 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 Non Hodgkins Lymphoma and Filing for DisabilityHow to prove you are disabled and win disability benefits 1) There are two main types of lymphoma, which is a cancer that attacks the immune system and particularly occurs in the lymph nodes where infection fighting cells are produced. Hodgkin's is one single type of lymphoma and Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma encompasses a group of lymphoma conditions. 2) There are 16 types of lymphomas categorized under Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Overall, however, there are 43 different types listed separately, and not lumped into these two categories, by the World Health Organization. Yet Hodgkin's and Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma are still generally used as the two basic categories when describing the cancer condition. 3) Symptoms of lymphoma could include persistently swollen lymph nodes, fever, fatigue, chest pain and breathing difficulties, and weight loss. 4) Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is caused when the white blood cells produced by your body do not die like they are supposed to, but your body continues to make more replacement cells. The buildup of these lymphocyte cells occurs in the lymph nodes and makes them swollen. 5) The condition comes from either B cells or T cells, although more commonly B cells. Treatment methods depend on which cells are causing the cancer. 6) Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma can spread outside of the lymph nodes to organs in the lymphatic system such as the tonsils, spleen and bone marrow. 7) Hodgkin's lymphoma is most common in early adulthood and again in older adulthood. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is much more rare in adults under the age of 60. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma also typically has a less successful cure rate than Hodgkin's. 8) Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis involves classifying the type of lymphoma by looking what cells are involved and what they look like when examined. 9) After the type of lymphoma is determined, the patient is assigned a stage I - IV cancer condition based on how many tumors exist and how widely they are spread across the body. 10) Occasionally lymphoma is slow growing, with no signs or symptoms. In these cases, treatment does not usually occur until the cancer advances. 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 |