 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 Heart Attack and Filing for DisabilityHow to prove you are disabled and win disability benefits 1) Heart attack, also called a myocardial infarction, is caused by blockages to the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart. This can lead to lack of oxygen supply and blood supply to the heart and can cause damage to the heart, or cause the heart muscles to die. 2) Chest pain, or pain in the shoulder, belly, back, arms, jaw or neck that lasts for about 20 minutes, can all be symptoms of heart attack. Fainting, cough, anxiety, heart palpitations, extreme sweating, dizziness, lightheadedness, and shortness of breath may also be symptoms. Some heart attacks have no symptoms and are labeled ‘silent heart attack’. 3) Those that have heart attack should be rushed to the hospital to be hooked up to an ECG machine, given oxygen, a chest X-ray and receive blood tests to be treated for their heart attack. They will most often undergo angioplasty – an emergency surgery that helps to open the arteries. In severe cases coronary artery bypass surgery may be needed. 4) The leading cause of death for both women and men worldwide is heart attack, although males have been proven to have a higher risk for heart attack than females. 5) There are many risk factors for heart attack. A few of them are: obesity, high blood pressure, poor diet, lack of exercise, diabetes, smoking tobacco, stress, family history of heart disease, and overconsumption of alcohol. 6) Taking aspirin when symptoms of heart attack show up can possibly help to thin the blood and help reduce heart damage, but only do so if recommended by a medical professional. Aspirin may interact with other medications. 7) Those that have had heart attack may be prescribed blood thinning medications, ACE inhibitors, cholesterol lowering medication, and beta blockers. In addition, lifestyle modifications are extremely important for recovery. Eating healthy foods, managing stress appropriately, being physically active, quitting smoking and maintaining a healthy weight, are all very important for prevention and recovery of heart attack. 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 |