Disability Benefits for Diabetes Patients

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder involving the body’s inability to make insulin because the body’s own immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Type 2 diabetes is fast becoming a worldwide epidemic. It is much more prevalent these days in people of all ages—and much more debilitating. The overarching reason for developing type 2 diabetes is lack of exercise and obesity, characterized by a body mass index (BMI) over 30. As your body produces less and less insulin to process the glucose, your diabetes does damage.

You can qualify for disability for either type 1 or 2 diabetes. If you are experiencing extreme fatigue, frequent urination, and are unusually hungry or thirsty, you could have type 2 diabetes, which over time, can create kidney damage, vision problems high blood pressure and nerve damage.

If your uncontrolled diabetes condition is severe enough that it has prevented you from working, you may qualify for Social Security disability income (SSDI). Just remember that your diabetes and any damage it has caused must be severely limiting. Another important consideration is that you must follow your doctor’s treatment. Many people are denied benefits for this reason, which is one reason to think about hiring social security disability attorneys.

By itself, diabetes no longer qualifies as impairment in the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Listing of Impairments ("Blue Book"), but complications from diabetes do qualify, such as diabetic retinopathy (eye), nephropathy (kidney) or neuropathy (nerve).

If your diabetes is serious enough that you’ve had an amputation, you can also qualify for SSDI benefits. The SSA will consider the combined effects of all your impairments. Even if you don’t meet the requirements of a particular listing you can request the SSA to assess your ability to do work. This is called a residual functional capacity (RFC) and is a measure of your ability to do sedentary to heavy work. Hiring social security disability attorneys is particularly useful if you’re going the RFC route.

Unfortunately, most people who apply for diabetes disability are denied benefits on the first application. Consider hiring social security disability attorneys to file your appeal or better yet, to file for you the first time. Disability attorneys understand the SSA process and use strategies like showing the effects of multiple impairments, and tying those impairments to your inability to work. So what are you waiting for? Contact one of our social security disability attorneys today. We’re ready to help you get the benefits you deserve.