Social Security Disability Benefits for Thyroid Disorders

Your thyroid is an important gland, located in your neck, that produces hormones that help control how your body uses energy. So when your thyroid is malfunctioning, it can have an impact on many different body systems. Disorders such as Hashimoto’s and Graves’ disease can cause hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, conditions where your thyroid doesn’t produce the correct amount of hormones to properly regulate your metabolism.

Because these diseases are often successfully treated with hormone supplements, they’re not usually considered candidates for disability benefits. But if you have very serious symptoms or complications from a thyroid disorder that keeps you from working full-time for at least one year, you may qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Veterans with a service-connected thyroid disorder may also qualify for VA compensation.

Is Hypothyroidism a Disability?

The Social Security Administration (SSA) awards disability benefits to people who have a medically determinable impairment that keeps them from performing substantial gainful activity—essentially, full-time work—for twelve months or longer.

This can be challenging for people who are able to manage their thyroid dysfunction with hormone supplements, but not everybody can effectively control the disorder. For example, people with hypothyroidism caused by Hashimoto’s disease may experience the following symptoms:

• fatigue
• joint and muscle pain
• feeling uncomfortably cold for no reason
• slowed heart rate
• weight gain
• mental sluggishness, and
• coma, in severely advanced hypothyroidism (myxedema) without medical attention.

While hypothyroidism occurs when your thyroid gland isn’t active enough (the prefix hypo means “below normal”), hyperthyroidism occurs when your thyroid is overactive (the prefix hyper means “above normal”). Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disorder associated with hyperthyroidism, can cause the following potentially disabling symptoms and complications:

• rapid or irregular heart rate
• high blood pressure
• feeling uncomfortably hot for no reason
• unexplained weight loss or gain
• difficulty sleeping
• fatigue
• shaking or trembling hands
• increased irritability
• shortness of breath
• chest pain, and
• muscle weakness.

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been specifically diagnosed with hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s disease, Graves’ disease, or hyperthyroidism. In order for Social Security to find you medically disabled, you’ll either need to meet the requirements of a Blue Book listing or have functional limitations that rule out all jobs.

Getting Disability Benefits for Thyroid Diseases by Meeting a Listing

The Blue Book (or “Listing of Impairments”) is a category of medical disorders that the SSA considers especially serious. Disability applicants whose medical records contain specific evidence of one of these listed impairments can get benefits automatically, without having to show that no jobs exist that they can do.

The Blue Book has a section for endocrine (hormonal) disorders, including thyroid disease. But unlike other listings, the SSA doesn’t evaluate thyroid diseases solely according to the hormonal imbalances they cause. Instead, the agency evaluates complications from thyroid disease under the category of listings related to the body system most affected by the hormonal imbalance.

• Thyroid-related heart conditions are assessed under section 4.00 for disorders of the cardiovascular system.
• Thyroid-related weight loss is assessed under section 5.00 for disorders of the digestive system.
• Hypertensive cerebrovascular accidents (strokes) are assessed under section 11.00 for disorders of the neurological system.
• Cognitive limitations, mood disorders, anxiety, and other cognitive problems are assessed under section 12.00 for mental disorders.

Thyroid cancer does have its own listing (13.09). To meet this listing, you’ll likely need to show that your thyroid cancer has spread to other parts of your body.

Applicants who have a rare, aggressive type of thyroid cancer known as anaplastic carcinoma, can meet listing 13.09 (and be awarded benefits quickly) under Social Security’s Compassionate Allowances program.

Getting Disability by Showing You Can’t Work Due to a Thyroid Disorder

If your thyroid disorder doesn’t cause complications severe enough to meet a related listing, you can still qualify for disability benefits if you don’t have the residual functional capacity (RFC) to work a full-time job. Your RFC is a set of restrictions that reflects the most you’re capable of doing, physically and mentally, in a work setting.

Social Security reviews your medical records and activities of daily living to determine what tasks you can do at work and what you should avoid. For people with thyroid disease, restrictions in your RFC might include:

• how much you can lift or carry due to muscle pain
• how long you can walk or stand for due to fatigue
• how often you can use your hands to type or press buttons due to tremors
• what types of environments you can work in due to temperature sensitivity
• whether you can work with coworkers or the public due to irritability, and
• whether you need extra time to do your work due to sluggishness.

