Massachusetts Social Security Disability Lawyers Blog

Up until about two years ago, a person who experienced repeated episodes of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar, usually due to diabetes) might have been eligible for disability benefits on that basis alone.

However, our Boston Social Security Disability Lawyers know that as of July 2011, all endocrine disorders – including hypoglycemia – were removed from the Social Security Administration’s formal listing of impairments. The idea behind this thinking was that there have been great strides in medical advancements for those battling endocrine disorders, and that disability wasn’t necessarily a foregone conclusion anymore.

While existing patients who were receiving disability benefits under endocrine listings were allowed to hang onto those benefits, they have still been subject to the periodic reviews conducted by the administration and, absent those listings, they may have a harder time hanging onto them.

Plus, new patients with the disorder are going to have a harder time securing benefits for ailments such as hypoglycemia than those in years past.

In both scenarios, we highly recommend hiring an experienced disability lawyer. Even if your condition no longer meets a specific listing, side effects from endocrine disorders can be severe and therefore produce significant functional limitations with regard to your ability to work.

Let’s look specifically at hypoglycemia. This is a condition in which your body’s sugar/glucose is either used up too quickly or it’s released into your system too slowly or you have too much insulin being released into your system. Insulin is the hormone that regulates your blood sugar.

Most commonly, you’re going to see hypoglycemia in people who have developed diabetes. Those who don’t have diabetes may have the conditions as a result of heavy alcohol consumption, pancreatic cancer, thyroid dysfunctions, a heart, kidney or liver failure, a body-wide infection or as a side effect to weigh loss surgery.

When your sugar gets too low, you could experience a range of symptoms, including double vision, pounding heartbeat, anxiety or nervousness, headaches, hunger, shakes, sweats, tingling, weakness, insomnia or difficulty focusing. If your sugar gets below a certain point, you might faint, suffer a seizure or even go into a coma. In some cases, it may cause permanent brain damage.

It’s true that most people with this condition have been given the tools to monitor and control it. However, if you are following your doctor’s prescribed regiment and are still suffering repeated bouts of severe low blood sugar, you might be eligible for disability under other sections of the SSA’s blue book guide.

For example, someone who suffers repeated seizures due to hypoglycemia would now be evaluated under Section 11.00 Neurological impairments. In these cases, the degree and frequency will be major factors in the disability determination. If controlling those seizures requires a large level of medication that carries its own debilitating side effects, those should be noted as well.

In cases where an individual has suffered an altered mental status as a result of one or repeated hypoglycemic episodes, his impairment would be evaluated under Section 12.00 Mental Disorders.

If you have taken measures to control your hypoglycemia and have found it has not improved and further is impeding your ability to work, we can help.
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Individuals and families of those who have been diagnosed with Down syndrome may be somewhat familiar with federal benefits through the Supplemental Security Income program, which is often extended to parents and caregivers of disabled persons under age 18.

However, once that child becomes an adult, our Boston Social Security Disability Insurance attorneys understand he or she may need to apply separately for SSDI benefits. They may still qualify for SSI benefits as well, but the SSDI benefits will allow them to further hold some measure of autonomy.

Down syndrome is characterized by the presence of an extra copy of a certain chromosome. It’s one of the most common birth defects, and it causes impediments in the way both the body and brain develop.

There are two basic types of Down syndrome: Mosaic and Non-Mosaic. In non-Mosaic individuals, that extra chromosome copy appears in every single cell in the body. In Mosaic patients, that extra chromosome may be noted only in a portion of the body’s cells.

Either way, the individual may face significant impairments to work ability, though a person with a diagnosis of non-Mosaic Down syndrome – which are 98 percent of Down syndrome patients – will receive a seemingly automatic approval of SSDI benefits. However, those with Mosaic Down syndrome may have a somewhat more uphill battle.

In children with this condition, mental and social development is often impaired. Common development problems include impulsive behavior, poor judgment, slower learning and short attention spans. They may also experience poor muscle and skeletal development that may make it difficult to find some form of sustainable employment.

