Getting Disability Benefits With a Pacemaker or Cardiac Defibrillator

People with heart conditions may undergo implantation of a pacemaker or defibrillator to help treat the abnormality. But having a pacemaker or implanted cardiac defibrillator (ICD) doesn't automatically qualify you for disability benefits—especially if the device is controlling your symptoms well. Instead, Social Security will evaluate your underlying cardiovascular conditions to determine if they cause functional limitations that prevent you from working regularly.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has two ways of assessing whether you're capable of full-time work—by seeing whether your symptoms meet the requirements of a listed impairment or by measuring your limitations against the requirements of various jobs to see if there's any work you can do. Knowing what medical records you'll need to "meet a listing" or rule all jobs and submitting them to the SSA on time can greatly increase your chances of getting benefits.

Is Having a Pacemaker Considered a Disability?

Both pacemakers and implanted defibrillators are used to help patients suffering from cardiac arrhythmias, disorders that cause your heart to beat irregularly. These disorders may include atrial fibrillation (or "Afib"), bradycardia, and tachycardia. Cardiac arrhythmias don't always cause symptoms, but when they do, the symptoms can be severe enough to keep you from working. Symptoms can include:

• tiring easily when walking, lifting objects, or doing chores.
• fainting or nearly fainting (called syncope or near-syncope)
• light-headedness or dizziness
• chest pain
• exercise intolerance, and
• fatigue.

Pacemakers or ICDs are often used to make sure the heart is working right. Because these devices are often effective, Social Security doesn't consider the fact that you have one to be conclusive evidence that you're disabled. But if you still have active symptoms after having the pacemaker or defibrillator implanted, you may qualify for benefits based on how much the underlying heart condition affects your ability to function.

Meeting a Cardiovascular Listing With a Pacemaker or ICD

"Listed impairments" are medical conditions that the SSA considers especially severe. If the agency determines that your medical records meet the requirements of a cardiovascular listing, you'll be awarded benefits without having to prove that no jobs exist that you can perform. The two main listings that would apply to someone with a pacemaker or implanted cardiac defibrillator are listing 4.02 for chronic heart failure and listing 4.05 for recurrent arrhythmias.

Listing 4.02, Chronic heart failure

Claimants who've had a pacemaker or ICD implanted to treat congestive heart failure may qualify for benefits after 4.02. This listing requires that, despite prescribed treatment, you have a significantly reduced ejection fraction (a measure of how well your heart pumps blood) during periods of stability, as well as at least one of the following:

• documentation that you failed an exercise stress test
• persistent symptoms of heart failure that "very significantly" limit your ability to perform activities of daily living to the point that doing an exercise stress test would be too risky, or
• admission and discharge records showing that you've had three or more episodes of acute congestive heart failure requiring hospitalization over the past year.

In certain cases, the SSA may schedule you for an exercise test (on the agency's dime) if there's a question as to whether your heart condition meets or equals the listing criteria. Make sure to attend this test when requested—failure to cooperate can result in the SSA denying your claim.

Listing 4.05, Recurrent arrhythmias

If you still have an irregular heartbeat, despite prescribed treatment and implantation of a pacemaker or ICD, you may meet listing 4.05 by showing that you've experienced at least three episodes of fainting (syncope) or near syncope with altered consciousness in the past year. These episodes must be documented by electrocardiography or other appropriate medical tests that show a correlation between the syncope and the arrhythmias.

Keep in mind that listings 4.02 and 4.05 aren't easy to meet. It's a good idea to ask your doctor to review the listings and provide their opinion as to whether you satisfy the criteria. Even if you don't, you can still get disability if you have physical and mental limitations that rule out all work. (Your doctor's opinion can come in handy here, too.)

Measuring Your Limitations Against Job Requirements

If you can prove to Social Security that you can no longer work any type of full-time job due to your doctor's restrictions or other documented functional limitations, you have a good chance of getting disability benefits. For example, if your medical records show that you experience such severe fatigue during the workday that you must take 10-minute breaks every hour to lie down and rest, the agency should consider you disabled. This measure of what you can and can't do at work is called your residual functional capacity.

But if your limitations aren't so extreme, the SSA might find there are still jobs you can do that aren't that physically demanding. For instance, if your doctor has restricted you from working on hazardous equipment and walking or standing more than four hours per day, the number of jobs you can do is limited, but there are plenty of sit-down ("sedentary") jobs you could do. In this case, if your past work was also sedentary, you wouldn't be found disabled.

Is It Easier to Get Disability for a Pacemaker If I'm Older?

Yes, especially if your residual functional capacity limits you to work at the "light" or "sedentary" physical exertion level. That's because the SSA has a special set of rules called the medical-vocational grid that takes into account factors such as your age, education, and skill set to see whether you could adjust to another line of work before you hit full retirement age (67 or 66, depending on your birth year). If you're 50 years of age or older, the grid rules may apply.

