t put you on a special fast track, disability advocates know a thing or two that can get a faster decision on your claim.

Getting Approved at the Application Stage

The fastest way to receive benefits is to get an approval from Social Security on your original application for disability benefits. If you miss this chance, you’ll have to appeal the decision, which can take more than a year. When you have an advocate’s expertise in knowing what Social Security is looking for, you have a better chance of winning benefits during the initial application process.

If you can find an advocate to represent you at this stage, they can:

• fill out your application so that it clearly demonstrates how you “meet a listing” (or equal a listing) or are not able to perform any work
• remove or explain any inconsistencies that might hurt your claim
• gather the right medical evidence to show that you have the impairments you claim to have, and
• request help from your doctor in a way that will help your case (using the terminology Social Security is looking for).

Without help, applicants often make mistakes that are hard to correct, from overestimating what they can still do to overstating past job skills.

An advocate, however, will likely only take your case at this early stage if they think you have a good chance of winning.

Getting You Approved Without a Hearing

If your original application is denied, the next fastest way to receive benefits is to have an “on the record” (OTR) decision. Instead of waiting for a hearing, an advocate or attorney who specializes in Social Security disability can:

• write a clear and concise brief that explains why you should receive benefits
• try to obtain information from your doctor that’s been requested by Social Security
• write and submit a proposed decision for the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), and
• speak to the Attorney Adjudicator about the merits of your case.

Is Getting an Expert’s Help Worth It?

While there are few magic ways to speed up your Social Security disability application, hiring an advocate or attorney can help increase your likelihood of being approved for benefits at each stage, which means less time waiting to receive your benefits.

Contact Us Now for a free evaluation!

Social Security Honors Military Heroes

Reposted from May, 2021

On Memorial Day, our nation honors military service members who have given their lives for our country. As former President Franklin Roosevelt once said, “Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men (and women) have died to win them.” This is why families, friends, and communities come together to remember the great sacrifices of our military members and ensure their legacies live on.

The benefits that the Social Security Administration (SSA) provides can help the surviving families of deceased military service members. For example, widows, widowers, and their dependent children may be eligible for Social Security survivors’ benefits. You can learn more about those benefits at www.ssa.gov/survivors.

The SSA also offers support to our wounded warriors. Social Security benefits protect veterans when injuries prevent them from returning to active duty or performing other work. Both the Department of Veteran Affairs and Social Security have disability programs. You may qualify for disability benefits through one program but not the other, or you may qualify for both. Depending on your situation, some members of your family, including your dependent children or spouse, may be eligible to receive Social Security benefits.

Wounded military service members can also receive expedited processing of their Social Security disability claims. If you are a veteran with a 100% Permanent & Total compensation rating from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the SSA will expedite your disability claim.

Want more information about how the SSA can help? Visit www.ssa.gov/woundedwarriors for answers to commonly asked questions or to find information about the application process.

Thinking about retirement or know a veteran who is? Military service members can receive Social Security benefits in addition to their military retirement benefits. For details, visit the SSA’s web page for veterans, available at www.ssa.gov/people/veterans.

Please share this information with the military families you know. We honor and thank the veterans who bravely served and died for our country and the military service members who serve today.

Source: https://www.redbluffdailynews.com/2021/05/27/social-security-honors-military-heroes/

Patricia Mrofka is the Social Security manager in Redding.

Contact our office today if you or anyone you know would like to learn more about qualifying for Social Security Disability benefits.

By: Joyce Trudeau of Premier Disability Services, LLC®