Can You Get Disability for HIV/AIDS?

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a virus that attacks the cells of your body’s immune system, causing it to weaken and leaving you vulnerable to other infections and diseases. Left untreated, HIV can develop into acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), an advanced stage of immunocompromise that can be life-threatening. Although there is currently no cure, many advancements have been made in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), for example, is a medicine that can reduce your chances of getting HIV if you’re at a high risk of exposure. If you’ve already been infected, your doctor might prescribe medicines known as antiretrovirals that can significantly slow the progression of the disease. Despite these advances, HIV can be considered a disability if it causes significant functional limitations that affect your ability to work full-time. Knowing what benefits and accommodations are available for people with HIV is an important part of managing the disease.

Can I Get Disability for HIV/AIDS?

The Social Security Administration (SSA) awards disability benefits to people who have a medically determinable impairment that keeps them from engaging in substantial gainful activity for at least twelve months. Advances in medical treatment mean that people with HIV/AIDS are living longer and healthier lives, so whether the SSA finds you disabled will depend on the severity of your symptoms and the results of your medical tests. If your symptoms are well controlled with your current medication, it’s unlikely that the agency will consider you disabled.

But for some people, residual limitations from HIV treatment or complications from the disease can prevent them from working full-time. Additionally, about half of people with HIV are over the age of 50, meaning the SSA has special rules that can make it easier for them to qualify for disability benefits. Furthermore, veterans who have service-connected HIV are eligible for a disability rating from the VA, which can entitle them to monthly compensation.

Qualifying for Disability by Meeting the HIV/AIDS Listing

Social Security maintains a list of illnesses, conditions, or diseases that the agency considers especially severe (the “Listing of Impairments”). HIV/AIDS is one of these listed impairments, so if your records contain certain medical requirements, the agency can find you disabled without having to determine whether you can do any work.

When you file for disability based on HIV/AIDS, the SSA will evaluate your application under Listing 14.11 for HIV infection. Getting benefits based on this listing can be complex. First, you’ll have to show a diagnosis of HIV, ideally from the results of lab tests that the agency considers medically acceptable. Examples of lab tests include:

• HIV antibody tests. These tests check for antibodies in your blood that indicate an immune response to the virus.
• HIV nucleic acid detection test. For example, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test checks for the genetic material (RNA or DNA) of the virus.
• HIV p24 antigen test. This test detects the presence of a protein (p24) that makes up a large part of the virus.
• Isolation of HIV in viral culture. This test uses a sample of your body fluid or tissue and adds it to other cells to see if they become infected with the virus.

Not everybody with HIV has a diagnosis based on the above tests, but having a lab diagnosis is pretty important. Instead of submitting test results, Social Security can allow your doctor to vouch for your diagnosis, but your doctor still has to state that you’ve had the appropriate test. Or, if you have evidence of another condition that almost only occurs in people with HIV (an “opportunistic disease”), the SSA can take that as proof of an HIV diagnosis.

Once Social Security sees evidence of a diagnosis, the agency will continue with its evaluation under listing 14.11. Essentially, the SSA will be looking for medical documentation of complications from HIV/AIDS, such as certain cancers or a greatly reduced white blood cell count. Examples include:

• Multicentric Castleman's disease. This disease affects multiple lymph nodes (part of your immune system) and can cause flu-like symptoms.
• Primary central nervous system lymphoma. This is a type of cancer that forms in the lymph tissue of the brain or spinal cord.
• Primary effusion lymphoma. This is a type of cancer that forms in the part of a blood cell that produces antibodies.
• Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. This is a progressive disease that causes deterioration of cells that protect the nerves in your brain.
• Pulmonary Kaposi sarcoma. This is a type of cancer that forms in the lungs.
• Low CD4 (T-cell) count. CD4 cells are an important part of your immune system. If your CD4 count is too low, you're more vulnerable to infections.

There are additional ways to meet Listing 14.11 even if none of the above apply to you. For example, if you’ve had multiple lengthy hospitalizations during one year due to complications from HIV, or you’re repeatedly getting infections (such as pancreatitis or pneumonia), the SSA can find that you satisfy the requirements of the listing.

Qualifying for Disability by Showing That You Can’t Do Any Work

Social Security can still find you disabled even when your medical records don’t contain the exact information needed for the agency to find you disabled under Listing 14.11. Many of the common antiretrovirals used to treat HIV/AIDS have side effects that can prevent you from working full-time.

Antiretrovirals work by blocking a protein that infected cells need to put together new virus particles. Common side effects can include:

• abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting
• numbness, tingling, or burning sensations
• dizziness, headaches, or fatigue
• depression or anxiety, and
• overall weakness or joint pain.

Some side effects can be longer lasting and more damaging, such as a build-up of acid, sugar, or fat in the blood that can lead to kidney or liver damage.

Social Security will review your medical records for evidence that your antiretrovirals cause side effects that interfere with your activities of daily living (ADLs). Any difficulties you have completing your ADLs provide insight into limitations that could prevent you from working. For example, if you can’t stand longer than 15 minutes without joint pain, it’s unlikely that you’d be able to do a job where you’d be on your feet all day.

Assessing Your Residual Functional Capacity

After reviewing your medical records and your ADLs, Social Security will determine what restrictions you would have in a work environment. This determination is called your residual functional capacity (RFC). A typical RFC for somebody with HIV/AIDS will include physical limitations such as:

• how long you can sit, stand, and walk for
• how much weight you can lift and carry
• how often you can move your arms and hands, and
• how often you can bend, stoop, crouch, crawl, and kneel.

