Cancer Conditions Approved for SSDI & SSI Benefits
Financial hardship can quickly develop for a person unable to work following a cancer diagnosis. Bills don’t stop because of appointments with doctors or a treatment schedule.
The Social Security Disability Insurance program provides financial assistance through disability benefits for cancer patients. The program offers monthly payments for many types of cancer, but the initial application review process can be difficult to navigate.
This blog explains the process of obtaining SSDI benefits when you cannot work following a cancer diagnosis. It includes information about the Compassionate Allowance program that accelerates the application review process for people with cancer or other severe medical conditions.
Requirements For Benefits Through the SSDI Program
A person must have worked for a long enough duration and paid Social Security payroll taxes on their earnings to apply for SSDI benefits. They must also be disabled under a federal disability definition requiring documentation of an inability to do substantial gainful work activity because of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment expected to result in death or expected to last for a continuous period of at least 12 months.
An approval for SSDI benefits requires documentation that the cancer or the effects of the treatment result in physical or mental impairment or impairments that meet the disability definition. The Social Security Administration has established guidelines for evaluating cancer and other medical conditions to determine whether they meet the disability standard.
Five-Step Sequential Review Process
Applications for SSDI go through a five-step sequential evaluation process to determine whether a person has a disability that meets the federal standard. The evaluation process includes:
- Step One: If the applicant is working, do their monthly earnings show they have the ability to do substantial gainful activity? If they can, they are not disabled.
- Step Two: Does the person have a severe medical condition expected to last for at least 12 months or is expected to result in death? If it does, continue to step three.
- Step Three: Does the person have a medical condition that meets or equals an impairment in the Listing of Impairments, also called the “Blue Book?” If it does, they are disabled.
- Step Four: Does a person’s residual functional capacity (RFC) allow them to do their past relevant work? If it does, they are not disabled.
- Step Five: Does the person’s RFC, age, education, and work experience allow them to adjust to do other work? If not, then they are disabled.
Disability examiners rely on the information contained in an applicant’s medical records, including records of examinations, diagnostic testing, and physicians’ notes.
Proving Cancer Disability With the Blue Book
The SSA Blue Book cancer listings are used in step three of the disability evaluation process for individuals applying for SSDI based on a cancer diagnosis. Section 13.00 of the listings outlines the criteria for determining which types of cancer are approved for disability benefits.
A person with symptoms that meet or equal the criteria in Section 13.00 has a condition severe enough to meet the SSA disability definition. The following forms of cancer could meet or equal the listings:
- Liver cancer
- Lung cancer
- Esophageal cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
- Lymphoma
- Breast cancer
- Uterine cancer
- Sarcoma
- Melanoma
- Bladder cancer
- Multiple myeloma
- Thyroid cancer
- Leukemia
- Prostate cancer
- Colon cancer
The listings for each form of cancer include criteria that must be met to meet or equal the listing.
Compassionate Allowances (CAL) For Cancer
It takes time for an application to go through the initial review process. The SSA estimates it will take six to eight months, but there is a way to expedite the process.
The Compassionate Allowances program is a way for SSDI claims based on cancer and other types of severe medical conditions to reduce the time it takes to get applications through the review process. Compassionate allowance cancer SSDI designates for expedited processing include:
- Bladder cancer
- Cancer of the large intestine
- Gallbladder cancer
- Adult non-Hodgkin lymphoma
- Esophageal cancer
A person with a form of cancer that meets the CAL criteria can have their claim prioritized. Applications based on cancer or other medical conditions that meet the CAL criteria are identified by the SSA and processed to expedite the approval of SSDI benefits for claimants in need of them.
The SSA periodically updates its list of medical conditions meeting the Compassionate Allowance criteria, including cancer types. Disability attorneys at American Disability Action Group routinely check for updates that may benefit their clients.
Let an Experienced Disability Attorney Help
Obtaining the medical care and treatment that you need should be your primary concern following a cancer diagnosis. American Disability Action Group gives you the ability to do that by navigating the SSDI disability benefits process on your behalf. We represent people with disabilities nationwide. Contact us today for a free consultation and claim review.
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