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Why Should I Apply For Social Security Disability If My Condition Is Fatal?

As someone with a terminal illness, you face many important decisions that will impact the rest of your life and your family’s future. As you continue to get treatment at the MD Cancer Center in Sugar Land or palliative care at the Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, it is important that you also consider whether you qualify for Social Security disability benefits.

Why This Matters Now

If your condition is terminal, you are unable to work, and you qualify for Social Security disability benefits, it is important to protect your potential recovery of these benefits. If you don’t, you could:

  • Have difficulty paying your bills for the rest of your life
  • Require your family members to work harder to make up for your lost income
  • Place a lasting financial burden on your family if assets and savings have to be used to make up for your lost income

These consequences are not inevitable, however. Instead of adding financial pressure to what is already a very difficult time for your family, you can apply for the benefits that you’ve worked hard to earn.

And You Don’t Need to Do it Alone

Your focus should be on your health and your family. You do not need the additional stress of navigating the Social Security disability application process. Instead, you can turn your case over to our experienced attorneys, who are dedicated to helping you obtain the benefits you deserve.

To learn more, please read our testimonials to see what past clients have to say about our services. And when you are ready, contact us directly to schedule a complimentary case consultation with our experienced, compassionate legal team.

What Information Will The Social Security Administration Require To Approve My Application For Disability Benefits Due To Mental Illness?


As anyone who has filed a disability claim in the past understands, the Social Security Administration may ask for an extensive amount of information before approving you for benefits. This is especially true for conditions such as mental illness, where there is not always a clear, objective test to verify the extent to which the condition exists. In addition to your medical records, disability application forms, and activities of daily living questionnaire, you may also be asked to submit to a consultative exam and provide access to the opinions of people in your life.

Consultative Exam

In some cases, the disability determination agency assigned to your case may determine that it needs more information in order to make a decision about your disability benefits claim. When this happens, the claims examiner will request that you to submit to a consultative exam. This typically means that your own treating doctor, such as a psychiatrist at the Medical Center of Plano, will perform the examination. Alternatively, the Social Security Administration may refer you to a psychiatrist for the exam.

Statements From Third Parties

In addition to the possibility of a consultative exam, the Social Security Administration may also seek the input of third parties in order to make a determination regarding your impairment and resulting disability benefits. Some of the people that may be contacted to speak about your mental illness and how it impacts your ability to function include the following:

  1. Social workers
  2. Former employers
  3. Friends and family
  4. Teachers
  5. Probation officers

While the application process for disability benefits can be daunting, you do not have to navigate it alone. An excellent first step is to read our free Social Security Disability Fact Sheet. In addition to helpful facts about the application process, this guide will also provide you with helpful tips to improve your chances for having your application approved. And if you would like to discuss the specific details of your case, please contact our office by phone or using our online contact form.

What Happens If I Don’t Meet The Criteria For Disability Benefits, But I Have Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) And Am Unable To Work?


If you suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also known as COPD, you know how difficult it can be to work. When breathing is impaired, working at your job at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas, may be next to impossible. Fortunately, the Social Security Administration recognizes COPD as a disability and will grant benefits to some applicants. If you do not qualify based on the criteria for the listing for this condition, you can still qualify if you are able to demonstrate that COPD makes it so that you cannot work to earn a living.

Qualifying for Disability Benefits

To determine whether you might be eligible for benefits even though you do not meet the criteria under the listing for COPD, ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Does your COPD reduce your ability to breathe?
  2. Does your reduction in ability to breathe make it so that you cannot carry out the functions of any type of job?
  3. Does your reduced breathing capacity make it so that there are no jobs that you know how to do, given your age, education, and experience level?

If the answer is yes, you may qualify for disability benefits based on your reduced capacity for work caused by COPD. Your next steps should be as follows:

  1. Contact your health care provider.
  2. Ask your doctor to provide the Social Security Administration with a medical opinion as to what kinds of activities you can and cannot do. For example, if you cannot be exposed to dust or fumes, your doctor should state that in his opinion.
  3. Submit to a residual functional capacity assessment when instructed by the Social Security Administration to do so. This analysis uses your test results and your doctor’s stated restrictions to determine what types of activities you are capable of performing, ranging from sedentary work to heavy work.

Depending on the results of the residual functional capacity assessment, the Social Security Administration may determine that you are unable to work and approve your request for benefits.

If you would like to learn more about how you might be able to qualify for Social Security disability benefits, we strongly encourage you to contact us today. We have been helping clients just like you for many years. Learn about it yourself by reading the many client testimonials on our website!

Do I Have To Show The Limitations Caused By My Congestive Heart Failure To Qualify For Disability Benefits?


As a victim of congestive heart failure, you may find yourself needing financial assistance. Heart disease can make it difficult or impossible to earn a living. Fortunately, the Social Security Administration recognizes chronic heart failure as a disability. Obtaining benefits requires that you demonstrate certain symptoms as well as functional limitations caused by the condition.

