This information may help claimants with representation, as well as claimants who are not represented by an attorney or non attorney representative. Understanding how the Social Security Disability system works can make the difference between winning or not winning the continuing disability benefits and backpay to which a person is entitled. To win a claim for ongoing and past due benefits, claimants should learn about the disability process to improve their chances of winning benefits. |
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Certainly. It all depends on the extent of the use, as well as its recency.
It's not possible at this point in time to receive social security disability benefits based solely on addiction. But whether such use will affect, or not affect, a claimant's eligibility for benefits hinges on something called materiality. That is, if a claimant's drug or alcohol abuse is deemed material to a case, that case will not win. Let's throw out a example. A claimant applies for social security disability based on liver dysfunction and hepatitis. The same claimant has a history of alcohol abuse, some of it recent. Will the alcohol abuse harm the claimant's disability case? It depends on whether or not it is material or immaterial to his condition. If the claimant's liver damage is so pronounced that ceasing alcohol use completely would make no difference to the claimant's medical condition, then alcohol abuse would be considered immaterial to the case. In other words, irrelevant. If, however, ceasing the use of alcohol would result in medical improvement, alcohol abuse would be deemed material to the disability case, and the claim would be denied. The reasoning is easy enough to understand. Social Security will not pay benefits to claimants whose disabling conditions are brought on, and exacerbated by, drug and alcohol abuse. Claimants for social security disability who have a history of abuse but who are not currently using substances would be advised to carefully review their medical records before they file for disability. Often, medical doctors and mental health professionals will indicate "suspected use" in their treatment notes. Such indications, proven or otherwise, can have a damaging effect on a disability claim. Claimants whose disabling conditions are psychiatric in nature (e.g., depression, anxiety, etc) should especially heed this since mental cases are more likely to be denied when substance abuse is involved. Disability Advocates Help with Claims Free Case Evaluation |
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SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY ATTORNEY, REPRESENTATIVE LAWYER LIST ANSWERS TO YOUR SSD & SSI QUESTIONS PAGE 1 ANSWERS TO YOUR SSD & SSI QUESTIONS PAGE 2 |
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If you suffer from a medical disability such as hip, neck, shoulder, ankle, wrist, back, or other joint problems, disc herniation, degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, carpal tunnel syndrome, rsi or repetetive stress injury, inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis, dysthymia, depression or other mood disorders, congestive or chronic heart failure, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, diabetic neuropathy, high blood pressure (hypertension), seizure disorder, stroke, copd, emphysema, hearing loss or poor hearing, statutory blindness, peripheral field problems or other vision loss, clinical obesity, attention deficit hyperactivity or, simply, adhd, bipolar disorder or manic depression, panic disorder, schizophrenia, autism, head trauma, memory loss, low iq, mental retardation, learning disability, epilepsy, cancer, chronic fatigue, multiple sclerosis, lupus, anxiety, inner ear problems, meniere's, vertigo or dizziness, kidney failure requiring dialysis or other renal problems, cirrhosis, hepatitis, or other liver disease, pancreatitis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, asthma, bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, rsd or reflex sympathetic dystrophy, crohn's disease, sarcoidosis, peripheral vascular disease, lyme disease, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, hiv, aids, anemia, sickle cell, thyroid problems including hypothyroidism, esrd or end stage renal disease, reflux, gerd (gastroesophageal reflux disease), cfids, muscular dystrophy, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, or tachycardia, bradycardia or other arrhythmia and have initiated or been denied on a social security disability, or ssi, claim for benefits, this site may assist you with your case. Social Security Disability benefits are often difficult to win; however many claims for social security disability are lost simply because a claimant did not know enough about the disability process to their social security or ssi claim. For information re: representation on a social security disability or ssi claim (attorney or non attorney representative), see the "questions" & "how" pages. |
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