Heart
Disease and Other Cardiovascular Disability Cases
If you suffered a heart attack
or have a heart condition or other cardiovascular
problems, you may qualify for Social Security Disability
or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits in one of
two ways:
(1) Your condition may be so bad
that you meet or equal the level of severity that
Social Security has listed for cardiovascular disease.
(2) Your condition may not meet
the listing but still be so bad that:
You cannot return to the easiest job you
had during the 15 years before you became disabled
because you cannot handle the stress or physical
demands of that job, and
You cannot adjust to other work because
of your age, education, past work experience, lack
of transferable skills, and reduced physical
condition.
This second way of getting
Social Security Disability for heart problems means that
you qualify under the medical - vocational rules.
(This is sometimes called meeting the "grids"
because a chart or grid is used to determine who qualifies
for Social Security benefits under these rules.)
The Cardiovascular Listings
There are
several common cardiovascular listings. Each listing
usually requires (1) test results at certain levels and
(2) reduced physical abilities due to the cardiovascular
condition. The listings are written in technical medical language,
like the listings for the other body parts. The
listings generally require that your cardiovascular
problems remain severe even while you are under medical
care and following your doctor's instructions.
The following is a very
simplified discussion of the common Social Security
Disability listings for heart conditions and other
cardiovascular problems.
Listing 4.02 Chronic
Heart Failure. To qualify for Social
Security Disability or SSI under this listing, x-rays
or other imaging techniques or tests must show that
you have an enlarged heart. The listing also
requires that your cardiac condition causes you to be
unable to perform any physical activity and that you
have such symptoms as persistent fatigue, shortness of
breath, and chest pain (angina pectoris) even while at
rest. Chronic heart failure is sometimes also
referred to as congestive heart failure. A
common medical test used to diagnose this heart
condition measures left ventricular ejection fraction
(the percentage of blood pumped out of the heart with
each heartbeat). An ejection fraction of 30% or
lower is required to meet the listing.
Listing 4.03 Hypertensive
Heart Disease. To win Social Security
Disability or SSI under this listing requires more
than that you just have hypertension, which is a
condition that affects millions of Americans. To
qualify under this listing, your hypertension must be
so severe that you are in as bad a shape as if you met
the listing for chronic heart failure or for ischemic
heart disease.
Listing 4.04
Ischemic Heart Disease. To qualify for
Social Security Disability or SSI under this listing,
you must have ischemia, a heart condition caused by reduced flow of oxygen to the heart usually as
the result of coronary artery disease.(Complete interruption
of the oxygen flow will result in a myocardial
infarction, the medical term for a heart attack,
causing permanent damage to the heart tissue.)
You may meet this listing if your treadmill
exercise stress test results are particularly
poor. You may also meet this listing if you have
documented proof of impaired heart functioning along
with marked limitation of physical activity due to
fatigue, palpitations, shortness of breath and chest
pain, even while at rest. A third way you may
meet this listing is by showing through angiography
that you have coronary artery disease and that you
also have marked limitation of physical activity due
to fatigue, palpitations, shortness of breath and
chest pain, even while at rest.
Listing 4.05
Recurrent Arrhythmias. To get Social
Security Disability or SSI under this listing, you
must pass out or almost pass out frequently because
your heart beats too fast (tachycardia), too slow, or
irregularly, and your medical treatment has failed to
control this condition (called cardiac syncope).
Listing 4.11 Chronic
Venous Insufficiency. To qualify for Social
Security Disability or SSI under this listing, your
heart must be unable to adequately pump the blood from
your legs back to your heart causing you to have
extensive swelling in your legs or enlarged veins in
your legs which break out into ulcers that do not heal
for 3 months or longer. People with this
condition have difficulty standing or walking for any
extended period of time and must elevate their legs
when they sit.
As mentioned above, if you do
not meet the listings —
and most persons with cardiac problems do not —
you may still qualify for Social Security Disability or
SSI due to your age, your education, the type of work you
have done, and how much stress or activity you can
tolerate because of your heart condition. To learn
more, read about the medical - vocational rules.
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Security Disability Lawyer,
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Determination and Experience.
