Can I Get Short
Cancer will inevitably change your life. While some people can continue to work during treatment, many struggle to balance their job duties, symptoms, and doctors appointments. Thankfully, you might be eligible for short-term disability benefits during your treatment.
Bryant Legal Group helps people battling cancer get the disability insurance benefits they deserve. We understand how both the disease and treatment can make it hard to do the things you loveboth at work and at home.
Cancer And Long Term Disability
Whether your cancer is considered a disability in the eyes of your insurance company will depend on a few things: What stage is your cancer in? How serious are your symptoms? Does your treatment have disabling side effects?
It may be obvious to you how your cancer prevents you from working, but your insurance company will not accept a diagnosis alone as basis for benefit approval. They will want an understanding of your specific symptoms and how they impair you from performing your job duties.
You Can Participate In A Graduated Return To Work Plan
Your insurance company may assign a rehabilitation consultant to your claim to assist you with a return to work plan based on their assessment of your file. They may have requested a medical consultant review or asked your treating physicians about your restrictions and limitations.
Under a return to work plan, you would gradually build up the number of hours/days you work until you reach the same hours you previously worked.
However, you may be unable to participate in the return to work plan due to your symptoms. Your insurance company may not find that the medical evidence supports an inability to work, and it is their opinion you are not totally disabled and therefore able to gradually return to work.
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How Can The Ada Help People With Cancer
People with cancer can have long-term disabilities that make it hard to work or get around. The ADA is intended to make it possible for people who can do the essential parts of their job to go back to work or keep working during and after cancer treatment. Even when a person with cancer doesnt have a disability, they may be thought of as being disabled. This alone can set the stage for discrimination at work, and the ADA addresses this as well.
The ADA can help people who might have trouble getting into buildings and using public accommodations due to a disability. The ADA can also help people with hearing and speech problems use phone and electronic communications.
To find out if the ADA might help you, youll want to know if it applies to your condition, your employer, and public accommodations, as discussed here.
Qualifying For Temporary Disability Benefits In Hawaii
Hawaiians working at least 20 hours for 14 out of the last 52 weeks may qualify for temporary disability benefits. In addition, applicants must be currently employed when filing a Hawaii Temporary Disability Insurance claim in order to qualify. Eligible claimants may receive up to $697/week for no more than 26 weeks per benefit year. For more information, read Frequently Asked Questions About Hawaiis TDI Program.
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You Can Perform The Duties Of An Alternate Occupation
If you have been on claim for some time and are nearing the change of definition date, or it is evident you will not be able to return to your previous employer, your insurer may request that a vocational specialist prepare what is called a Transferable Skills Analysis . This will help them see what your “transferable skills are, if any. They are trying to determine if there are other jobs you may be able to perform that match up with your education, training and experience.
If a TSA identifies alternative occupations, your insurer may take the position that you should be able to work in one of these occupations. Therefore you no longer meet the test for totally disabled.
Qualifying For Temporary Disability In New York
If you have a non-work-related illness or injury and live in New York, you may qualify for temporary disability benefits. The New York State Workers Compensation Boards Disability Benefits Law provides weekly cash payments to eligible disabled residents. If approved, you can receive up to $170 per week for no more than 26 out of 52 consecutive weeks. The form youll use to file your temporary disability benefits claim will vary, depending on your current employment status. Visit the New York State Workers Compensation Board website to download the form that applies to your specific situation.
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Can I Apply For Disability If I Have Cancer
The SSA has two different disability programs for which you may qualify with cancer. Social Security Disability Insurance is available for disabled workers, but Supplemental Security Income may also be an option for you, if you have a low household income.
You can submit an SSDI application online, via the SSAs website, or you can apply at your local SSA office. SSI applications must be completed in-person or via a personal interview with an SSA representative, so a local office visit to the Social Security Administration is usually required.
Whether you apply for just one program or for both, you will need to gather your documentation and be prepared to provide consistent and thorough details about your, employment history, financial situation, medical records, and education and job training.
The forms you fill out during the application process ask many questions and some may be repetitive, but dont leave anything blank. Even if the question doesnt apply to you, give an answer. Stating not applicable or N/A is fine, and doing so will prevent the SSA from having more questions and delaying your application in the process.
Keep in mind that medical records are the key to getting disability benefits and that the SSA must usually have all of the following in order to approve disability claim for cancer:
Report complete contact information for all your healthcare providers, including hospitals, doctors, and outpatient treatment clinics, among others.
What If My Colon Or Rectal Cancer Doesn’t Meet The Disability Listing
If your cancer doesn’t meet one of the requirements above , but you’re unable to work, there’s another way to qualify for disability benefits.