Even for someone with Mosaic down syndrome, all of these would factor into the increased probability of SSDI benefits.

Other problems that those with Down Syndrome in general may expect to experience are:

• Birth defects, particularly relating to the heart;
• Severe vision problems;
• Gastrointestinal dysfunction;
• Hearing problems, often prompted by regular ear infections;
• Dementia;
• Sleep apnea;
• Chronic constipation;
• Hip dislocation or impairment;
• Teeth that appear later than usual and in locations that could cause problems with proper chewing;
• Hypothyroidism.

Down syndrome may affect a person with varying degrees, from moderate to severe.

A person with non-Mosaic Down Syndrome is not going to have to prove the degree to which they have been affected, but someone with Mosaic Down syndrome applying for SSDI benefits will need some help building a case for it.

That will include any and all information about cognitive performance, physical impairments such as hearing or vision loss, thyroid issues, muscle weaknesses and breathing or heart disorders. Any one of these side effects of the condition may be enough to singularly qualify a Mosaic Down syndrome patient for benefits, so that combined with the original diagnosis could be sufficient to win your claim. Obviously, though, the more information you can cull together, the better.

Having an experienced SSDI attorney by your side to help you do it only serves to improve your chances.
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If your spouse was able to secure Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, you know he was able to overcome perhaps one of the greatest obstacles of all time, as the process is rigorous, time-consuming and difficult.

But our Boston SSDI attorneys understand that it doesn’t always end there. Many widows and widowers of deceased disability benefits recipients are more frequently having to cope with the question of whether they can continue to receive those payments now that their spouse is gone.

The answer is: It depends.

You would do well to contact an experienced SSDI attorney to help you handle your request for continued benefits, as it will depend on a number of factors. Plus, we understand that in the wake of the loss of your spouse, this is really not something you want to have to worry about. Still, it’s an important consideration because it affects your ability to be able to pay off your bills and, in some cases, support your children.

When an SSDI recipient passes away, his benefits may go to his dependents. This includes his spouse, children and sometimes even his elderly parents.

The criteria for being able to collect SSDI benefits as a surviving spouse are:

• You are responsible for the care of the SSDI recipients’ dependent child under 16. This would make you eligible for 75 percent of your spouse’s benefits.
• You are at least 50 years-old and you are disabled and that disability began either before your spouse died or within seven years of your spouse’s death. In this case you will receive about 70 percent of your departed spouse’s benefits.
• You are a minimum of 60, but you haven’t yet reached retirement age. In these cases, you may be eligible for between 70 and 99 percent of your spouse’s benefits.
• You are of full retirement age. In this case, you may expect to receive100 percent of your spouse’s SSDI benefits.

However, nothing with government is ever straightforward. As such, there are important exceptions that could impact your eligibility.

To begin, if you have remarried before you turned 60 years-old, you won’t be able to receive your deceased spouse’s benefits. However, if you get married again after age 60 (or after age 50, yet you yourself are disabled) your benefits won’t be affected.

Secondly, if you are entitled to your own retirement benefits, you will be allowed to choose between that and your former spouse’s SSDI benefits – whichever one happens to be more.

Also, widow benefits for those under 50 who had been receiving the benefits due to care of a minor child will usually find those benefits cut off by the time the child turns 16. The exception would be if the child is disabled as well.

You’ll want to consider as well that if you are working, your SSDI survivor benefits are probably going to be reduced, but it will largely depend on how old you are and how much you earn.

And finally, in order to be eligible to receive these benefits, the government usually requires that your marriage have lasted for a minimum of nine months. There have however been exceptions made in cases where a person died a violent or unexpected death, such as in a car accident.
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The anxiety roller coaster of a young mother in Boston was recently chronicled by CNN in its investigation into whether anxiety medications where truly the best answer for parents suffering from severe bouts of depression and anxiety.

