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Photo of David Dopkin

Can a blood disease qualify one for SSD benefits?

On Behalf of | Sep 27, 2017 | Social Security Disability Benefits for Illness

Many workers in Houston live with illnesses such as thrombosis and hemostasis, hemolytic anemias and disorders of bone marrow failure. These conditions all fall under the general category of blood disease. Sometimes people find that they are not able to work due to one of these blood diseases. What options do these people have? Depending on the circumstances, they may be eligible for Social Security Disability benefits for illness. This blog post will discuss one category of these illnesses: hemolytic anemias.

Hemolytic anemias include conditions such as sickle cell disease, hereditary spherocytosis and thalassemia and their variants. These disorders result in premature destruction of red blood cells. Doctors use various blood tests to diagnose a hemolytic anemia disorder. A laboratory report signed by a physician can serve as evidence that a claimant has hemolytic anemia.

Claimants must prove not only that they have one of these conditions, but that the condition causes impairment. This can be done a number of ways. For example, if a claimant has at least six painful episodes over a 12-month period in which certain medications are administered, they may qualify for impairment if the episodes happened more than 30 days from each other. Impairment can also be demonstrated if the claimant has to be hospitalized under certain conditions at least three times over a 12-month period. There are blood test results that can be used to show impairment as well.

There are a lot of qualifying requirements a claimant must prove before they can get benefits. In addition to the requirements above, they must also prove that they have enough work credits to qualify and that their employment options with the condition are pretty much non-existent. The Social Security Administration has a number of publications that can provide more information.

Source: Social Security Administration, “Disability Evaluation Under Social Security: 7.00 Hematological Disorders-Adult,” accessed on Sept. 24, 2017