Depending on what additional symptoms—such as depression or fatigue—are documented in your medical records, you might also have mental limitations such as:

• whether you can do skilled, semi-skilled, or unskilled jobs
• how frequently you can work with the general public and your coworkers, and
• how long you can maintain concentration.

How Social Security Uses Your Residual Functional Capacity

Social Security will look at the physical and mental demands of every job you’ve had in the past five years and use your RFC assessment to determine whether you could do your past work today. If the agency decides that you can’t do your past work, it will then determine if you can do any other work, depending on how old you are.

If you’re over the age of 50, Social Security will use a set of rules called the medical-vocational grid to see if you learned any skills from your past work that you could use to do a less demanding job. The agency can find you disabled under the grid if you could physically perform an easier job but don’t know how to do it (and can’t learn).

If you’re under the age of 50, you’ll need to show the SSA that you can’t do any job full-time, even if it’s less demanding, because of your limitations. Missing too many days of work, taking extra breaks, or spending too much time “off-task” are examples of limitations that the agency considers disabling.

What If I Take a “Drug Holiday”?

Structured treatment interruptions, also known as “drug holidays,” aren’t recommended for patients outside of a clinical trial (a supervised, experimental setting). Social Security wants to see that you’re taking all your medications regularly and following your treatment as prescribed, or they might deny you benefits because you didn’t follow your doctor’s recommendations.

But if you’re having serious adverse side effects from your medications and you stop taking them for a short period of time, Social Security likely won’t hold it against you—as long as you tell your doctor about the side effects and you both work together to find a more tolerable treatment. If the SSA thinks your record shows a pattern of not taking your medications properly, though, the agency can deny your claim.

Getting an HIV VA Disability Rating

Veterans who contracted HIV/AIDS related to their time on active duty may qualify for disability compensation from the VA. Under diagnostic code 6351 for HIV-related illness, the VA will use the Schedule for Rating Disabilities (38 C.F.R. Part 4) to assign you a rating that is used to help determine your amount in monthly compensation. Available compensable percentage ratings for HIV range from 10% to 100%, depending on how severe the symptoms are:

If you have a diagnosis of HIV but you don’t otherwise have any symptoms, you’ll get a 0% (“non-compensable”) disability rating. Non-compensable ratings don’t entitle you to monthly disability payments, but allow you access to other benefits such as VA health care.

Medical Evidence You’ll Need to Get Disability

Your medical records are the foundation of your disability claim, whether you’re applying for VA or Social Security benefits. They tell the relevant agencies what kinds of treatments are working and what you still have trouble doing despite medical intervention. When applying for benefits, you should be ready to provide the following documentation:

• clinical notes from your regular doctors containing their observations on your condition
• medication lists and notes about how effective they are
• physical examinations demonstrating any abnormal functioning
• laboratory tests or blood work showing which body systems are affected
• admission and discharge records from any hospitalizations due to infection
• mental status examinations showing any difficulties with memory or cognition, and
• any other objective medical imaging, such as an X-ray, MRI, or CT scan.

Basically, any medical records that support limitations related to your HIV/AIDS diagnosis should be submitted to the SSA or the VA when you apply. It’s also helpful to have your regular doctors provide medical source statements that outline what your limitations are and which evidence they used to arrive at their conclusions.

Disability Benefit Amounts for HIV/AIDS

Social Security doesn't award benefits based on the type of medical condition you have. Instead, the amount you'll receive if you're found disabled depends on which disability program you’re eligible for—Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). For more details, check out our articles on how much you can get in SSDI and how much you can get in SSI.

VA disability compensation is calculated using a combination of your disability percentage rating and your living situation. For example, in 2026, an individual veteran with a 30% rating can receive $552.47 every month while an individual veteran with a 60% rating can receive $1,435.02. Veterans with the same disability rating (30% and 60%) but who are married with one dependent child will receive higher payments, at $666.47 and $1,663.02 respectively. You can estimate your benefits by reviewing the current VA disability compensation tables.

How to Apply for Disability Benefits

Applying for SSDI or SSI benefits is fairly straightforward. Social Security provides several methods to choose from when you’re ready to start your claim.

• File online at ssa.gov. This method 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 toolhere to find the office closest to you.

You can apply for VA benefits 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.

Veterans can receive both VA and Social Security benefits, although being found disabled by one agency doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get disability from the other due to the different criteria for each. But if you have medical records strong enough for the VA to give you a 100% disability rating, for example, it’s likely that the SSA will come to a similar conclusion.

What If My Disability Application Was Denied?

Not everybody with a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS will have the medical records or functional limitations required to qualify for disability benefits. If, after reading over the denial letter, you disagree with the SSA’s decision (or the VA’s rating), you have 60 days to submit an appeal.

The SSA appeals process typically involves getting another denial before you can request a hearing with an administrative law judge. VA appeals go through a similar process, although veterans can opt to have their case go directly to an appeals board.

You aren’t required to have an attorney to appeal a denial, but it’s usually a good idea. An experienced disability lawyer or advocate can help you gather the proper medical paperwork, make sure you don’t miss important deadlines, and represent you at a disability hearing. And because disability lawyers 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—there’s little risk in finding a lawyer near you to help with your claim.