Functional Limitations of Congestive Heart Failure

To qualify for benefits, you first must submit medical records that show evidence of either systolic or diastolic heart failure. Once you overcome this hurdle, your next step is to show that the heard condition creates certain functional limitations. You must prove at least one of the following:

  • You are unable to perform on an exercise tolerance test at certain workload equivalent because of the difficulties caused by your condition.
  • Performing an exercise tolerance test is too risky due to your heart condition, and symptoms of heart failure are so persistent that they seriously limit your activities of daily living.
  • Over the past 12 months, you have experienced at least three episodes of heart failure and fluid retention that required you to seek emergency room treatment for at least 12 hours.

Heart disease is a condition that affects many people throughout Texas on a minute-by-minute basis. Since the problem is so widespread, we urge you to share this article with your friends and family on Facebook today. You may help one of your loved ones to obtain the disability benefits that they need.

What Does It Mean To Qualify For Social Security Disability Benefits By Meeting The “Blue Book” Listing For A Benign Brain Tumor?


If you suffer from a benign brain tumor that affects your ability to work at your job at Texas Instruments in Dallas and to function in general, you may qualify for Social Security disability benefits. There are generally three ways in which to qualify for these benefits. The first option is to show that you meet the specific “Blue Book” listing for a brain tumor outlined by the Social Security Administration. The second option is to show that you equal another listing outlined by the Social Security Administration. The last option is to prove that you are unable to work because of the condition.

Meeting the Benign Brain Tumor Listing

Benign brain tumors are a specific listing under the Social Security Administration’s Blue Book. In order to qualify for disability benefits, however, you must show that you meet the impairment requirements for additional listings as well. These additional listing include seizures, strokes, speech problems, loss of hearing, or mental disorders. To prove that your benign brain tumor symptoms are accompanied by seizures, you must demonstrate that the seizures significantly impact your ability to function. To prove that your benign brain tumor symptoms also meet the requirements for a stroke under the Blue Book listing, you must show that you have had a stroke that now affects your ability to talk, walk, or use your arms.

In order to qualify for Social Security disability benefits, you should first obtain a diagnosis from your physician verifying that you suffer from a benign brain tumor. You should then contact an attorney who can walk you through the disability application process.

Do you have questions right now? We encourage you to download our free guide, Social Security Disability: What You Need to Know.

Can I Automatically Qualify For Social Security Disability Benefits If I Have Eczema?

If you are suffering from eczema, you may find it difficult to work or carry out basic daily activities. Eczema causes inflamed, itchy, and irritated skin that can occur anywhere on the body. It is most common on the hands, feet, face, and back of the knees. Sufferers may qualify for Social Security disability benefits automatically if they can demonstrate that they meet the requirements set forth in the Social Security Administration’s disability listing for dermatitis.

Qualifying for Social Security Disability Benefits Due to Eczema

In order to automatically qualify for benefits from the office of the Social Security Administration, you must meet certain criteria. The following is an overview of what you must show when you file your claim:

  1. A diagnosis of eczema by a licensed physician.
  2. The type of eczema diagnosed must be accompanied by extensive skin lesions.
  3. Extensive skin lesions must either cover an area of the body needed to function, such as the palms of the hands,
  4. or cover multiple less significant areas of the body. Examples would be the elbows and the face.
  5. Extensive skin lesions must also cause serious limitations.
  6. The extensive skin lesions must last for at least three months.
  7. The extensive skin lesions must not be responding to any prescribed treatment.

Before submitting your claim for Social Security disability benefits, we encourage you to view our free guide, Social Security Disability: What You Need to Know. We invite you to share this guide with your friends and family on Facebook!

I Have Been Diagnosed With AIDS; Am I Eligible For Social Security Disability Benefits?

Victims of chronic and potentially terminal illnesses may qualify for Social Security disability benefits in order to help relieve the strain of financial obligations. Human immunodeficiency virus is one such condition. HIV is a virus that results in the progressive failure of the immune system. It nearly always goes on to develop into Autoimmune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS. In order to qualify for disability benefits, you must first show that your HIV has progressed to this point.

Meeting the Criteria for the Social Security Administration’s HIV Listing

In order to meet the criteria for the HIV listing in the Social Security Administration’s policies, you must prove that you have been diagnosed with either HIV or AIDS through specific tests. You must also demonstrate that you have one of the following conditions:

  1. Bacterial infection
  2. Viral infection
  3. Fungal infection
  4. Protozoan or helminthic infection
  5. Cancer
  6. Skin or mucus membrane condition
  7. HIV encephalopathy with swelling of the brain that causes cognitive or physical impairments
  8. HIV wasting syndrome with a loss of 10% of your body weight and diarrhea that is at least twice a day, or, alternatively, diarrhea that lasts for a month or longer
  9. Diarrhea that lasts for longer than a month and does not respond to treatment, requiring intravenous hydration or a feeding tube
  10. Infections that do not respond to treatment or that lead to hospitalizations three or more times in one year

Further, if you are experiencing any of these symptoms severely enough to cause impairments in your ability to carry out activities of daily living, functioning socially, or focusing on and finishing tasks, you may also be eligible.

