Can You Get Disability for Bradycardia or Tachycardia?

Your heart is the most important muscle in your body. Each day, the average heart beats 100,000 times and pumps 2,000 gallons of blood through almost 100,000 miles of blood vessels, bringing oxygen to your brain and other vital organs. When your heart isn't beating as it should, it can cause symptoms in other parts of your body that can affect your ability to function. If these symptoms are severe enough, they might keep you from working a full-time job.

The typical heart rate for an adult at rest (not engaged in strenuous physical activity) is between 60 and 100 beats per minute. If your resting heart rate is fewer than 60 beats per minute, you have a condition known as bradycardia (brad-e-KAHR-dee-uh). If your resting heart rate is faster than 100 beats per minute, you have a condition known as tachycardia (tak-ih-KAHR-dee-uh).

Is Bradycardia or Tachycardia a Disability?

The heart is a muscle, and like any muscle, it relies on electrical signals produced by the nervous system that make it react in certain ways. The part of your heart that produces these electrical signals is called the "sinus node." Electrical signals from the sinus node tell the heart to contract, which starts a heartbeat. Bradycardia happens when the electrical signals that tell the heart to beat are slowed down or blocked. Tachycardia happens when the electrical signals that tell the heart to beat are firing too quickly.

Sometimes, it's normal to have a slow or fast heartbeat. For example, if you're in deep sleep or very relaxed, your heart rate can go below 60 beats per minute. Likewise, if you're exercising or stressed out, your heart rate can go above 100 beats per minute. Such situations don't normally require medical attention. But if you're experiencing symptoms of bradycardia or tachycardia while doing routine daily activities like reading, watching TV, or cooking dinner, you'll want to tell your doctor. Symptoms of bradycardia and tachycardia can be very similar, including:

• feeling lightheaded or dizzy
• fatigue
• shortness of breath
• chest pains or "fluttering"
• difficulty with memory or focus
• fainting or near-fainting, and
• tiring easily when walking, lifting objects, or doing chores.

Bradycardia and tachycardia don't necessarily cause symptoms or complications, but they can become serious if it means that your heart is having difficulty pumping blood, since blood carries oxygen to your brain and other organs. If you're having severe fatigue, you're fainting, or you tire easily, you may qualify for Social Security disability benefits.

Types and Causes of Bradycardia and Tachycardia

Your doctor will want to figure out the underlying cause of your slow or fast heartbeat in order to determine the right treatment for you. This will likely include a physical examination and possibly heart imaging such as an echocardiogram (ECG), stress test, or coronary angiogram. Doctors can further categorize bradycardia and tachycardia based on the exact nature of the irregularity. Your medical treatment will depend on your specific diagnosis.

Types of Bradycardia

• Sinus bradycardia happens when your heartbeat starts in the normal pacemaker part of the heart, but the beat is less than 60 times per minute.
• Sinus pause/sinus arrest happens when you miss one or more heartbeats because your pacemaker doesn't activate the electrical system in the rest of your heart.
• Sick sinus syndrome, also known as "tachy-brady" syndrome, happens when your natural pacemaker doesn't work right, causing your heart to sometimes beat too fast, and other times, too slowly.
• Heart block means that something is blocking the electrical impulses from passing through their normal pathways in the heart, usually resulting in a slower heart rate.

Types of Tachycardia

• Sinus tachycardia happens when your heart's pacemaker is firing rapidly because the body needs more oxygen.
• Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), also called paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) happens when you have bouts of rapid (150-220 times per minute), regular heartbeats that originate in the upper chambers (atria) of the heart.
• Ventricular tachycardia (V-Tach) happens when you have a rapid heartbeat originating in a part of the heart called the ventricles, resulting in less blood being pumped through your body.

Just as bradycardia and tachycardia can have similar symptoms, they can also have similar causes. For example, having an imbalance of chemicals in the blood, such as potassium, calcium, or sodium, can cause either a slower-than-normal or faster-than-normal heartbeat. Additionally, a thyroid disorder, lung disease, or a previous heart infection can result in a slower or faster-than-normal heartbeat.

Bradycardia can also be a result of a heart disorder you've had since birth (congenital defect), a result of having trouble breathing while you're asleep (sleep apnea), or as a side effect of medication you're taking. Tachycardia can also be a result of high blood pressure, chronic emotional stress or anxiety, or lifestyle factors such as drinking or smoking.

How You Can Get Disability Based on Bradycardia or Tachycardia

The Social Security Administration (SSA) can find you disabled "medically" or "vocationally." Medical disability means that your doctor's records include symptoms or test results that the agency has already determined are enough to find you disabled under its "listing of impairments." If you're approved through a "vocational allowance," that means the SSA has found that your particular limitations make it impossible to do any job.

To have your best chance at qualifying for disability benefits, it's important that you've visited the doctor and you're able to provide your medical records. Social Security will expect to see at least one of the following in your medical record:

• One or more echocardiograms (ECG or EKG). An ECG records the electrical activity in your heart and helps your doctor search for things that don't look normal.
• Results from an exercise stress test. During an exercise stress test, you walk on a treadmill while your doctor monitors your heart activity. It lets your doctor see how your heart functions while it's working hard and beating fast.
• A tilt table test. Tilt table tests show how your body responds to standing up after lying down. They can be used to diagnose postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome or find out how your slow or fast heartbeat contributes to fainting spells.
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An MRI is a picture taken of your heart to see how the blood is flowing through it.
• Doppler testing. Doppler tests use ultrasound to estimate the amount of blood flowing through your vessels by bouncing sound waves off of circulating blood cells.
• Coronary angiography. This procedure uses X-rays to see your heart's blood vessels.
• Cardiac catheterization. In this procedure, your doctor will place a thin tube (catheter) in your blood vessels to check on your heart.

