The Social Security Administration has removed endocrine disorders from the Listing of Impairments it uses when reviewing applications for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). This change is effective today.
The SSA uses its Listing of Impairments to determine if an applicant has a medical condition severe enough that he can be presumed unable to perform any gainful activity and is thusly disabled. Another qualifying factor: The inability to work must endure for at least 12 months or be expected to end in death.
The SSA announced this change to its Listing of Impairments in April.
In an announcement, the agency said, “We are revising the listings for endocrine disorders because medical science has made significant advances in detecting endocrine disorders at earlier stages and newer treatments have resulted in better management of these conditions. Consequently, most endocrine disorders do not reach listing-level severity because they do not become sufficiently severe or do not remain at a sufficient level of severity long enough to meet our 12-month duration requirement.”
This change doesn’t necessarily mean that those with endocrine disorders won’t qualify for benefits, as they may now qualify for benefits within the requirements of another listing. For example, if a person with diabetes has one of the disease’s severe symptoms—blindness or amputation—they will now be evaluated with the medical listings that pertain to those symptoms specifically. Diabetes-related amputations will now be evaluated under musculoskeletal disorders, while diabetic nephropathy will be evaluated under genitourinary listings.
Read more.
Do you think endocrine disorders should remain on the Listing of Impairments?
If you need help with your Social Security benefits, contact the Social Security Disability lawyers at Newlin Disability.
