Can You Get Disability for Osteoporosis or Osteopenia?

Osteoporosis (ah-stee-oh-pore-OH-sis) and osteopenia (ah-stee-oh-PEE-nee-ah) are two related conditions that affect bone density. Osteoporosis occurs when your bone tissue doesn't replenish as often as it should, resulting in weak, brittle bones that are easier to break. Osteopenia is a decrease in bone density that can eventually lead to osteoporosis. At this stage, your bones have lost mass, but are usually still strong enough to resist fractures.

Advanced osteoporosis can cause significant physical limitations that affect your day-to-day functioning. When your limitations are severe enough to prevent you from working full-time, you may qualify for Social Security disability benefits, especially if you have repeated ("pathologic") fractures from a loss of bone density.

Can You Still Work If You Have Osteoporosis?

For most people, the answer to this question depends on how far along the osteoporosis has progressed. Osteoporosis and osteopenia are sometimes called "silent diseases" due to the early lack of symptoms. Many people might not even know they have osteoporosis until they have a bone fracture (or multiple fractures). At this early stage, you might not experience any symptoms of the disease that would affect your ability to work.

As the osteoporosis progresses, you may notice changes that begin to interfere with your daily life. Severe osteoporosis can cause bones to break spontaneously or as the result of minor falls. Fractures may also occur from routine motions like coughing, bending, and lifting. Your hips, spine, and wrists are most susceptible to fractures. Compression fractures to the spine may lead to decreased height and abnormal posture, which can place extra strain on the back muscles that results in nerve impingement. Over time, you might find it increasingly difficult to stand, walk, or sit for a long time at work.

When Is Osteoporosis or Osteopenia Considered a Disability?

Social Security awards disability benefits to people who have a medically determinable impairment that keeps them from earning more than a specific dollar amount for at least twelve months. So people with osteoporosis or osteopenia who haven't yet developed any symptoms keeping them from working full-time for a year aren't going to qualify for disability.

Social Security determines whether you're disabled according to the agency's five-step sequential evaluation process. At each of these five steps, Social Security reviews certain criteria to see whether you can then proceed to further evaluation until your application is either approved or denied. The five steps are as follows:

1. Have you worked since you became disabled or applied for benefits?
2. Is your osteoporosis or osteopenia a severe medical impairment?
3. Do you meet or equal a medical listing?
4. Can you perform your past relevant work?
5. Can you perform any other work in the national economy?

You'll also need to meet some preliminary eligibility requirements for either Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the two disability programs run by the Social Security Administration. SSDI eligibility is based on your employment history and how many work credits you've earned, while SSI is needs-based and available only to people with limited income and assets.

Step One: Are You Working?

You can't receive disability benefits if you're currently working above the substantial gainful activity (SGA) amount. SGA is the minimum monthly income you can earn that Social Security considers to be working full-time (and therefore not disabled). Even if you make the entire monthly SGA amount in one week but are in so much pain that you stay in bed for the rest of the month, Social Security can't award you disability benefits.

The agency will, with your permission, obtain your earnings history from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to see whether you're currently working at the SGA level. If you aren't, Social Security will proceed to step two of the sequential evaluation process.

Step Two: Is Your Osteoporosis Severe?

Step two is a screening step to make sure your medical records contain evidence that you have a serious, chronic condition that limits your abilities. Social Security will find that your osteoporosis is a severe impairment at step two if it causes "more than minimal interference" with your daily activities. You'll also need to show that limitations from your condition have lasted for at least twelve months (the "durational requirement").

Social Security considers all of your reported symptoms, including pain and fatigue, when deciding whether your impairment is severe, but by themselves, symptoms aren't enough evidence to prove that your osteoporosis is severe. You must also have clinical signs, medical imaging, or laboratory test results that support your diagnosis. Osteoporosis is typically diagnosed after a bone density test (DEXA scan), so you should have documentation of one in your records. Your doctor may also order several blood tests to confirm the presence of osteoporosis. X-rays, CT scans, or MRIs can also help identify any bone fractures you've had as a result of osteoporosis.

Step Three: Do You Meet or Equal a Medical Listing?

At step three, Social Security will review your severe impairments using the agency's medical evaluation handbook (the "Blue Book"), which contains sets of requirements specific to certain medical conditions. These conditions, along with each corresponding set of requirements, are referred to as the "listings." If you satisfy the criteria of a listing, Social Security will find you disabled at step three and won't proceed any further in the sequential evaluation.

Osteoporosis doesn't have its own listing in the Blue Book, but if your osteoporosis has weakened your bones to the point where you've had multiple fractures, Social Security may find you disabled under listing 1.19 for "pathologic" fractures (fractures not caused by force or impact). In order to meet listing 1.19, you'll need evidence of pathologic fractures, occurring three separate times within one year, that cause you to have at least one of the following physical limitations:

• you need a walker, wheelchair, bilateral canes, or bilateral crutches to move around (or any ambulatory aid that requires use of both hands)
• you need a one-handed ambulatory aid to move around, but your "free" hand can't perform fine and gross motor movements (like typing or grasping objects), or
• you don't need any assistive devices to stand or walk, but you can't use either of your hands to perform fine and gross motor movements.

