Going through an organ transplant is one of the most difficult medical procedures to handle. The medical procedure is considered a procedure of last resort that results from a severe illness or injury.
An organ that fails requires constant monitoring by a healthcare provider, which means earning income is extremely difficult to do. Because of the seriousness of an organ transplant, does the medical procedure automatically qualify you for Social Security disability benefits? The answer is it depends on a few factors that your disability attorney can help you understand.
How to Qualify Automatically for Disability Benefits
Going through the standard Social Security disability claim process can be highly frustrating, especially for an applicant that has undergone an organ transplant. Not only does a decision issued by the Social Security Administration (SSA) take months, the decision might be a denied disability claim.
The SSA denies a majority of disability claims for a wide variety of reasons, including not meeting the medical guidelines established in the Blue Book for an organ transplant.
Because an organ transplant can prevent you from working, you might qualify for a program managed by the SSA called Compassionate Allowance. Under the Compassionate Allowance program, eligible medical conditions get a claim fast-tracked for approval.
For a serious medical procedure such as an organ transplant, you might qualify for the Compassionate Allowance program. Most of the medical conditions that qualify for the Compassionate Allowance Program are considered serious, even life-threatening.
To qualify for the Compassionate Allowance program, you must submit overwhelmingly convincing evidence with your application. This includes the results of diagnostic tests and a detailed description of your physical therapy sessions. For example, a patient who completed an organ transplant should ask for a statement of prognosis issued by the healthcare provider that describes the likelihood of you making a full or partial recovery.
Does an Organ Transplant Automatically Qualify for Disability Benefits?
To approve a request for a fast-tracked claim regarding an organ transplant, the SSA compares your medical records with the symptoms listed in the Blue Book that make you eligible for financial assistance.
If a medical condition listed in the Blue Book caused an organ failure that led to a transplant, you might receive automatic approval of your disability claim. Even if the medical condition that caused organ failure is not listed in the Blue Book, you can receive fast-track approval for a disability claim by demonstrating you are on an organ transplant waiting list.
If you have completed an organ transplant surgery, you automatically receive disability benefits for at least 12 months after the surgery.
After every 12 months pass, you undergo a disability benefits eligibility review to determine whether you should continue to receive financial assistance for an organ transplant. The minimum amount of evidence you must submit to the SSA to qualify for the Compassionate Allowance program for an organ transplant is demonstrating proof of organ failure.
Schedule a Free Case Evaluation
Mounting medical bills and the loss of income can cause an organ transplant to put you under tremendous financial distress. The most effective way to recover the cost of medical care and to make up for lost wages involves filing a disability claim with the SSA.
A disability attorney can help you gather the evidence you need to submit a persuasive claim for an organ transplant. If you submit the right evidence, you might qualify for enrollment in the Compassionate Allowance program.