To familiarize yourself with the process of pursuing disability benefits, we encourage you to view our free guide, Social Security Disability: What You Need to Know. We also invite you to share the guide with your friends and family on Facebook!

I Have Lupus And Was Denied Social Security Disability Benefits. Should I Appeal The Decision?


Unlike some other diseases and conditions giving rise to a disability, lupus is a chronic disease that causes harm to your body over a period of time. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that causes the body to attack itself. It can cause damage to your joints, skin, kidneys, blood, heart, and lungs. As a result of its chronic nature, it could be the case that your limitations have increased to the extent where you will now qualify for Social Security disability benefits, even if you were denied in the past.

How to Appeal a Social Security Disability Benefits Denial

So what should you do if you find yourself with an increasing inability to function as a result of lupus, but were denied Social Security disability benefits in the past? Consider taking the following steps:

  • Consult with a knowledgeable and experienced attorney familiar with the complex rules and requirements for obtaining Social Security disability benefits.
  • Determine whether you meet the listing requirements for lupus. Lupus is one of the diseases that is specifically listed in Social Security’s listing of impairments. As a result, if you meet the requirements, you may qualify for benefits.
  • Assess whether you are no longer able to work due to impairments created by lupus. This may include evaluating the physical, mental, and sensory limitations brought on by the condition.
  • Gather the medical evidence required to meet the lupus listing under Social Security’s listing of impairments. This includes obtaining updated medical information. Eleven criteria are set forth to determine whether an individual has lupus. You must meet at least four of those criteria.
  • Complete the appeal forms provided by the nearest Texas Social Security disability field office.
  • Call SSA to follow up.

If you suffer from a debilitating chronic condition like lupus, do not give up on your pursuit for Social Security disability benefits. To further prepare yourself for the appeals process, we encourage you to view our free guide, Social Security Disability: What You Need to Know.

I Need Money Now. Is There Any Way To Receive The Back Pay For My Social Security Disability Benefits In One Lump Sum?


Claimants approved for Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income benefits may be pleased to know that they may be entitled to back pay. This back pay is made to compensate applicants for the sometimes lengthy amount of time that it takes the Social Security Administration to process disability claims. Back pay is distributed either in one lump sum or in three installments spread out over six month intervals.

After reviewing your claim, if the Social Security Administration has notified you that you are entitled back pay to be paid out in intervals, there is a further restriction that you must be aware of. In some cases, the installments will not be in equal amounts. If the back pay that is owed is more than three times the monthly Supplemental Security Income benefit amount, prior to deductions for income or support, then you will be paid in partial installments. The first two partial installments cannot equal more than three times your maximum monthly benefit. The third and final installment is in whatever amount is necessary to complete the back pay payments. Fortunately for those in need, there are exceptions to these rules.

Exceptions to Installment Payment Plan

  • The amount of your first and second partial installment payments for back pay can be increased if you can demonstrate necessary medical needs or debts that relate to necessities, such as housing, food, or clothing.
  • Installment payments can be converted to a lump sum payment if you can show that you are expected to die within 12 months.
  • Installment payments can be converted to a lump sum payment if you become ineligible for Supplemental Security Income.

Managing Social Security disability claims in Dallas can be a complex process. To learn more about how we have helped many clients in situations like yours, view our client testimonials.

Which Of My Past Positions Will The Social Security Administration Consider When Making A Determination About Whether I Can Still Do The Work That I Used To Do?


In order to qualify for Social Security disability benefits in Dallas, you must first demonstrate that you are unable to return to the work that you previously performed as a result of your disability, or that you cannot perform that work in the same capacity. The Social Security Administration will review various information about your previous work history in order to make this determination. Depending on how long you have been in the work force and the types of jobs that you have performed, the Administration may not look at every job you have ever held in order to decide whether you are still able to do your past work.

What to Expect During the Application Process

During the application process for Texas Social Security disability benefits, the Administration will review the information that you provide about your relevant work history. Typically, this means work that falls into the following categories:

  • Jobs that were held within the past 15 years.
  • Jobs that involved significant and productive physical or mental activities that were done for pay.
  • Jobs that were held long enough for you to learn how to fulfill all of the responsibilities.

Any past positions which fall into these categories are likely to be used to assess the impact of your condition on your ability to perform your past work. It is very important to remember that the applicant seeking disability benefits must provide this information. Failing to provide the Social Security Administration with the information that it needs could result in a denial of your claim. Fortunately, an experienced attorney can assist you with gathering the correct information needed to obtain benefits.

For more helpful information relating to Social Security disability benefits in Texas, we encourage you to follow us on Facebook.

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