Social Security will look at your capacity to work with the limitations caused by your colorectal cancer or its treatment. For example, you may feel you’re unable to work because you have extreme fatigue and you’ve lost muscle strength due to unintentional weight loss. Or maybe you have numbness in your fingers after chemotherapy . Be sure your doctor is aware of your lingering issues so they can be documented in your medical records.
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What Are The Payment Amounts For Va Disability Compensation
When the VA approves you for disability benefits, it assigns you a disability rating. This rating is between 0 and 100 percent. The severity of your condition, as judged by the VA, determines your disability rating. The VA takes into consideration such factors as current and ongoing treatment, how your medical condition affects or limits your activities of daily living, and severity of symptoms.
As of December 1st, 2021 the VA disability rate benefit amounts are as follows:
- 0 percent disability rating: $0.00 per month
- 10 percent disability rating: $152.64 per month
- 20 percent disability rating: $301.74 per month
- 30 percent disability rating: $467.39 per month
- 40 percent disability rating: $673.28 per month
- 50 percent disability rating: $958.44 per month
- 60 percent disability rating: $1,214.03 per month
- 70 percent disability rating: $1,529.95 per month
- 80 percent disability rating: $1,778.43 per month
- 90 percent disability rating: $1,998.52 per month
- 100 percent disability rating: $3,332.06 per month
Moreover, a disability rating of 30 percent or above qualifies you to receive additional benefits for your spouse, children, or dependent parents. The VA provides an additional monthly payment schedule for veterans who are at least 30 percent disabled and have qualified dependents.
How Marylands Temporary Disability Program Works
If you live in Maryland, you dont need current employment to qualify for temporary disability benefits. The state-funded Temporary Disability Assistance Program provides monthly payments to disabled Marylanders without dependent children. To qualify, you must submit a complete medical report from a licensed physician to your Local Department of Social Services. You can apply for TDAP benefits in person, by mail or fax. Eligible TDAP applicants may receive cash short-term disability benefits for 12 months only in a 36-month period. If your disability should last more than 12 months, you must also apply for SSI. You also cannot have more than $185 in monthly income or $1,500 in countable assets to qualify.
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When Am I Considered No Longer Disabled From Cancer
If your cancer has been successfully treated and you have been in remission for three or more years, then you will no longer qualify for Social Security benefits. This is known as the three-year rule. Under the three-year rule, if you are awarded disability benefits because of a cancer diagnosis, then you will receive disability for at least three years.
Qualifying for disability benefits can still be difficult, even with a serious medical condition like cancer. An experienced disability benefits lawyer can help you through the process. Contact Bross & Frankel to schedule a free initial consultation about your disability claim.
Leave Under State Family And Medical Leave Or Temporary Disability Laws
What You Should Know
- Your state may have family and medical leave laws or temporary disability laws that also provide protections.
- State laws might provide more generous protections than under the federal FMLA. For example, a state law may provide
- wage replacement during your leave,
- broader eligibility,
- more allowable uses for taking leave, and/or
- a broader range of people for whom you can take caregiver leave .
What You Can Do
- Contact your states labor office to learn about the rights you may have to take family, medical, or disability leave under state law.
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Have You Or A Loved One Been Denied Social Security Disability Benefits
If you or a loved on has been denied Social Security Disability Benefits you need to speak with an experienced SSD attorney as soon as possible. Please contact us online or call our Virginia Beach office directly at 757.490.3500 to schedule your free consultation. We have offices throughout Virginia including Chesapeake, Newport News, Norfolk and Suffolk.
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When Will You Be Considered No Longer Disabled From Cancer
If your original cancer have been successfully treated, and there is no evidence of their recurrence for three or more years, then your cancer will no longer meet any of the SSA’s impairment listing requirements. This is durational rule for cancer is known as the “three-year rule.”
Alternatively, the three-year rule also means that if disability benefits are awarded to an applicant because of his or her cancer, the disability award will stand for a minimum of three years, even if the cancer seems to have been successfully treated prior to the end of the three-year period.
Note that cancer is subject to the same one-year duration requirement for getting disability benefits as any other medical condition.
You could be eligible for up to $3,345 per month In SSDI Benefits
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Can I Take Off Work On Medical Leave For Breast Cancer
The Family and Medical Leave Act is a federal law that allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks off work for a “serious health condition,” which includes breast cancer. FMLA leave is unpaid, but some states offer their own version of the FMLA that provides paid leave.
FMLA leave can be a good option for people with a Stage 1 breast cancer diagnosis who will likely respond well to treatment. Because Social Security doesn’t provide “short-term” disability benefits for less than twelve months, if your cancer goes into remission and you return to work before one year, you can’t qualify for Social Security disability benefits. But you can take FMLA leave for up to 12 weeks. Under the FMLA, your employer must hold your job for you.
