Social Security Disability Heart Disease
Heart Disease benefits eligibility is primarily based on how your heart disease affects your ability to work. Social Security examines the “functional limitations” caused by your heart disease unless you meet one of the SSA impairment listings under cardiovascular disease.
Social Security medical listing 4.00 defines a cardiovascular impairment that results from one or more of four consequences of heart disease:
1. Chronic heart failure or ventricular dysfunction.
2. Discomfort or pain due to myocardial ischemia, with or without necrosis of heart muscle.
3. Syncope, or near syncope, due to inadequate cerebral perfusion from any cardiac cause, such as obstruction of flow or disturbance in rhythm or conduction resulting in inadequate cardiac output.
4. Central cyanosis due to right-to-left shunt, reduced oxygen concentration in the arterial blood, or pulmonary vascular disease.
1. Are you working?
If you are working in 2007 and your earnings average more than $900 a month, you generally cannot be considered disabled.
If you are working in 2008 and your earnings average more than $940 a month, you generally cannot be considered disabled.
If you are not working because of heart disease, we go to Step 2.
2. Is your condition “severe”?
Your heart disease must interfere with basic work-related activities for your claim to be considered. If it does not, we will find that you are not disabled. If your condition does interfere with basic work-related activities, we go to Step 3.
3. Is your condition found in the list of disabling conditions?
For each of the major body systems, we maintain a list of medical conditions that are so severe they automatically mean that you are disabled. If Social Security decides that your heart disease meets one of the impairment listings it is presumed that you cannot function well enough to do any type of substantial work.
Examples of heart disease disorders that appear on the list include: chronic heart failure, ischemic heart disease and aneurysm. If your heart disease condition is not on the list, we have to decide if it is of equal severity to a medical condition that is on the list. If it is, we will find that you are disabled. If it is not, we then go to Step 4.
4. Can you do the work you did previously?
If your heart disease is severe but not at the same or equal level of severity as a medical condition on the list, then we must determine if the heart disease interferes with your ability to do the work you did previously. If it does not,
your claim will be denied. If it does, we proceed to Step 5.
5. Can you do any other type of work?
If you cannot do the work you did in the past, we see if you are able to adjust to other work. We consider your medical conditions and your age, education, past work experience and any transferable skills you may have. If you cannot adjust to other work, your claim will be approved. If you can adjust to other work, your claim will be denied.
Fields Law heart disease disability attorneys will assist you in the disability process for your heart disease disability. If you are unable to work because of heart disease we can help you apply for social security benefits. If you have been denied disability benefits we can appeal your case.
We offer a Free case review. Our Minnesota disability lawyers understand how frustrating it is to have heart disease and be denied disability benefits when you are unable to work. There are never any fees unless we win your disability case.
We are a Minnesota Disability Law Firm dedicated to helping people in Minnesota get the Social Security Disability benefits they deserve.
Minnesota Social Security