Getting Disability Benefits for Arthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is what most people know as “common” arthritis and occurs with normal “wear-and-tear” of use of your joints over time. It is common as people age to get OA and can be accelerated with previous injuries and obesity. It can involve any joint and symptoms include:

• Deep aching joint pain worse after use
• Joint swelling
• Limited movement of joints
• Morning stiffness

While these symptoms can start off mild, it can progress to the point where pain is very severe and the limitations in movement are very debilitating.

Getting Disability Benefits for Osteoarthritis

Generally with musculoskeletal disorders Social Security states to qualify for benefits that:

Regardless of the cause(s) of a musculoskeletal impairment, functional loss for purposes of these listings is defined as the inability to ambulate effectively on a sustained basis for any reason, including pain associated with the underlying musculoskeletal impairment, or the inability to perform fine and gross movements effectively on a sustained basis for any reason, including pain associated with the underlying musculoskeletal impairment.

The best chance to be approved for SSI disability benefits is to apply under medical vocational allowance. The biggest questions to answer as far as your disability from OA is:

1. Has it impaired you from working at your job?
2. Have your symptoms been severe for 12 months or do you expect it to last past that amount of time?
3. Do you feel like you can return to your previous line of work?
4. Can you perform any other type of work you can get a job doing?

If you do feel that you are impaired for at least a 12 month period and cannot return to work or any other reasonable form of employment, you can build a case for disability benefits.

Reasons for Denials and How to Appeal

 It is hard to be approved sometimes due to the difficult nature of proving your disability with this common disease. The most common reason for denial is a lack of sufficient medical documentation to help you prove your disabled status. It can help to speak with a lawyer who is used to helping clients build cases and apply for disability based on this medical vocational allowance so you can prove to SSI that your condition is debilitating enough under their definition to qualify you for benefits. If you are denied, appealing in a timely manner is recommended to be taken seriously and have the best shot at getting approved the second time around.