In addition to physical and mental medical conditions that may prevent an individual from working, a serious illness or other health problem may also prevent individuals from working or being able to seek gainful employment. Illnesses can arise based on a variety of factors, and could occur in the workplace based on the kind of work the disabled individual usually performs. Regardless of how the illness arose, disability benefits including Social Security disability or SSD and Supplemental Security Income or SSI may be able to help those living with disabilities as well as their families.
A disabling illness can include heart disease, cancer, diabetes, asthma, crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD and learning disabilities and other mental health conditions. Many of these illnesses will prevent an individual from being able to work. When the disabled individual is no longer able to work because of their medical condition, they may be able to obtain Social Security disability benefits.
Social Security disability benefits for illness are based on the individual’s inability to work because of their disability and their inability to perform similar work or obtain other gainful employment. In addition, they must suffer from a physical or mental medical condition causing disability. The physical or mental medical condition they suffer from must be expected to last 12 months or longer or result in death. Additionally, work history is required to qualify for SSD benefits but is not required to qualify for SSI benefits.
Disability benefits are an important resource for disabled individuals and their families. As a result, disabled individuals should be familiar with the different paths to qualify to receive the oftentimes badly-needed benefits.