Getting Social Security Disability With Heart Disease

When you become disabled, you might be overwhelmed by the thought of completing all of the paperwork that's required for a Social Security application. You can find help at the agency's website, which explains the application process and provides downloadable forms for you. Or call the Social Security Administration and ask for information and printed brochures.

Work History

• In order to apply for Social Security Disability, you need to meet requirements for both income and disability. According to the SSA, you must meet two earnings tests, a "recent work test" and a "duration of work test." The recent work test factors in your age at the onset of your disability. If your disability began before your 24th birthday, you'll need to have worked for one-and-a-half years in the three-year period before you became disabled. From ages 24 through 31, you'd need to have worked at least half of the time from age 21 until you became disabled. If you're 31 or older, you'll need to have a five-year work history during the 10 years immediately before you became disabled.

  The work duration test doesn't look at the time period in which you worked, but it takes into account the length of your employment. In general, if you became disabled before your 28th birthday, you'll need to have at least one-and-a-half years of work history. If you became disabled at age 30, you'll need two years. The work requirements increase with the increasing age at which your disability began. For example, if you became disabled at age 46, you must have at least six years of work history, but if you became disabled at age 60, you must have worked at least nine-and-a-half years.

Medical Condition

• To be considered disabled, your medical condition must be on SSA's impairment list, it has to be severe enough to interfere with your usual work and with basic things like sitting and walking, and it must prevent you from working at any other type of job. If you're able to work and your earnings exceed a set limit, SSA won't consider you to be disabled. As of 2009, the earnings limit for a non-blind worker was $980 monthly, and for a blind worker it was $1640 monthly.

  SSA's impairment list is separated into two parts, Part A lists conditions generally suffered by adults over 18, and Part B lists conditions of children under 18. Although children's conditions can be evaluated using Part A if necessary, according to the progression of their symptoms, they're evaluated by Part B first.

  Cardiovascular (heart) disease is listed on both parts, A and B, of SSA's impairment list. It's defined as "any disorder that affects the proper functioning of the heart or the circulatory system (that is, arteries, veins, capillaries and the lymphatic drainage). The disorder can be congenital or acquired."

Applying for Social Security Disability

• The SSA advises that you apply for disability benefits as soon as you become disabled, since it can take as long as three to five months for them to process your application. You'll need to complete an application and the Disability Report (see Resources). You can apply online or call SSA at 1-800 772-1213 for an appointment. TTY users call 1-800-325-0778.

  SSA will ask you for the following information:
  - Birth certificate or baptismal records
  - Social Security number
  - Names of doctors, health care workers and facilities where you received care, along with their addresses and phone numbers
  - Dates of your hospitalizations and doctor visits
  - Medication names and dosages
  - Any medical records that you have with you
  - Lab and test results
  - Work history
  - Your most recent W-2 or, if self-employed, your most recent federal tax return