 SSDRC Filing a Social Security Disability Application - How to File & the Information that is Needed by SSA Do you need a Lawyer at the Administrative Law Judge Disability Hearing? Social Security Disability Back pay and How Long it Takes to Qualify for it How do you prove your disability case if you have a mental condition? What Can I Do to Improve My Chances of Winning Disability Benefits Common Mistakes after Receiving a Denial of benefits If You Get Approved For SSDI Will You Also Get Medicare? How much is paid for the Social Security Disability Attorney Fee? How long does it take to be approved for SSI or Social Security disability? How To Get Disability Through SSDI or SSI Approved Should you get Help from a Disability Attorney before the Claim has been Denied? Answers to questions about SSD and SSI disability Qualifying for Disability - What is Social Security Looking for? How do I check the status of my Social Security disability claim? What Expenses Will A Social Security Attorney Charge In Addition To The Fee? |
Facts about Cystic Fibrosis and Filing for DisabilityHow to prove you are disabled and win disability benefits 1. Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder, inherited through families. 2. Cystic fibrosis is life-threatening and shortens the life span of the affected individual. 3. The condition causes bodily secretions such as mucus, sweat, digestive juices, and saliva, primarily in the lungs and pancreas, to become thick and sticky. This causes clogging, blockages, and inflammation in the passageways of organs. 4. Signs and symptoms of cystic fibrosis vary by age and also severity of the condition. Onset can occur in newborns or children and young adults, and in these stages different signs of cystic fibrosis are evident. 5. Newborns may have difficult passing their first stools in the initial days after birth. They may also show limited or failed growth, bulky and greasy stools, and respiratory infections. 6. Children and young adults commonly have salty skin and limited growth, and may also have bowel blockages, foul-smelling, greasy looking stools and rectal prolapsed. Signs and symptoms also include thick sputum as well as frequent coughing and wheezing, and chest and sinus infections with pneumonia and bronchitis. Clubbing of the fingers and toes may also occur, but is also a sign of lung and heart conditions. 7. Tests to diagnose cystic fibrosis are primarily newborn screening and sweat tests. Newborn screening is a somewhat unreliable blood test which is followed by a sweat test if the screen has a positive result. Sweat tests measure the amounts of sodium and chloride in sweat secretion, since those with cystic fibrosis have abnormally high levels of sodium and chloride. 8. Since cystic fibrosis causes a multitude of problems throughout the body, regular scans and blood tests are conducted to monitor lung, liver, pancreas, and digestion functioning, including vitamin deficiencies, infections and onset of other conditions such as diabetes. X-rays and CT scans show damage and infection in the lungs. 9. The most series complications of cystic fibrosis are respiratory and nutritional. If not managed and treated properly these conditions, particularly in the lungs, can become fatal. Can you qualify for disability benefits with this condition? Whether or not you qualify for disability and, as a result, are approved for disability benefits will depend entirely on the information obtained from your medical records. This includes whatever statements may have been obtained from your treating physician (a doctor who has a history of treating your condition and is, therefore, qualified to comment as to your condition and prognosis). It will also depend on the information obtained from your vocational, or work, history if you are an adult, or academic records if you are a minor-age child. The important thing to keep in mind is that the social security administration does not award benefits based on simply having a condition, but, instead, will base an approval or denial on the extent to which a condition causes functional limitations. Functional limitations can be great enough to make work activity not possible (or, for a child, make it impossible to engage in age-appropriate activities). Why are so many disability cases lost at the disability application and reconsideration appeal levels? Speaking as a former Disability Claims Examiner, I can state that there are several reasons: 1) Social Security makes no attempt to obtain a statement from a claimant's treating physician. By contrast, at the hearing level, a claimant and his or her disability attorney will generally obtain and present this type of statement to a judge; 2) Prior to the hearing level, a claimant will not have the opportunity to explain how their condition limits them, nor will their attorney or representative have the opportunity to make a presentation based on the evidence of the case. At the hearing level, of course, this is exactly what happens. And a number of disability representatives will also take such steps even earlier, at the reconsideration appeal level; 3) Disability judges, unlike disability examiners who decides cases at the first two levels of the system, can make independent decisions without being overturned by immediate supervisors--which happens frequently. 
Return to: SSDRC, or the Questions, Answers, Tips, and Advice page Topics and Questions Other Links SSD and SSI are Federal Programs The title II Social Security Disability and title 16 SSI Disability programs operate under federal guidelines and, therefore, the program requirements--medical and non-medical--apply to all states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming Recent approval and denial statistics for various states can be viewed here: Social Security Disability, SSI Approval and Denial Statistics by state Special Section: Disability Lawyers and unnecessary claim denials |