Our Boston Social Security Disability Insurance lawyers know that while this mom has learned to cope by taking five-minute “breathers” in the laundry room, not everyone with an anxiety disorder is able to make that method work. Many are debilitated by the extreme levels of anxiety, which are manifested in severe panic attacks, obsessions or compulsions or stress that can result in major difficulties in maintaining everyday life activities, relationships and basic function.

What’s more, anxiety disorders are increasingly common. The Centers for Disease Control reports that some 40 million American adults are coping with anxiety disorders. Of course, not every single one of those will qualify for disability benefits, but there are some extreme cases where that may be the only option.

CNN reports that parents are more vulnerable to anxiety disorders and when they are diagnosed, they tend to be more severe. It makes sense that if you are already someone who is prone to depression or obsessive compulsion, the added emotional, physical and mental strain of rearing a child could increase those risks.

One mother revealed waking up every night at midnight and suffering from panic attacks so severe she truly believes she will die – every single night.

There is also the risk for new mothers of crippling postpartum depression. Proving eligibility for SSDI of postpartum depression can be difficult because although it is often quite serious, proving that it lasts more than a year can be tough.

Anxiety disorders, on the other hand, can last years if not decades, even when an individual is faithful about seeking and following treatment plans.

Section 12.06 of Social Security Disability’s impairment listings addresses anxiety-related disorders. Essentially, these conditions are defined as the medically-documented finding of one of the following:

• General, persistent anxiety (accompanied by motor tension, autonomic hyperactivity, vigilance or scanning, apprehensive expectation);
• An irrational, persistent fear of a certain object, situation or activity;
• Severe, recurrent panic attacks that bring about an unpredictable and instantaneous apprehension, terror fear or sense of doom at least once a week;
• Obsessions or compulsions that are recurrent and a source of marked distress;
• Intrusive and recurrent recollections of some traumatic experience that causes a significant source of distress.

In addition to this, the administration requires that this condition be the source of some serious restriction of daily living activities, social functioning, concentration, ability to function outside of one’s home.

The CDC reports that anxiety disorders primarily affect women, and rates tend to be higher in developed countries.

Specific anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, separation anxiety disorder, and certain phobias.
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Every time Laura Willmott stared into the mirror, she saw a young woman who was grossly overweight and needed to become more disciplined in shedding the pounds.

In reality, Wilmott was only 99 pounds, her skewed personal perception a symptom of her illness, anorexia nervosa. The British 18-year-old recently died after collapsing from cardiac arrest, after spending the last five years starving herself.

Our Boston Social Security Disability Insurance attorneys know that anyone who is familiar with this heartbreaking disease knows that it takes every ounce of energy to fight. Although it manifests itself in the severe reduction of food intake, the Mayo Clinic purports it is more about a distortion of coping with emotional problems.

As such, the disability impairment listing for this disease falls under section 12.00 mental disorders, specifically, section 12.07, somatoform disorders.

(Note: For those under 18, it is possible to obtain Supplemental Security Income for anorexia nervosa, but primarily our focus in this article is adult sufferers.)

A somatoform disorder is one in which there are clear physical symptoms, but there is no demonstrable organic findings or physiological causes for it. In order to qualify, the person has to have had a history of multiple physical symptoms over the course of several years – beginning before age 30 – that would have caused an intense frequency of medication, doctor visits or significantly-altered life patterns. Alternatively, there would have to a be a non-organic disturbance of vision or speech or hearing or use of a limb or movement or sensation or an unrealistic belief that he or she is overweight that would result in at least two of the following:

• Major restrictions in daily living activities;
• Major difficulties in keeping up with social functioning;
• Major problems maintaining concentration and persistence;
• Repeated episodes of the condition worsening, each for an extended period of time.

Short-term effects of eating disorders might include a yellowing or dryness of the skin, emaciation, abdominal pain and constipation, dizziness and fatigue, anemia and lowered blood pressure, depression and social withdrawal. Long-term, the stresses to one’s body caused by eating disorders can result in a weakening of the bones and damage to major organs, including your kidneys, heart and brain.

