Social Security Disability for Heart Disease in Wisconsin

Heart Conditions that Can Qualify for Disability Benefits

The Social Security Administration (SSA) recognizes multiple heart conditions that can qualify you for disability benefits, including:

• Ischemic heart disease: When one or more of your coronary arteries is narrowed or obstructed, interfering with the normal flow of blood to your heart muscle.

• Peripheral vascular disease: Any impairment that affects either the arteries (peripheral arterial disease) or the veins (venous insufficiency) in the extremities.

• Heart attack (myocardial infarction): When the blood supply to part of your heart muscle becomes completely blocked.

• Chronic heart failure: Failure of your heart to work efficiently and meet your body’s demand for blood and oxygen.

• Arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythms): If the electrical signals inside your heart are interrupted or disturbed, your heart can beat too quickly, too slowly and/or in an irregular way.

• Heart valve disease: When problems with the valves that regulate blood flow to your heart make your heart have to work harder.

• Symptomatic congenital heart disease: Any abnormality of the heart or the major blood vessels that is present at birth.

• Cardiomyopathy: A disease of the heart muscle, causing the heart to lose its ability to pump blood.

Don’t worry if you don’t see your heart condition listed. You may still qualify for benefits even if it isn’t named on Social Security’s list of impairments.

If your heart condition, whatever its cause, limits your ability to function, you may still be able to get benefits.

In deciding if your particular condition qualifies for disability benefits, Social Security will look at what it calls your residual functional capacity (RFC).

That is an evaluation by your doctor of how much and what type of physical exertion you can handle despite your heart condition.

Your disability lawyer can help you get this information together. To learn more about what you individually may need for your disability claim for heart disease, talk to us at Geary Disability Law.

How to Prove Your Heart Disease Qualifies for Social Security Disability

To be approved for benefits, you must provide Social Security with evidence of your heart condition and its severity.

But they won’t take your word for it, or even your doctor’s word, that it’s so bad you can’t work. Instead, Social Security wants “objective medical evidence.”

This includes detailed records of your:

• Medications
• Medical imaging results (X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, etc.)
• Laboratory test results
• Doctor’s exams
• Treatments and results
• Surgeries, if applicable

Something Social Security will look for in multiple types of documentation you submit are indications that your heart condition is long-term.

Sometimes you also can submit a form of non-medical evidence: Statements from others who personally know you about how heart disease has impacted your daily life.

You can avoid mistakes and lighten your burden in putting together your case for disability benefits for heart disease by getting a Wisconsin disability attorney to handle the heavy work.

If you’re a Wisconsinite trying to get disability benefits for a heart condition, knowing someone capable is taking care of your claim can be a major relief.

Let us help you work toward finding financial support and stability.