Disability Benefits After a Stroke
Disability Benefits After a Stroke
Attorney Chad Delesk of Balin Law discusses what Social Security requires to approve Disability Benefits after having a Stroke.
The severity of the stroke and how long the impairment is expected to last is the main factor in Social Security’s decision to approve benefits.
Chad reviews what that means exactly per Social Security’s rules, and provides details on all of the SSA’s requirements for Disability Benefits - in general as well as specifics unique to strokes.
Content
23.49 -> Hi, my name is Chad Delesk.
24.82 -> I'm an associate attorney with the Law Offices of
28.11 -> Paulette Balin and Associates
29.997 -> and I'm making this video today to talk to you about strokes.
33.96 -> A lot of times I have clients call me and
ask me whether or not they can get disability
38.97 -> benefits based upon them having a stroke.
41.85 -> Now, the simple answer to that is yes.
44.629 -> The long answer is, well, it depends and it
really depends on the severity of your stroke
50.16 -> and how long that severity is expected to
last.
53.54 -> To be able to qualify for disability benefits
with the Social Security Administration, you
58.89 -> have to show that you have a physical and
or mental impairment that significantly impacts
64.18 -> your ability to perform work on a sustained
basis for at least a duration of 12 months,
69.68 -> or be expected to result in death.
72.3 -> Now there's actually two ways that we assess
strokes with Social Security.
78.08 -> One is under the medical listings and Social
Security publishes what they call the listing
83.63 -> of impairments and it's exactly that.
85.7 -> It's a list of various impairments under different
body systems and it lists out criteria that
92.009 -> you need to meet in order to establish disability.
94.49 -> Now, there's actually one on point for strokes,
which is under listing 11.04.
99.249 -> I'm just going to read from it directly here,
because it does get complicated here as far
104.81 -> as what it requires.
106.289 -> There's actually three sub parts to it, A,
B and C and if you meet any of those, either
114.07 -> A, B or C Social Security will automatically
find that you're disabled.
118.89 -> Now under A, it requires sensory or motor
aphasia resulting in ineffective speech or
125.119 -> communication and that has to persist for
at least three months after the original stroke.
132.33 -> What does that mean?
133.33 -> Well, Social Security does provide some examples
of what that means.
137.68 -> Inability to follow one step commands is an
example or inability to tell someone your
143.45 -> basic personal needs without assistance is
another example.
148.03 -> So that's the first criteria that you could
possibly meet.
150.96 -> The second under B is disorganization of motor
function in two extremities and that's important.
158.45 -> The two extremities part.
161.22 -> Resulting in an extreme limitation in the
ability to either stand up from a seated position,
169.51 -> to balance while standing or walking or use
the upper extremities.
175.11 -> Again, this must persist for at least three
months after the insult.
184.41 -> So the first part that I emphasize under part
B is the two extremities.
189.68 -> So you must have two extremities that are
extremely limited and it could be both legs.
195.82 -> It could be both arms or it could be one arm
and one leg.
201.3 -> Examples would be inability to stand up from
a seated position, which means that once you're
205.64 -> seated in order to stand up you either need
assistance from another individual or you
211.341 -> need an assisted device such as two canes
or a walker.
215.32 -> Okay, that would satisfied that criteria.
217.98 -> The other was balance while standing or walking.
220.9 -> So you cannot remain upright without assistance
from an assisted device and it has to be either
226.85 -> two canes, two crutches or a walker, so that
you're using both of those upper extremities.
231.92 -> Remember we need two upper extremities involved.
235.2 -> The third was use of the upper extremities.
238.22 -> So both arms are significantly impacted to
where you have difficulty feeling, fingering,
243.41 -> grasping, reaching, lifting, carrying.
245.32 -> Now that's under part B.
249.05 -> The third part is part C, which requires marked
limitation in physical functioning.
255.48 -> Again, I'm going to read from this and in
one of the following areas of mental functioning.
260.079 -> So it's a hybrid situation.
261.93 -> So the physical limitations don't rise to
the level of being extreme.
267.33 -> So Social Security has a five point system
where they rate severity.
273.41 -> It goes none, mild, moderate, marked and extreme.
277.61 -> So we talked about extreme, which was in the
last subset under B, and that's a complete
284.229 -> inability to do those functions.
286.05 -> Now marked is a little bit less, it's one
rung below extreme and that is seriously impacted.
292.319 -> That's what that means.
293.78 -> That's how Social Security defines it.
295.17 -> It's very murky, but marked limitation in
physical functioning.
300.409 -> What are examples of that?
302.21 -> Well, it could be uncorrectable blurred vision,
double vision.
307.659 -> It could be difficulty breathing and you need
to use a portable CPAP machine, or it could
315.06 -> be episodes of aspiration that happen at least
once a week.
321.11 -> So that would fulfill the marked limitation
in physical functioning.
325.3 -> The areas of mental functioning that Social
Security looks at, there's four areas.
330.389 -> One is understanding, remembering, or applying
information.
334.1 -> Another is interacting with others.
335.879 -> A third is concentrating, persisting and maintaining
pace.
340.63 -> The last is adapting or managing one's self.
344.319 -> So you need a marked limitation in one of
those mental areas.
347.71 -> So that's why I say it's a hybrid because
they're combining both the physical and the
351.819 -> mental functioning to find that you meet this
criteria.
356.6 -> Now, what I gave there was one overall way
that they could find you disabled based upon
362.629 -> meeting one of these listings.
364.69 -> Like I said, they have one for stroke.
367.159 -> The other way is they look at what limitations
flow from your stroke and any other impairments
372.58 -> that you have.
373.919 -> Then they determine what limitations you have
and then in turn, what jobs might be out there
378.8 -> for you.
379.8 -> Now, you may not meet or equal one of these
listings, but you might be so significantly
384.689 -> impacted by your stroke and other conditions
that you cannot perform any work.
389.9 -> One of the things we typically talk about
is off task behavior or absenteeism.
394.909 -> So maybe you're so fatigued, or maybe you
have cognitive deficits that don't quite rise
399.909 -> to the level of meeting a listing, but they
still cause you to be off task at work.
406.169 -> Most of the time, if you're off task anywhere
from 10 to 20% or more of the time, Social
410.449 -> Security will come back and say that you can't
perform any work.
414.599 -> Similarly, if you have limitation to just
one upper extremity, say it's your dominant
419.87 -> arm and you can't use it.
421.789 -> Well while you're not impacted in two extremities,
most jobs require pretty frequent use of both
426.47 -> of your upper extremities.
428.93 -> So if you can't use your dominant hand, there's
probably not a whole lot of jobs out there
431.99 -> that you can do.
434.259 -> There's other impairments and limitations
that could affect your ability to work and
438.68 -> we want to make sure that we cover all those
because the more conditions you're treated
442.3 -> for the less number of jobs Social Security
will be able to say that you can do.
446.569 -> Now, if you have any questions about stroke
and qualifying for disability benefits, please
453.49 -> reach out to us at any time.
454.809 -> We can also help you file an initial application.
458.089 -> We can be reached at 866-49-BALIN, B-A-L-I-N.
459.83 -> Of course, you can go to our website, Balinlaw.com.
465.05 -> You can use a chat feature or you can send
us an email and we'll be in contact with you
469.85 -> as soon as possible.
470.85 -> Thank you.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ1mxN08NE0