Adults who are working to recover from anorexia or other eating disorders may be especially emotionally fragile. They can’t afford not to obtain benefits, but at the same time, the process of applying would be difficult and emotionally-draining for anyone. That’s where having an experienced Boston SSDI lawyer can be invaluable. We will help you gather all the necessary information – psychiatric testing and reports, lab tests, extensive individual reports, medical doctor evaluations, etc. – to help bolster your chances of a successful claim.

We want you to focus on recovery. Let us handle the rest.
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Valentine’s Day is an apt time to raise awareness about the fact that heart disease is the leading cause of death among both men and women in the world, resulting in approximately 40 percent of all deaths in the U.S. – more than all forms of cancer combined.

Our Boston Social Security Disability Insurance attorneys know that the effects of heart failure could easily make you a strong candidate for benefits. However, simply handing in a sheet of paper with your diagnosis isn’t going to be enough to sway the administration’s review staff that you can’t work.

It’s important to not only have a full grasp on what your condition is and how it is affecting your specific abilities to work and function, but also the avenues for treatment and whether even major changes or drastic procedures will be enough to mitigate the damage.

Chronic heart failure may be a result of many different things, but it’s generally characterized by one of these common scenarios:

• Systolic heart failure, which is when the heart muscle has an inability to effectively pump blood out of the heart;
• Diastolic heart failure, which is when the muscles of the heart are stiff and don’t fill up easily with the blood they desperately need.

Then there are cases in which the blood may start backing up in other body systems, such as the lungs, gastrointestinal tract, liver, legs or arms. This is congestive heart failure.

Causes of heart failure could be: Congenital heart disease, heart valve disease, an infection that weakens the heart muscles, heart attack or arrhythmias. You might also be at risk if you have emphysema, a malfunctioning thyroid or severe anemia.

Symptoms of heart disease might develop rather slowly or suddenly, depending on the cause. Either way, you are commonly going to see:

• Irregular heartbeats;
• Swelling of the abdomen, liver, feet and ankles;
• Loss of appetite;
• Extreme fatigue or weakness, feeling faint;
• Cough;
• Being awoken by shortness of breath or a need to urinate.

If your doctor diagnoses you with heart failure, there are some things you can likely do immediately that could make a significant difference in your longevity. Those include quitting smoking, limiting your alcohol intake, staying active and exercising, lowering your cholesterol and getting enough rest.

In some cases, your doctor will put you on a regimen of medications designed to keep your heart pumping strong, stop the blood from clotting and reduce damage to your heart.

In severe cases, you may need to undergo surgery such as an angioplasty or have a device, such as a pacemaker or defibrillator, installed.

End-stage heart failure could necessitate the need for a heart transplant (if you are a viable candidate) or the instillation of a balloon pump or ventricular assist device.

Your condition needn’t be this severe for you to qualify for SSDI benefits. Under SSA’s Cardiovascular System Section 4.02 on chronic heart failure, you would qualify for benefits with systolic failure or diastolic failure if your heart rate or size meets certain criteria. Additionally, it’s expected that sufferers will have either a severely limited function of everyday activities, or three or more separate episodes of acute heart failure in a year-long time frame or have an inability to successfully complete an exercise tolerance test.
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One of the worst physical feelings in the world is being unable to breathe.

There is the immediate, survival-mode panic that accompanies the wheezing, incessant cough, tightening of the chest, cold sweat and virtual inability to communicate.

For chronic asthma sufferers, this is a regular occurrence. Our Boston Social Security Disability Insurance attorneys know that sometimes even with treatment, the symptoms won’t subside. In these cases, the fact that these asthma attacks can and do strike suddenly and without warning can prevent sufferers from having any real ability to work.

