Can I Claim Diabetes as a Disability in Texas?

Financial Help for Greater Stability

You can claim diabetes as a disability under Social Security Disability rules, but it’s not easy. Tens of millions of people have diabetes. You have to set your case apart.

The key to your disability benefits claim is showing that your diabetes is severe enough to interfere with your ability to work and support yourself.

Social Security doesn’t specifically call diabetes a “disability,” so you will need to document how your condition limits your everyday activities. You will also need to present any other related or unrelated health issues you have that contribute to your inability to work.

That can be an uphill climb, but our Dallas disability lawyers can help.

Morgan Weisbrod is one of the top disability firms in Texas measured by how much we win in benefits for our clients, according to Social Security data.

We’ve been helping people like you with disability claims for more than 50 years.

Getting approved for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for diabetes won’t be easy, but the stability and peace of mind these benefits could bring to your life are worth the fight.

You didn’t ask to develop a severe, work-stopping health problem. We’ll help you make your case.

You won’t pay an attorney fee until you get approved.

What Does Social Security Look for in Diabetes Disability Claims?

When you apply for disability benefits for diabetes, you need to be able to show Social Security that:

You can’t work at your current or most recent job because of your health issues.
Your health and other factors prevent you from changing jobs or fields of work.
Your health will stop you from working for 12 months or longer.

Plenty of people with diabetes keep working. You need to show the Social Security Administration (SSA) that your situation is different.

An important measurement for your claim will be your “residual functional capacity,” or RFC. This is how Social Security measures your practical limitations and determines what work it thinks you could do even with your health issues.

A claims examiner will want answers to questions like:

How long can you sit, stand or walk?
Can you lift and carry heavy objects?
Do you have fine motor control for using small objects?
Can you focus on work tasks?
Can you interact with others, like coworkers and members of the public?
Can you remember and apply information?
Can you make key judgments needed to function in a job?

Our Texas disability lawyers can help you accurately describe your symptoms and limitations, giving you your best chance of obtaining benefits.

Get started with a FREE case evaluation.

How Can I Make My Diabetes Disability Claim Convincing?

Just saying that your diabetes makes it impossible to work won’t be enough. The SSA has high standards.

Take these steps as soon as you’re ready to apply for SSDI:

Step #1: Prepare to answer those questions about your capabilities

When Social Security wants to know if you can walk, stand or handle other physical tasks at work, you need to explain your limitations in detail.

The same is true for those mental limitations, like difficulty concentrating on work tasks or interacting well with others due to your symptoms.

Being specific can help you make a stronger case.

Don’t just say it’s hard to stand or walk. Describe how long you can stand or how far you can walk before you’re in pain or need to rest.

Don’t just say concentrating is hard. Talk about how long you can stay on a certain task before you have to take a break due to your symptoms.

Step #2: Think about any other health issues you suffer from

If you’re dealing with other health issues that are related to your diabetes or exacerbated by your diabetes symptoms, that’s important for your disability benefits claim.

It’s hard to win disability benefits for diabetes on its own, but it’s easier to get approved if you can show that you have medical issues like:

Cardiovascular disease, including hypertension and heart failure
Digestive issues
Kidney disease
Mental health issues like anxiety or depression
Obesity
Vision loss

These kinds of health problems can all interact with diabetes and further limit your ability to handle common work tasks.

Unrelated health issues that combine with the effects of diabetes to reduce your everyday functioning are also important to successfully getting disability benefit for diabetes. Document everything you’re facing.

Step #3: Gather your evidence

The SSA wants objective evidence that backs up your claim of inability to work due to diabetes. That means evidence that’s not just from your perspective, but from other people who have observed your case.

Items that can help include:

Your doctor’s diagnosis of your condition
Results of medical tests
Information about treatments you’ve tried
A list of prescription medications you take, their dosages and their effects and side effects
Your doctor’s assessment of your physical and mental limitations
Psychological assessments if you also have mental health issues that make it difficult to work
Evidence of disruptions to your work
Statements from people who have witnessed your health struggles

It’s time-consuming to gather all the medical records and other evidence you need to make your case, and make sure Social Security has everything, but the Texas Social Security Disability attorneys of Morgan Weisbrod can lighten your burden.

There are no guarantees, but the more work you do to make your claim convincing the better your chance of qualifying for benefits.

What Happens if Social Security Denies My Diabetes Disability Claim?

Most disability claims get denied, but that’s not the end of this process. You can appeal and get more chances to show Social Security that you qualify for disability benefits due to diabetes.

You start with asking Social Security for reconsideration. Another examiner will look at your claim and come to their own conclusion about your eligibility for Social Security Disability.

The next stage is a disability hearing in front of an administrative law judge. This gives you the opportunity to make your case in person, but the process can be stressful.

Our Dallas disability lawyers can help you prepare for your hearing so that you know what to expect from the judge and Social Security’s expert witnesses.

If you get denied benefits again at your hearing, asking the Social Security Appeals Council to review the judge’s decision is the next step.

You could be denied again, sent back for another hearing or win benefits.

The last step of the appeals process requires you to take this outside the Social Security system and file a suit in federal court.

These last two steps are purely about making legal arguments. You don’t want to try and handle these parts of the process on your own.

Only around 35% to 40% of initial disability applications get approved by Social Security. Don’t let a benefits denial discourage you.

Instead, see how our Texas disability attorneys can help you appeal and make a persuasive case for Social Security.

How a Texas Disability Lawyer Can Help

Winning disability benefits is never easy, but getting approved for SSD for a health issue like diabetes is always going to be hard because it’s common, varies greatly in severity and isn’t technically considered a disability.

Don’t just apply for benefits and hope for the best. Let the experienced Texas disability lawyers of Morgan Weisbrod help you make your case to Social Security.

We’ve helped thousands of people in Dallas, Fort Worth, Tyler, Arlington, Plano and across the state when they needed a financial lifeline.

We don’t tell you to apply for disability on your own and come back if you get denied. We’ll assist you with your diabetes disability claim from the very first step.

Contact Us Today.