See if Disability Benefits Are an Option for Financial Help in Phoenix & Tucson
You’re here because you want to know: With health problems altering your life, can you get Social Security Disability benefits to help you take care of yourself and worry less.
Like with so many things, there’s a simple answer, and complicated one.
- The simple rule is that you must be unable to work to qualify for Social Security Disability.
- The complicated reality is that Social Security has thousands of other rules to decide if they think your health problems are severe enough that you’re unable to work.
On this page, the skilled Arizona disability lawyers at Slepian Ellexson will explain the basics of Social Security Disability eligibility as you get started looking at this option.
First, if you don’t know how disability benefits work, when you get benefits, you receive monthly checks to help with your expenses, and you get access to Medicaid or Medicare health care coverage. It can make a major difference, allowing you to live an independent life as you deal with severe medical conditions.
Social Security runs two types of disability benefits:
- If you worked and paid into the Social Security system, you could get Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, calculated partly using your wages when you worked.
- If you haven’t worked much or in a long time, you may qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for people with limited financial resources.
A disability attorney can help you navigate the process with personal attention and care.
Slepian Ellexson has helped thousands of people get their disability benefits in Phoenix and Tucson for over 47 years.
You don’t pay a fee to work with a disability lawyer until you win benefits and can finally rest.
What Are the Basic Qualifications for Social Security Disability?
Qualifying for Social Security Disability comes down to this:
- You must have serious health impairments.
- You must show you can’t work because of your health.
- You must show you won’t be able to work for at least a year.
While that seems simple enough, Social Security is always under pressure to block anyone who’s not fully deserving from getting benefits. They do, in fact, deny most people for disability benefits, at least at first.
So, applying for disability benefits gets much more involved than just saying you meet those three points.
Here are some of the questions you’ll have to answer:
- Is your health problem on Social Security’s official list of impairments? Social Security keeps a list with details on how to get disability benefits for many specific conditions. Your ailment doesn’t have to be on the list to get benefits, but this is one of the first places you’ll check.
- Can you prove how debilitating your health problems are? You’ll need to send in medical records, test results and reports from your doctors to confirm that your illness or injuries prevent you from doing the kinds of tasks needed to hold a job.
- Do your health problems rule out every kind of work you could be able to do? Social Security will dive into your work background. Claims examiners may say your training and experience allow you to move to a less physically strenuous job despite your health issues. Or they may agree that you cannot work.
- What amount are you still able to work? If you’re still working a little bit, you may be able to get benefits, but examiners could also see your working as a sign that you can work and don’t need benefits. If you’re earning more than an amount Social Security calls “substantial gainful activity,” or SGA, you’ll be denied.
- Did you pay enough into Social Security to qualify? To get SSDI, you must have earned enough credits in the Social Security system by working and paying taxes. It’s important to know this is not a handout. It’s a type of insurance coverage that you earned. SSI is for people in more difficult economic circumstances and doesn’t require a work record.
Before you get going on your disability benefits application, go over it with the highly experienced Phoenix and Tucson disability lawyers at Slepian Ellexson.
It’s free to have an initial conversation with us to see what your disability case will require and how to move forward.
What Medical Conditions Qualify for Social Security Disability in Arizona?
People often ask whether a particular disease qualifies for disability benefits.
It’s not always about exactly what illness you have. Instead, it can be about the details of how your health limits your daily activities and ability to work. You can get approved for disability benefits with almost any serious health complication you can name.
Your case may center on what Social Security calls your “residual functional capacity,” or RFC, which is an assessment of the kinds of physical and mental tasks you’re able to perform, regardless of your exact diagnosis.
The Tucson and Phoenix disability lawyers at Slepian Ellexson have helped people with all these conditions and many more:
- Anxiety
- Arthritis
- Back problems
- Bipolar disorder
- Cancer
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Chronic fatigue
- Chronic pain
- Crohn’s disease
- Depression
- Diabetes
- Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS)
- Epilepsy
- Fibromyalgia
- Heart disease
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Liver and kidney diseases
- Lupus
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS)
- Reflect sympathetic dystrophy (RSD)
The Arizona Social Security Disability lawyers at Slepian Ellexson know how to apply Social Security’s rules to your health situation.
It helps to have someone who’s been through this process thousands of times supporting your claim.
Talk to us about your Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance eligibility in Arizona.
After bad health disrupted your life, let’s get you on the path to more stability and peace.
