 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 Murmur and Filing for DisabilityHow to prove you are disabled and win disability benefits 1) A heart murmur happens when the heart produces extra audible sounds due to turbulent blood flowing through the heart valves. 2) Many heart murmurs are found in normal hearts without the presence of any disease or serious complications. These types of heart murmurs are called innocent murmurs, because they do not need to be treated and do not cause concern for the person experiencing it. 3) Murmurs can be caused by a variety of issues, such as narrowing valves, abnormal passages, leaky valves, and can sometimes point to heart disease. 4) As opposed to innocent heart murmurs, abnormal heart murmurs are usually caused by medical issues with the heart valves. These issues may be caused by aging, disease or infection. 5) Murmurs are usually categorized by their intensity, location, timing, pitch, radiation, shape, and quality. Heart murmurs are often put into two different categories: systolic heart murmurs (heard during contraction of the heart) and diastolic heart murmurs (heard after contraction, when the heart is filling with blood). Of course, if a murmur is continuous it cannot be put into either of these categories. 6) There are six grades of murmurs, grade one being barely audible and very soft, and grade six being very intense and loud – possibly being heard without a stethoscope. 7) Children may be born with congenital heart defects that cause abnormal heart murmurs. It is estimated that over 35,000 are born in the United States with congenital heart defects each year. 8) Innocent heart murmurs do not usually present any symptoms or sings, but abnormal heart murmurs may be accompanied by shortness of breath, poor appetite, dizziness, heavy sweating, fainting, enlarged liver, blue-ish lips and fingertips, weight gain, swelling and chest pain. 9) Treatment is not always needed. It depends upon the cause of the heart murmur. Abnormal heart murmurs may need to be treated with medications, such as diuretics, anticoagulants, beta blockers, medicine to lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure. For severe cases that point to a heart problem, surgery or catheterization may be needed. 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 |