Eligible Disabilities

Are you eligible for Social Security disability benefits?

In order to determine if an individual is eligible to collect Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), the Social Security Administration determines who and who will not receive benefits through a five-step process called sequential evaluation.

1. The Social Security Administration determines whether or not an individual is "working," defined according to the SSA, as engaging in substantial gainful activity.

2. The Social Security Administration determines whether the disability is severe enough to significantly limit one's ability to perform basic work activities needed to do most jobs.

These basic work activities include tasks such as:

Walking, standing, sitting, lifting, pushing, pulling, reaching, carrying or handling
Seeing, hearing and speaking
Understanding/carrying out and remembering simple instructions
Responding appropriately to supervision, co-workers and usual work situations
Dealing with changes in a routine work setting

If you are impaired in one or more of the activities above, you may be eligible for supplemental disability income from the Social Security Administration. First time Social Security applicants and denied applicants alike should fill out our free claim evaluation for professional help in how to proceed in getting the benefits they deserve.

3. The Social Security Administration determines whether or not the disability meets or equals a medical listing.

4. The Social Security Administration determines whether or not an individual can perform work he has done in the past despite his disability.

5. The Social Security Administration reviews age, education, experience and physical/mental condition to determine what other work, if any, the person can perform.

Social Security Disability Impairment Cases

Persons suffering from any of the following cases should consider applying for Social Security benefits with the help of a professional Social Security lawyer :

AIDS
Hematologic Disorders (Blood Diseases)
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) / Lou Gehrig's disease
Hepatitis C
Anxiety
Immune Disorders
Arthritis
Meniere's Disease
Asthma
Migraines
Bipolar Disorder
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Bulging Discs
Muscular Dystrophy
Cancer
Myasthenia Gravis
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
Organ Transplants
Chronic Kidney Disease
Parkinson's Disease
Chronic Liver Disease
Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD)
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Post-Polio Syndrome
Chronic Pain
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Depression
Skin Disorders
Diabetes
Sleep Disorders
Epilepsy
Spinal Disorders
Fibromyalgia
Stroke
Heart Disease

Compassionate Allowances

The Social Security Administration makes use of its Compassionate Allowances program in an effort to provide benefits to applicants whose medical conditions are so serious that their conditions obviously meet disability standards.

Here is a complete list of the Social Security Administration’s 88 compassionate allowance conditions that may qualify you for a quicker SSDI decision. If you are still unsure, read more about Social Security eligibility.

Acute Leukemia
Adrenal Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
Alexander Disease (ALX) - neonatal and infantile
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
Anaplastic Adrenal Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
Astrocytoma - grade III and IV
Bladder Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
Bone Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
Breast Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
Canavan Disease (CD)
Cerebro Oculo Facio Skeletal (COFS) Syndrome
Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML) - blast phase
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) – adult
Ependymoblastoma (child brain tumor)
Esophageal Cancer
Farber's Disease (FD) – infantile
Friedreichs Ataxia (FRDA)
Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Picks Disease -Type A – adult
Gallbladder Cancer
Gaucher Disease (GD) - Type 2
Glioblastoma Multiforme (brain tumor)
Head and Neck Cancers - with distant metastasis or inoperable or uresectable
Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophy (INAD)
Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC)
Kidney Cancer - inoperable or unresectable
Krabbe Disease (KD) – infantile
Large Intestine Cancer - with distant metastasis or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome (LNS)
Liver Cancer
Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL)
Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD) - late infantile
Niemann-Pick Disease (NPD) - Type A
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer - with metastases to or beyond the hilar nodes or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) Deficiency
Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) - Type II
Ovarian Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable or unresectable
Pancreatic Cancer
Peritoneal Mesothelioma
Pleural Mesothelioma
Pompe Disease – infantile
Rett (RTT) Syndrome
Salivary Tumors
Sandhoff Disease
Small Cell Cancer (of the large intestine, ovary, prostate, or uterus)
Small Cell Lung Cancer
Small Intestine Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) - Types 0 And 1
Stomach Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
Thyroid Cancer
Ureter Cancer - with distant metastases or inoperable, unresectable or recurrent
Alstrom Syndrome
Amegakaryocytic Thrombocytopenia
Ataxia Spinocerebellar
Ataxia Telangiectasia
Batten Disease
Bilateral Retinoblastoma
Cri du Chat Syndrome
Degos Disease
Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease
Edwards Syndrome
Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva
Fukuyama Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
Glutaric Acidemia Type II
Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), familial type
Hurler Syndrome, Type IH
Hunter Syndrome, Type II
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa, Lethal Type
Late Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses
Leigh’s Disease
Maple Syrup Urine Disease
Merosin Deficient Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
Mixed Dementia
Mucosal Malignant Melanoma
Neonatal Adrenoleukodystrophy
Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses, infantile type
Niemann-Pick Type C
Patau Syndrome
Primary Progressive Aphasia
Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy
Sanfilippo Syndrome
Subacute Sclerosis Panencephalitis
Tay Sachs Disease
Thanatophoric Dysplasia, Type 1
Ullrich Congenital Muscular Dystrophy
Walker Warburg Syndrome
Wolman Disease
Zellweger Syndrome