Can you get disability benefits for a thyroid gland disorder? The answer depends on the seriousness of your symptoms, as well as meeting a few conditions established by the Social Security Administration (SSA).
A thyroid gland, which is a gland located in the neck, generates the hormones required to regulate your body’s weight and metabolism.
If your thyroid gland does not produce enough of the hormone required to manage weight and metabolism, you can suffer from a medical condition called hypothyroidism.
Symptoms of a thyroid gland disorder include a significant increase in weight, as well as pain, fatigue, and depression. By taking a thyroid supplement, you might be able to control the negative symptoms of the disease.
Are Thyroid Gland Disorders a Disability?
For the SSA to approve a claim for Social Security disability benefits, you must demonstrate that the symptoms you live with for a thyroid gland disorder meet the standards established in the medical guide called the Blue Book.
Although the Blue Book does not devote a section of the medical guide to thyroid gland disorders, it does list the symptoms of two medical conditions that can help you receive financial assistance for the medical condition.
Knowing how to get disability for a thyroid gland disorder involves meeting the disability listing for thyroid cancer, which falls under Section 13.09 of the Blue Book.
The SSA medical standard for meeting the disability requirements for thyroid cancer includes anaplastic thyroid cancer, thyroid cancer that has spread beyond the area where the thyroid gland is located, or medullary thyroid cancer that has grown beyond the area of the lymph nodes despite the implementation of radioactive iodine treatments.
Because both anaplastic and medullary thyroid cancers represent rare forms of cancer, your oncologist must complete a needle or surgical biopsy to discover the presence of cancerous tumors.
You also might qualify for disability benefits if your healthcare provider diagnoses Graves’ disease, which includes the symptom of a recurring irregular heartbeat.
How to Get Disability Benefits for a Thyroid Gland Disorder
Getting approved for disability benefits for a thyroid gland disorder requires you to submit persuasive medical evidence to the SSA. Attaching the results of diagnostic tests that verify the development of thyroid cancer or Graves’ disease shows the seriousness of your symptoms.
Detailed descriptions of treatments and physical therapy sessions add supporting evidence that the team of medical examiners at the SSA refer to before deciding on the outcome of your claim.
You also need to submit documentation that you have missed work for 12 consecutive months. Copies of bank and timekeeping records provide the SSA with the physical evidence it needs to make an informed decision regarding your claim.
To initiate the disability claim process, you can call 800-772-1213, submit the online form, or apply in person at one of the many SSA field offices.
If you decide to submit a disability benefits claim in person, make sure the nearest SSA field office is accepting in-person claims. If the SSA denies your disability claim for a thyroid gland disorder, you have the right to file an appeal for reconsideration.
Schedule a free case evaluation today with a Social Security disability attorney to determine whether you should qualify for financial assistance because of the development of a thyroid gland disorder.