If these tests and procedures show that your heart is functioning very poorly, you may be able to qualify for disability medically. But even if these tests don't prove that you're disabled under a listed impairment, having them can be very useful for finding that you're disabled "vocationally"—meaning you're unable to work at any job.

Qualifying Medically Under the Listings for Cardiovascular Disorders

It's not easy to meet the requirements of one of Social Security's medical listings. Having test results that support a diagnosis of bradycardia or tachycardia is generally not enough for the SSA to find you disabled under a listing. But if your medical record contains additional documentation showing that your heart is functioning exceptionally poorly, you may qualify for disability under one of Social Security's listed cardiovascular disorders. Here are some examples:

• If you're frequently hospitalized for cardiac failure due to ventricular tachycardia, Social Security may find that you're disabled under the listing for chronic heart failure. This listing requires you to have medical imaging showing that your heart is pumping blood abnormally or that your heart walls have thickened.
• If you have angina along with tachycardia, you may be able to get benefits under the listing for coronary artery disease. Certain exercise tolerance test results will satisfy the listing for ischemic heart disease.
• If your irregular heartbeat is causing you to faint (called "syncope") or almost faint ("near-syncope") even though you're following your doctor's recommended treatment, you might meet the listing for recurrent arrhythmias. You'll need to have an EKG showing that your fainting is related to the arrhythmia.

Qualifying Vocationally If You Don't Meet a Medical Listing

Bradycardia and tachycardia can affect every person differently. You may have moderate symptoms that you're able to manage with diet and medication. Or you may experience symptoms that are more difficult to manage and affect your ability to work. If Social Security finds there are no jobs available (anywhere in the country) that you can do with your limitations, the agency can find you disabled "vocationally."

To figure out if you can work any jobs, the SSA will be interested in the ways that your symptoms interfere with your activities of daily living. The agency asks about your daily routine because it makes sense that something you have difficulty doing at home would be something you would struggle with at work. For example, if you feel shortness of breath after walking to the mailbox and back, it makes sense that you'd struggle to do a job where you'd have to walk around all day. Or if you forget things on your grocery list because you have difficulty with your memory, you probably wouldn't do well at a job where you had to keep track of inventory.

Social Security doesn't expect you to do a job that's beyond your capabilities, mentally or physically. The agency's term for figuring out what you can and can't do in a work setting is called "assessing your residual functional capacity (RFC)". Your RFC is a list of the most intensive work you can do despite your limitations. For instance, if you have severe bradycardia, your RFC might say that you can't drive, that you can walk no more than two hours a day, and you need to take a break once an hour.

To prove there are no jobs within your capabilities, you must first show that your current RFC prevents you from returning to any of the jobs you have performed in the past. Then—depending on your age, education, and skills—you'll likely have to show that there are no other jobs that are less demanding, physically or mentally, that you could do. For more information, see our article on how to get approved for disability benefits vocationally.

Can I Get a VA Rating for Sinus Bradycardia or Tachycardia?

Veterans who have service-connected bradycardia or tachycardia may qualify for disability compensation from the VA. Unlike Social Security where you're either disabled or you aren't, the VA uses a percentage ratings system to help determine how much you'll receive in disability benefits.

For symptomatic sinus bradycardia, you can get a 100% disability rating from the VA for one month following the implantation of a permanent pacemaker. (Asymptomatic bradycardia isn't considered a disability for VA compensation purposes.) Veterans with supraventricular tachycardia can get a 30% disability rating if the tachycardia is confirmed by ECG and requires five or more treatment interventions per year, or 10% if the tachycardia requires less than five interventions per year.

Social Security and VA Disability Benefit Amounts

If you're a veteran awarded service-connected disability compensation for sinus bradycardia or tachycardia, the monthly amount you'll receive will depend on your percentage rating and your living situation. For example, in 2025, a single veteran with a 10% disability rating for supraventricular tachycardia will receive $175.51 every month from the VA, while a veteran who is married with one child and has a 30% rating will receive $648.42 monthly. You can calculate your estimated monthly benefit using the current VA disability compensation rates tables.

Social Security doesn't pay benefits according to a disability rating or based on what medical condition you have. Instead, your monthly benefit will depend on whether you qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSDI is calculated based on the work credits you've earned, while SSI is available to people with limited income and assets. For 2025, the maximum monthly amount you can receive in SSDI is $4,018, although the average amount is much less, at $1,580. SSI benefits are $967 per month minus any earned income you have for that month.

How Do I Apply for Disability Benefits for Bradycardia or Tachycardia?

An easy way to start your disability application is to file online. You don't have to finish the application all at once—just make sure that you keep track of the application number given to you when you start the application so you can access it again if you need to come back to it. You can also apply for disability benefits by phone by calling 800-772-1213 (TTY 800-325-0778) from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, or file in person at your local Social Security field office. You can learn more about each method in our article on applying for disability benefits.

Veterans can apply for benefits by submitting VA Form 21-526, Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits. The VA encourages veterans to submit this form electronically, but you can also print it out and bring it with you to your regional VA field office. Learn more about how to apply in our article on filing for veterans' disability benefits.

You aren't required to hire an attorney to begin your application for SSDI, SSI, or VA disability benefits, but it can be a smart choice, especially if you've already been denied once and need to appeal. An experienced lawyer can help you navigate the often convoluted bureaucracies involved in making disability determinations, gather needed medical evidence, and represent you in front of a disability judge or VA tribunal (if necessary).