Cardiovascular disorders may have a profound impact on a patient’s health. If you suffer from heart disease, you may be unable to work. When an illness prevents you from keeping a job, the Social Security Disability (SSD) system may provide you with needed income.
Recovering the benefits you deserve may be difficult because the Social Security Administration (SSA) has strict criteria. Many claimants with legitimate disabling conditions face an initial denial. The SSA denies more than half of all benefits claims at the first level of review.
Many cardiovascular disorders should be covered, but you will likely need legal help with navigating the SSD application process or appealing a denial of benefits. The lawyers at the Ginarte law firm can assist with getting the benefits you deserve.
- Is my cardiovascular disorder covered by SSD?
- What do I need to prove to get SSD benefits for my cardiovascular condition?
- Can an SSD lawyer help me get disability benefits based on my cardiovascular disorder?
Disability Benefits for People with Cardiovascular Conditions
There is a very narrow definition of “disability” for SSD benefits. Not only does your condition have to last for a year (or be expected to last a year or end in death), but it also needs to cause severe impairment that makes it impossible for you to do any job you are qualified for.
The SSA has created a Blue Book List of Impairments to make it easier to tell if your disability may be severe enough to be covered. Conditions that may make claimants eligible for benefits are listed in the Blue Book, along with symptoms that must be exhibited for each medical problem.
Section 4.00 of the Adult Listings covers cardiovascular conditions and disorders of the cardiovascular system that may make someone eligible for benefits. Within this section, the SSA includes conditions such as:
- Chronic heart failure.
- Ischemic heart disease.
- Recurrent arrhythmias.
- Symptomatic congenital heart disease.
- Heart transplant patients.
- Aneurysm or aorta of major branches.
- Chronic venous insufficiency.
- Peripheral arterial disease.
If you have a listed medical problem and you exhibit the specific symptoms the SSA requires for that disorder, then you may be able to recover SSD benefits.
Qualifying for SSD Benefits Based on Hearth Disease
The details about exactly what must be proved varies depending on the specific heart problems you have.
For example, to qualify for benefits based on symptomatic congenital heart disease, your condition must be documented by medically acceptable imaging and one of the following must also be true:
- You must have either a Hematocrit of 55 percent or higher or arterial 02 saturation below 90 percent in room air along with Cyanosis at rest; or
- You must have intermittent right-to-left shunting that causes cyanosis or exertion and that is accompanied by arterial PO2 of 60 Torr or lower at a workload equivalent of no more than 5 METS; or
- You must have secondary pulmonary vascular obstructive disease with pulmonary arterial systolic pressure that is elevated and that has reached at least 70 percent of your systemic arterial systolic pressure.
Each cardiovascular disorder has its own listing of symptoms like these, and you will need medical documentation to prove that you meet the criteria.
Our Lawyers Can Help with SSD Benefits Based on a Cardiovascular Disorder
If you have a cardiovascular condition listed in the Blue Book and the accompanying symptoms, you may qualify for benefits by providing sufficient medical proof. If your condition is not listed, you will need to show it is just as serious and impairing as those listed.
The SSA requires medical records from a treating physician with a specialty in the field, so you’ll need to provide records from your cardiologist. You may also need to complete other requirements to qualify for benefits, such as submitting to an independent medical exam.
The stronger your medical evidence, the better the chances that your claim will be approved. An attorney can assist you with making a compelling case to the SSA that you deserve to receive disability income.
If you are one of the many disabled individuals whose initial claim has been denied, do not give up. The Social Security disability lawyers at Ginarte Gonzalez Winograd L.L.P., have the experience and the dedication to help you receive all the benefits you are entitled to.