How to File A Successful Social Security Disability Claim for Diabetes
Filing a SSDI claim can be overwhelming
The American Diabetes Association recently reported that 25.8 million children and adults in the United States—8.3% of the population—have diabetes. Medical conditions resulting from diabetes include blindness, stroke, heart disease, high blood pressure and amputation.
If you are filing for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Benefits because of diabetes, you have three ways to pursue your claim:
Prove that your conditions satisfies the description of Diabetes Mellitus
To meet the standard of Diabetes Mellitus as set forth at 9.08 of the Social Security Administration’s guidelines, you must demonstrate:
a) Significant and persistent restriction of motor function in two extremities. For example, if your diabetic condition causes numbness and tingling in your arms and/or legs to the point where your ability to walk is severely inhibited and if this condition is persistent and not improved by medicine, you may have already proven your SSDI claim for diabetes.
b) Acidosis. You must show that you suffer from changes in your blood chemistry that is caused by uncontrolled blood sugar levels. This must be persistent condition that is not improved by treatment.
c) Retinitis Proliferans. You need to bring reliable medical evidence of significant visual impairment. When diabetes spins out of control, severe vision problems and even blindness can occur.
Prove that you are no longer able to engage in competitive work
If you are unable to meet the standards of proving diabetes mellitus, you may still succeed in your SSDI claim based on diabetes by showing that your “functional capacity” for work as been destroyed by complications from diabetes. Simply, you must prove that you are no longer able to perform any kind of job.
Proving your diabetes claim
You need to request your doctor to document the physical limitations caused by your diabetic condition; and how this severely impairs your reliability at any job. For example, if you can evidence frequent and unplanned breaks and numerous mandatory doctor visits, this will show a lack of reliability.
Prove that diabetic complications combined with other medical problems render you unreliable to do work
This way of proving your SSDI claim begins with only mildly severe diabetic symptoms. For example, your vision is only impaired at night which results in restricting your form nighttime driving jobs. Another example is when you suffer from occasional numbness in your legs, which makes it too dangerous to do jobs that require climbing or using ladders.
If you present evidence that these limitations caused by your mildly severe diabetic condition taken in combination with other medical conditions cause severe employment limitations, you may sufficiently prove your SSDI claim.
It is extremely important that you support your claim with medical evidence that accurately describes how your medical conditions impact your work abilities and reliability.
The Rosenblum Law Firm specializes in Social Security, SSDI and SSI cases. Our team of experienced attorneys will work around the clock to achieve the best results possible. If you have a question, email or call 1-866-634-9849 to speak directly to an attorney.