Cancer is usually considered disabling and eligible for benefits when
1. it has spread beyond the regional lymph notes, or
2. it has been treated and has recurred, or
3. it has required a stem cell or organ transplant, or
4. it's symptoms or treatment results in the inability to sustain basic work-related functions on an ongoing basis (8 hours per day, 5 days per week).
There is a Duration Requirement which says that a medical condition must have lasted at least 12 straight months, be medically expected to last at least 12 straight months or to result in death. Most forms of cancer will meet the duration requirement but some may not.
Your doctor and medical team will provide specific information to help determine if you qualify for benefits.
What you, the claimant, can do to speed up your benefits:
A. Notify Social Security on your application that you have cancer. Be specific as to the location, type and stage of cancer. Special attention is paid to claims involving cancer.
B. Get a record of pathology from your doctor and send it to Social Security as soon as possible. This may be a laboratory test or biopsy report showing a cancer diagnosis., giving the location of the cancer.
Your doctor and medical team will provide specific information to help determine if you qualify for benefits.
What you, the claimant, can do to speed up your benefits:
A. Notify Social Security on your application that you have cancer. Be specific as to the location, type and stage of cancer. Special attention is paid to claims involving cancer.
B. Get a record of pathology from your doctor and send it to Social Security as soon as possible. This may be a laboratory test or biopsy report showing a cancer diagnosis., giving the location of the cancer.
C. Provide Social Security with the name, full address and telephone numbers of all the doctors who treat you.
D. Ask your doctor to provide a written statement which details your specific functional limitations. This will state, for example, what your limits are on sitting, standing, walking, reaching, lifting, bending, etc. If you are likely to miss several days a month for chemotherapy or treatment, the doctor should explain this, also.
The more details you are able to furnish Social Security, the more likely you are to get a quick and favorable decision on your benefits.
Please remember that SSDI (the normal Social Security disability program) does not pay for the first 5 months of disability because of the waiting period. However, if you have already been out of work several months before you file your application for disability, claim those months to reduce the time you must wait. For example, if you file on 2/20/20 but became too ill to work on 10/20/19, you have potentially already met 3 months of the waiting period.
Don't be hesitant to ask for help with your claim. Any experienced advocate or attorney will be glad to assist you in getting the quickest possible resolution to your disability claim. It's a complicated process for anyone, and especially so for a patient undergoing cancer treatment.
D. Ask your doctor to provide a written statement which details your specific functional limitations. This will state, for example, what your limits are on sitting, standing, walking, reaching, lifting, bending, etc. If you are likely to miss several days a month for chemotherapy or treatment, the doctor should explain this, also.
The more details you are able to furnish Social Security, the more likely you are to get a quick and favorable decision on your benefits.
Please remember that SSDI (the normal Social Security disability program) does not pay for the first 5 months of disability because of the waiting period. However, if you have already been out of work several months before you file your application for disability, claim those months to reduce the time you must wait. For example, if you file on 2/20/20 but became too ill to work on 10/20/19, you have potentially already met 3 months of the waiting period.
Don't be hesitant to ask for help with your claim. Any experienced advocate or attorney will be glad to assist you in getting the quickest possible resolution to your disability claim. It's a complicated process for anyone, and especially so for a patient undergoing cancer treatment.
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