Please Answer A Few Questions To Help Us Determine Your Eligibility
Qualifying for Social Security disability benefits for cancer can be straightforward for some aggressive cancers , but for others, you’ll need to provide the Social Security Administration with convincing evidence to show either that 1) your cancer fulfills the qualifications for the SSA’s disability listing for that particular cancer or 2) the symptoms or treatment for your cancer limit you so much that you can’t work.
Cancers that were inoperable or unresectable with surgery, that have recurred after treatment, or that metastasized to other places are eligible for disability benefits. Here are some explanations of the ins and outs of getting disability for various types and stages of cancer.
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Meeting Or Equaling The Disability Listing For Breast Cancer
If you have an earlier stage of breast cancer, such as Stage 2 or Stage 3, you might qualify for disability based on Social Security’s “listing” for breast cancer. A “listed impairment” is a condition that isn’t quite as serious as a CAL condition but is still considered disabling.
Breast cancer is one of the listed impairments. To determine whether you’re disabled according to listing 13.10 for breast cancer, the SSA will look at your medical record for evidence of at least one of the following:
- locally advanced cancer
- carcinoma that has spread to lymph nodes or other organs
- carcinoma that comes back after treatment
- small-cell carcinoma, or
- secondary lymphedema .
You can show your doctor the breast cancer listing and ask your doctor’s opinion as to whether your cancer meets any of the above criteria.
The Costs Of Prostate Cancer
A prostate cancer diagnosis is often followed by multiple consultations with specialists, including urologists, medical oncologists, and radiation oncologists, among others. Follow-up appointments with various doctors and specialists may also be necessary.
Office visit co-pays are among the initial expenses, but you must tack on top of these the costs of various treatments, which may include a combination of radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, prescription drugs, and surgery.
The Prostate Cancer Foundation and Dr. Jay Ciezki of the Cleveland Clinic report that patients accumulate medical expenses at varying rates after initial treatment. Annual expenses depend highly on the type of treatment a patient undergoes. For example, men that have their prostate gland surgically removed incur annual direct medical costs that average about $3,200 thereafter.
Patients that undergo other initial treatment methods average annual medical expenses that range from about $2,600 to $6,400.
According to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institutes, between 22 and 30 percent of men report that their cancer and cancer treatments affect their ability to perform physical job functions 12 months after diagnosis. For many, this is well after initial treatment for prostate cancer has ended.
If you are no longer able to work, then Social Security disability can be a means of ensuring consistent income.
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When Your Cancer Has Spread
If your cancer has spread to parts of your body that are far removed from where it originated, this is called “distant metastases.” The SSA’s cancer listings refer to this complication as “metastases beyond the regional lymph nodes.” For instance, lung cancer often metastasizes to the liver.
When cancer has spread, the applicant usually qualifies for automatic approval under the cancer listings, even if the original cancer and the metastic lesion have been removed. However, if the metastases are expected to respond fully to chemo or radiation, the SSA may wait to see the outcome.
To qualify for benefits because of metastatic cancer, you must provide the SSA with the appropriate medical documentation that supports your claim. Generally, metastatic lesions are diagnosed by biopsy therefore, you would need to provide the SSA with the appropriate biopsy report. However, there are times when a metastic lesion cannot be accessed for a biopsy because the patient is too ill to undergo surgery or because the location prevents the doctor from performing a biopsy .
In cases where a biopsy is unattainable, you must provide the SSA with a copy of the x-ray, MRI or CT scan, or other test that was performed that revealed the metastatic lesion. However, even if your doctor provides a statement to the SSA that the lesion visualized on the imaging study is cancerous, the SSA will not accept his or her opinion unless the lesion is medically treated as cancer .
How A Disability Attorney Can Help
An experienced disability lawyer will help you prepare the strongest possible application . At Riemer Hess, our strategy includes:
- Contacting your doctors and gathering and submitting all their treatment notes, objective test results, and reports.
- Obtaining opinion letters from your doctors explaining in detail why you are disabled.
- Helping you prepare an affidavit or video statement describing your work, your illness, and how it has affected your ability to work.
- Obtaining statements from family, friends, and co-workers corroborating your disability.
- Sending you for additional testing such as a functional capacity evaluation, a neuropsychological evaluation, a vocational evaluation and/or an independent medical examination if we believe additional testing will support your claim.
If your claim has already been denied, we will demand that your insurance company furnish us with all documents it relied on and specific reasons for the denial. Armed with these, we can secure any additional evidence your insurance company claims to need and prepare arguments to rebut its decision.
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