The United States government has enacted two programs aimed at providing assistance to disabled Americans: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Both of these programs are administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA). In 2010, SSA awarded a total of 1,740,729 awards to disabled beneficiaries and non-disabled dependents with the average monthly benefit totaling $1,128.90.
In order to qualify for either of these programs, applicants must be deemed totally disabled, as SSA does not pay benefits for partial or short-term disabilities. SSA uses the following criteria to determine whether applicants are totally disabled:
1) Applicants must be unable to do the work that they did before
2) Social Security has decided that they cannot adjust to other work because of their medical condition(s)
3) Applicants have a medically determinable physical or mental impairment(s) that has lasted or is expected to last for at least one year, or to result in death
According to the SSA, a "Medically Determinable Impairment" is a physical or mental impairment that results from anatomical, physiological, or psychological abnormalities, as evidenced by medically acceptable clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques. A physical or mental impairment must be established by medical evidence such as signs, symptoms and laboratory findings.
The following is a list of conditions that may qualify applicants for benefits. Please contact our office at 1-800-986-0090 for a complete listing and for more information about your condition(s).
- Alzheimers
- Ankylosing Spondylitis
- Anxiety
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Back Pain
- Bipolar Illness
- Cancer
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Chronic Headaches
- Congestive Heart Failure
- Depression
- Diabetes
- Emphysema
- Fibromyalgia
- Hepatitis C
- Huntington's Disease
- Liver and Kidney Disease
- Lupus
- Mental Retardation
- Mood Disorders
- Multiple Chemical Sensitivities
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Organic Brain Dysfunction
- Parkinson's Disease
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Schizophrenia
- Spina Bifida
- Traumatic Brain Injury
