 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 Type 2 Diabetes and Filing for DisabilityHow to prove you are disabled and win disability benefits 1) It is estimated that there are over 23 million people in the United States with diabetes, and 90 percent of those 23 million have type 2 diabetes. That is 8 percent of the United States population. It is also estimated that nearly 24 percent of diabetes cases are left undiagnosed. Nearly 20 percent of all Americans over age 65 have type 2 diabetes. 2) Type 2 diabetes is sometimes referred to as ‘adult-onset diabetes’, since it used to be diagnosed most commonly in the adult years after a lifetime of inactivity and poor nutrition. As obesity rates in children limb, more and more children are increasingly being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. 3) Type 2 diabetes is characterized by high levels of sugar in the blood (blood glucose). It most often occurs with obesity and insulin resistance. Many cases of diabetes can be managed by regular exercise and healthy eating habits. The best diet for someone with type 2 diabetes is one that is low in fat and high in soluble fiber. 4) Symptoms of type 2 diabetes can range from fatigue, blurred vision, and increased thirst and appetite, to increased urination, unexplained weight loss, slow healing infections, and erectile dysfunction. 5) If not properly managed, type 2 diabetes can cause complications such as heart disease, kidney failure, blindness, and even amputation of limbs. 6) Treatments for type 2 diabetes can vary greatly, depending upon the progression of the disease. Some people may manage symptoms through self monitoring their blood glucose, making dietary changes, exercising, and losing weight, while others will progress to the point of needing to take insulin and/or oral medications such as Metformin. Some will finally elect for gastric bypass surgery. 7) The most common medications for type 2 diabetes are meglitinides such as nateglinide and exenatide, oral sulfonylureas, thiazolidinediones, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, biguanides such as Metoformin, and injectible medications such as pramlintide and exenatide. 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 |