Because the listing requires very significant limitations in your ability to perform basic movements, meeting the listing can be difficult. But most disability claims that are approved for benefits don't meet the criteria of one of the Blue Book listings. Instead, Social Security approves these claims because the agency agrees that the disability applicant has limitations from their symptoms that keep them from performing not only their past work but any other type of job.

Step Four: Can You Do Your Past Work With Your Current RFC?

To decide whether you can do your past work, Social Security reviews your work history over the past five years for evidence about the physical strength and mental skills needed to perform your previous jobs. The agency will then determine your ability to return to your past work by assessing your residual functional capacity (RFC). Your RFC is a set of restrictions that reflect the most you can still do, physically and mentally, in a work environment, despite limitations from your osteoporosis.

For example, osteoporosis in your upper back can interfere with the amount of weight you can safely lift and carry on the job. Lower back osteoporosis can limit your ability to bend, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl—actions that may be required for jobs such as plumber, carpenter, or gardener. Osteoporosis in your knee or feet can restrict how long you're able to walk or stand, which can preclude many jobs such as server or grocery stocker. When your hands, arms, and fingers are affected, you might not be able to do jobs requiring frequent manual dexterity. Here's a sample RFC that Social Security might give a disability claimant with severe osteoporosis:

In the example above, if the claimant's previous job was as a concrete mixer operator, Social Security would find that the claimant is unable to return to that job, because the job requires proximity to moving machinery, heavy lifting, and lots of movement in general. But if the previous job was as a receptionist, Social Security might find that nothing in the claimant's RFC would keep them from doing that sit-down job again. And if you can still do your past work, you won't be awarded disability. But if Social Security finds that you're unable to do your past work, your application will proceed to step five—the last step in the disability determination process.

Step Five: Can You Do Other, Less Demanding Work?

At step five, Social Security needs to determine whether any other, less demanding jobs exist in the national economy that somebody with your RFC could perform. For claimants younger than 50, this usually means needing to show that you can't do even the simplest, sedentary jobs, like small parts assembler. Claimants 50 years of age and older may have an easier time getting benefits under a special set of rules called the medical-vocational grid. This is because as you approach full retirement age, Social Security doesn't typically expect you to switch careers—even those you can physically perform—unless you already have transferable skills.

The more restrictions you have in your RFC, the fewer jobs you'll be able to perform. This is especially important for younger applicants, because Social Security is likely going to assume that there's some type of sit-down work that you can do. But keep in mind that the agency is required to consider your combined impairments when assessing your RFC, so if you're being treated for any other medical conditions, such as mental health disorders, let Social Security know. Having unexcused absences, taking too many breaks, or spending a high percentage of your workday off-task are all restrictions that, when included in your RFC, can rule out all jobs.

Getting a VA Rating for Osteoporosis

Veterans who have service-connected osteoporosis may qualify for disability compensation from the VA. Unlike Social Security, the VA uses a percentage ratings system to help determine how much you'll receive in disability benefits. The higher your disability is rated under the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities, the greater your monthly compensation amount will be.

Residual effects of osteoporosis are evaluated under diagnostic code 5013. (Osteopenia doesn't have a diagnostic code in the Schedule for Rating Disabilities.) However, the VA will rate your disability for osteoarthritis as if it were degenerative arthritis, meaning the percentage is based on the reduced range of motion for your affected body part. Even if your range of motion isn't severe enough to qualify under the specific joint code, you can still get a 10% or 20% rating for osteoporosis shown on X-ray as affecting multiple joints.

How Much Can I Get in Disability for Osteoporosis?

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 SSDI or SSI. 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.

VA benefits are calculated based on a combination of your percentage disability rating and your living situation For example, in 2025, an individual veteran with a 10% rating will receive $175.51 monthly from the VA, but if the same veteran had a 60% rating, they would be entitled to $1,395.93 per month. (The disability compensation rates are adjusted every year to account for cost-of-living increases.)

Applying for Social Security Disability and VA Benefits

An easy way to apply for Social Security disability benefits is by using Social Security's online web portal. You can also file a claim over the phone by g calling the national disability hotline at 800-772-1213 (TTY 800-325-0078) between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. If you'd prefer to apply in person, you can make an appointment at your nearest Social Security field office. For more information, see our article on filing an application for Social Security 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.

If you'd like help with your application or appeal, consider hiring an experienced disability lawyer. Your attorney can help you gather the medical evidence you need to establish that your osteoporosis meets a listing, prevents you from working, or is service-connected (for VA compensation). Most disability lawyers work on contingency, meaning they don't get paid unless you win, and offer free consultations, so there's little risk in getting legal advice for your disability claim.