What Does Social Security Consider a Qualified Heart Condition?
Heart Conditions are often extremely scary and extremely serious; however, not all heart conditions are considered disabling. Just because a condition is serious does not mean that it will keep you from being able to work for at least one year. Many times people will suffer a heart attack or other serious heart related issue and they are scared to do anything stressful in the future. Heart conditions can be extremely tricky to argue to a social security judge, this is because for Social Security Disability to view a condition as disabling you have to be unable to do any job, even a low stress job such as a surveillance monitor in an office building. This is why if you are considering Social Security Disability because of a heart related condition, you should contact an experienced attorney right away, you can contact us at 1-800-488-4775.
How Does Social Security View Heart Conditions?
When Social Security looks at the severity of your condition to determine if you are medically eligible for the benefit or not, they look at two main criteria. The two main questions Social Security asks are whether your condition meets or equals a listing, or whether your condition affects your ability to do certain tasks so much that you can no longer perform any kind of work competitively.
Listings: Listings are 14 different types of conditions, that if you meet the exact criteria Social Security has set up, you will be considered medically eligible for Disability.
There are several listings that cover heart disease, mainly because the heart affects so many parts of the body. Below we will list two listings that will be considered when applying for Social Security due to a heart condition, but for a more in-depth review of your case, contact our office.
Chronic Heart Failure (Listing 4.02)
To meet the listing under Chronic Heart Failure you have to be diagnosed with heart failure that persists even with consistent medication. Also, you must have a history of fluid retention for Social Security to consider your condition disabling under Listing 4.02. It is important to remember that your medical records need to show either (not both) systolic failure or diastolic failure despite being medicated.
Ischemic Heart Disease (Listing 4.04)
To meet the listing under 4.04, you must have symptoms related to myocardial ischemia. The common symptoms are:
- pain in the chest caused by physical activity or emotional responses;
- pain in the neck, jaw, back, arm, or upper abdomen;
- severe shortness of breath with physical exertion;
- other symptoms such as variant angina or silent ischemia
Other listings that may be affected by a heart condition include Recurrent Arrythmias (4.05), Symptomatic Congenital Heart Disease (4.06), Heart Transplant (4.09), and others.
Speak specifically speak about your case, contact our office and speak to one of our attorneys at 1-800-488-4775.
Functional Ability:
If you do not meet the listing for a condition, or if a specific listing does not exist for your condition, you can still win your case if you show that you are unable to do any sort of competitive work due to your condition.
Many people are discouraged when they hear that their condition may not exactly meet a listing, and they think that their case has no shot, but this is not the case. Most people who are awarded benefits because of diabetes win by proving that their diabetes affects their ability to function on a day-to-day basis.
To prove your case based on your functional ability you have to show that your specific heart condition would keep you from being able to perform any full time work for at least one year. Proving that a heart condition is keeps you from doing any work can be quite difficult. Our attorneys work with your doctors to show how your physical limitations make it impossible for you to do full time work. We focus on the basic physical limitations such as lifting, carrying, walking, standing, bending, etc. However, we also work with your doctors to explain your fatigue, your prescription side effects, and also how your condition will likely cause you to miss a significant amount of work.
Call our office today and see if you qualify:
While we provide the information above about Social Security Disability benefits so that you will better understand if you are eligible, the best way to check your eligibility is by calling our office and speaking to one of our client service representatives today. You may reach our office toll free at 1-800-488-4775.