All restrictions need to be based on evidence in your medical records, so make sure that you let your doctor know when you’re experiencing symptoms related to your thyroid disease. Anything that you leave out in your medical visits won’t make it into your RFC, and Social Security uses your RFC to decide whether any jobs exist that you can do.

The agency also must consider the effect of all your combined impairments when determining whether you’re disabled, so let Social Security know the names, locations, and dates for treatment for all your medical providers.

If you’re younger than 50, you’ll need to show Social Security that you can’t perform even the most basic sit-down jobs (simple sedentary work) in order to be eligible for disability benefits. But if you’re 50 years of age or older and you can’t return to your past work, you may have an easier time qualifying for benefits under a special set of rules called the medical-vocational grid.

VA Disability Rating for Thyroid Removal

Veterans with disabilities may qualify for benefits from both the SSA and the VA if they can show that their thyroid disorder is service-connected (meaning it was the result of, or worsened by, their time on active duty). Unlike the SSA, which can only find that you’re disabled or not disabled, the VA assigns a disability rating percentage representing the extent to which your medical condition decreases your health and functioning.

Like the SSA, however, the VA is less concerned with the thyroid removal itself and more with how your hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism has an impact on your overall well-being and ability to function. For example, hyperthyroidism (including Graves’ disease) is evaluated using diagnostic code 7900 in the Schedule for Rating Disabilities (38 C.F.R. Ch. 4). According to the Schedule, a diagnosis of Graves’ disease or other form of hyperthyroidism warrants a 30% disability rating for the first six months, but is adjusted after that based on residual limitations. Similarly, hypothyroidism resulting in myxedema is rated 100% for the first six months following diagnosis, with residuals evaluated under the diagnostic code for the affected body system.

Disability Benefit Amounts for Graves’ Disease, Hashimoto’s, or Hypothyroidism

Social Security doesn't award benefits based on the type of medical condition you have, so it won’t matter if you qualify for disability due to hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, or another disorder entirely. Rather, the amount you'll receive if you're approved depends on whether you qualify for the SSDI or SSI program.

Eligibility for SSDI is based on your employment history and the amount of work credits you’ve accumulated, while SSI is a needs-based benefit subject to income and asset limits. You can learn more about these programs—and calculate your estimated benefit amount— in our article on SSDI and SSI monthly check amounts.

VA disability compensation is calculated differently, using a combination of your disability rating and your living situation. The higher your VA rating, the more you’ll receive in monthly compensation, and the VA will increase your benefits if you have a dependent spouse, children, or parents. Visit the VA website listing the current disability compensation rates to see the tables used to determine monthly benefit amounts.

How to Apply for Disability Benefits for Thyroid Disease

Social Security provides several methods for you to start your application for benefits:

• File online at ssa.gov. Note that people filing for SSDI can complete their entire application online, but if you’re filing for SSI, you’ll need to speak with a representative from Social Security before you finish your application.
• Apply over the phone by calling 800-722-1213 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. If you’re deaf or hard of hearing, you can use the TTY number at 800-325-0778.
• Go in person to your local Social Security field office.

Applying for VA benefits is done in a similar manner. You'll need to complete Form 21-526EZ, Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits, which you can do in a few ways:

• File online using the electronic version of Form 21-526.
• Fax Form 21-526EZ to 844-531-7818 (from inside the United States) or 248-524-4260 (from outside the U.S.).
• Bring your application to your local VA office.
• Mail the form to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Claims Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444.

For additional details, check out our step-by-step guide on applying for SSDI or SSI and our article on filing for veterans disability benefits.

What If I Don’t Qualify for Disability?

Few people are awarded disability benefits on their first try, but you can appeal the denial—preferably with help from an experienced disability attorney or advocate. A lawyer can help you gather medical evidence, handle communications with the SSA or VA, and represent you at a disability hearing.

If the cost of a lawyer is a concern, it might help to know that disability attorneys work on contingency (meaning they get paid only if you win) and many offer free consultations, so there’s little risk in asking around to find a lawyer you like.