Section 3.03 of the Social Security Disability Insurance blue book definitions of respiratory disabilities specifically addresses asthma. The listing allows for disability benefits in cases of chronic asthmatic bronchitis (which is evaluated under the section for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) or attacks that are severe and frequent despite following prescribed treatments. These attacks must be severe to the point that they require a doctor’s intervention and occur at least one time every two months or a minimum of six times annually.

Anytime an in-patient hospitalization for an asthma attack lasts longer than 24 hours, it is allowed to count as two attacks.

You should also be aware that not every single asthma attack you have is going to count toward your qualification. If you’re able to control your condition with an inhaler or nebulizer, it’s not going to count. But it absolutely doesn’t hurt to list those incidents too, as well as any accompanying proof. It goes to further illustrate the overall impediments to functioning your condition causes.

Having meticulous documentation of these incidents is critical, as the administration requires an evaluation period of at least one year in determining the frequency of your asthma attacks.

In addition to meeting these criteria, our SSDI lawyers have found it is often helpful to have a complete mock-up of information regarding your ability to:

• Walk, stand, lift, sit, push, pull, carry, handle or reach;
• Speak, hear, see;
• Cope with changes in a routine work setting.

Absent fitting this criteria exactly, you could still be eligible for benefits if the administration decides your condition renders you unable to handle basic work functions. if you’re younger than 50, this is generally going to mean your ability to lift up to 10 pounds, walk or stand for up to two hours or sit for six hours during an eight-hour day.

Those with chronic asthma often also suffer from fatigue, an inability to walk very far or very long, lift heavy objects or work in certain conditions where they may be exposed to cold or hot temperatures, chemicals, smoke or dust. These types of limitations can significantly reduce your ability to do the job you already do, as well as other types of work.

Older applicants of often have an easier time securing benefits. But younger folks shouldn’t have to suffer for years in conditions that tend to make their illness worse. An experienced SSDI lawyer can help you explore all your options.
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Earlier this month, the Congressional Budget Office released an update of its annual Social Security and Trust Funds projections, with estimates that disability claims are going to continue to rise sharply.

Boston Social Security Disability Insurance lawyers know that what this means the claims-approval process is only likely to grow more difficult. Each request is going to be met with an intense level of scrutiny, as administrators and hearings judges work to appease the politicians and an anxious public. Those claimants who are not prepared or who have not secured the help of an attorney are going to find themselves at a major disadvantage.

Our concern, especially when reports of people taking advantage of the system are hyped for political leverage, is that people with very real and significant disabilities will get turned down or be forced to wait through long delays.

Although numerous media reports have broadcast the most recent CBO report with a great deal of alarm — noting that “Disability Claims are High – and Rising!” — the actual CBO report indicates that there are currently about 11 million total beneficiaries to the program in December 2012. But we’re also discharging those by a rate of about 8 to 9 percent annually. By 2023, it’s expected there will be approximately 12.3 million SSDI recipients nationwide. Given the fact that this includes the increase attributable to both the baby boomer generation and increasing number of aging women in the workforce – this is truly not that severe.

What’s more, the Social Security Administration released its own report last month, indicating that in all of 2012, the number of approved applications compared the prior year was actually about 4.4 percent lower. It was about 7 percent lower than two years prior.

And in January, approval rates were about 16.5 percent lower than they were in December 2012. If anything, the problem is that people with real disabilities are being denied and forced to endure a lengthy and difficult approval process.

You want to think of yourself in these situations as the plaintiff in a civil case: The burden of proof is on YOU to prove why you should obtain benefits, not on the government to show why it shouldn’t. And that standard of proof is high.

The SSA uses a basic five-step process to determine your eligibility. This includes:

• Whether you are working;
• Whether your medical condition is considered “severe”;
• Whether your medical condition is specifically listed in the agency’s list of impairments;
• Whether you are able to do the kind of work you did before;
• Whether you are able to do any kind of work.

There is no requirement by SSDI that you need to have an attorney, but securing one prior to submitting your claim is one of the best ways you can ensure preparedness that will afford you a good shot at success.
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