COPD and SSDI Eligibility
Were you recently diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and is the disease preventing you from being able to work? If so, you may be eligible to receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits through the Social Security Administration (SSA). In order to be eligible for SSDI benefits, you must meet two different types of requirements.
First, you must meet a medical requirement that requires you to show you have a medical condition that is expected to last for at least a year or to result in your death, and that prevents you from engaging in substantial gainful activity, meaning work and earnings. This is how the SSA defines a disability. In addition, you must have a work history — of working long enough and recently enough so that you have sufficient credits to qualify you for SSDI benefits. Most people who have worked full-time, or even on a part-time basis over the last number of years will meet this requirement.
What do you need to know specifically about COPD and eligibility?
COPD is Often a Disabling Condition
The disease of COPD is often disabling. As the Mayo Clinic explains, it is a lung condition that causes damage to the lungs and “results in swelling and irritation,” which in turn limits the airflow into and out of the patient’s lungs. The two most common types of COPY are emphysema and chronic bronchitis. According to the Mayo Clinic, these “two conditions usually occur together and can vary in severity among people with COPD.”
When a person has COPD, they can experience a daily cough that can be severe, trouble breaking, and wheezing. It can result from the person’s long-term exposure to irritants such as chemicals, dust, fumes, and smoke (including cigarette smoke).
SSA Blue Book and COPD
COPD is listed within the SSA’s Blue Book, which provides detailed information about various kinds of impairments that can qualify a person medically for disability benefits.
COPD is listed under Section 3.00 for respiratory disorders, and there are various types of tests that can be done, including a DLCO test, to assess a person’s lung disease and their eligibility for benefits. Even outside the Blue Book, if your COPD prevents you from engaging in substantial gainful activity, you may qualify medically for SSD benefits.
Contact Our National SSD Eligibility Attorney for Assistance Seeking Disability Benefits for a COPD Diagnosis
If you have been diagnosed with COPD and the disease is at a point that it prevents you from engaging in substantial gainful activity, as long as your work history is sufficient to qualify for SSDI benefits, you may be able to receive payments within five months from the date that your disability began. It is important to begin working with a lawyer as soon as possible so that you can submit a detailed and complete application, and so that you can begin receiving your benefits as soon as the five-month waiting period has elapsed and the SSA has processed and approved your application. One of the experienced national SSD eligibility lawyers at the Law Offices of Stephen Barszcz can begin working with you on your SSDI application based on your COPD diagnosis today. Contact us for assistance.
Sources:
ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/3.00-Respiratory-Adult.htm#3_09
mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/copd/symptoms-causes/syc-20353679