You'll need to first show that you're unable to do your past work before you can use the grid rules to your advantage. This is easier if your employment history contains jobs involving heavy lifting or long stretches of time spent on your feet. For example, if your past work was as an auto mechanic, but due to your A-Fib you're no longer able to lift more than 10 pounds without chest pain, the grid rules direct a finding of disability provided you're at least 50 years old and don't have any transferable skills to sedentary work.

In addition to physical work restrictions, some non-exertional limitations resulting from your pacemaker implantation can also rule out certain types of jobs. Social Security doesn't expect you work near powerful electromagnetic fields that can interfere with your pacemaker or ICD, for example, which can rule out past jobs that involved the following tools:

• induction hobs (used on induction cooktops)
• large magnets
• arc welders
• chainsaws
• radio or television transmitters
• high-tension wires and transformer boxes
• electric fences and electrical pet containment systems
• radar installations, and
• smelting furnaces.

Make sure to provide the SSA with a detailed description of your work history so that the agency knows if you've worked in proximity to such tools. Being able to show that you can't perform your past work is especially important for claimants 50 years of age and older who may benefit from the grid rules in order to get benefits.

How Does Having a Pacemaker Affect My VA Rating?

Veterans who have a pacemaker from a service-connected heart condition may qualify for a disability rating from the VA. Under the Schedule for Rating Disabilities, permanent pacemaker implantation for bradycardia or arrhythmias is assigned a 100% rating for one month after you've been discharged from the hospital following implantation. After that one month period is up, the VA will reevaluate your percentage disability under the General Rating Formula for Diseases of the Heart. Using the formula, the VA can assign ratings of 10%, 30%, 60%, or 100%, depending on the results of your exercise stress test. The worse your results are—indicating a more severe degree of heart dysfunction—the higher your rating will be.

What Medical Records Do I Need to Get Disability?

When you apply for disability benefits from the SSA or the VA, you should also provide any medical records and test results you have, plus the names and contact information of all of your medical providers (especially your cardiologist). Your medical records—especially test results and doctors' notes about the treatments you've had and how your pacemaker or defibrillator limits your ability to work—are the backbone of your disability case.

RFC Form

Ask your cardiologist to fill out a residual functional capacity (RFC) form outlining what you're not able to do as a result of your heart condition, such as no lifting more than 20 pounds or walking longer than a quarter mile. Social Security can find your doctor's opinion very persuasive when it's backed up by objective evidence and consistent with the rest of your medical record, so getting a helpful doctor's statement into your file is a positive development.

You can start by printing out a blank RFC form and ask your doctor to fill it out at your next appointment. (Click the thumbnail below for an example of what a helpful completed RFC for heart disease looks like.)

Information About ICD Shocks

If you have an ICD, you should include information in your disability file about how often the ICD shocks you. Be sure to document whether the shocks are painful, how the shocks affect your ability to carry out your daily activities, and if the shocks cause you psychological distress. These details are important because even if the ICD prevents you from experiencing cardiac symptoms, frequent shocks in response to benign arrhythmias or electrical malfunction might lower your functional capacity so much that all full-time jobs are ruled out.

How Much Can I Get in Disability Benefits If I'm Approved?

Social Security doesn't award benefits based on the type of medical condition you have. Instead, the amount you'll receive if you're approved will depend on whether you're eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSDI eligibility is determined by your work history and how much you've contributed to the program in payroll taxes, while SSI is a needs-based benefit available to people with limited resources.

For 2025, the maximum you can receive in SSDI benefits is $4,018 per month (although the average amount is much lower, at $1,580). SSI benefits are tied to the federal benefit rate, which in 2025 is $967 per month minus any countable income you have in that month. You can learn more in our article on SSDI and SSI monthly check amounts. Veterans can visit the VA webpage listing the current disability compensation rates to see how much they can get every month based on their disability rating and living situation.

Applying for Disability Benefits

You can file a disability application with Social Security using one of the following three methods:

• Go online at ssa.gov. Filing online has many benefits, such as giving you the option to save your application and return to it later. You'll also receive a confirmation number where you can track your application.
• Call Social Security's national number at 800-772-1213 from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, to speak with a representative. If you're deaf or hard of hearing, you can use the TTY number at 800-325-0778.
• Apply in person at your local Social Security field office. You can use the locator tool here to find the office closest to you.

Filing for VA benefits follows a similar process. Veterans seeking disability compensation can find comprehensive information about applying in our article on how to file for VA benefits.

I Received a Denial Notice, What Now?

If you've already applied for SSDI or SSI and received a denial letter in the mail, don't give up. Most people aren't approved on their first try, and statistically your best chance at getting benefits isn't until after a hearing with an administrative law judge—and you'll need to be denied one more time before you can appeal to a judge.

You may want to consider hiring an experienced disability lawyer or advocate to help prove that your limitations are too great for you to sustain any type of full-time work. Disability representatives aren't allowed to charge you if you don't win—and they're limited to a small percentage of your disability backpay if you do win—so there's little risk in finding a lawyer near you to help with your claim.