How to Gain Disability Benefits for Dementia?
What is dementia and how does it affect people? This is the question that might be lingering in your mind. The people affected by dementia decline in concentration, memory, learning, and understanding of language. These people are often eligible for getting disability benefits if they meet the requirements set by the Social Security Administration. Let’s shed some more light on dementia and whether it is a disability or not.
Is Dementia a Disability?
Dementia is usually a progressive decline in an individual’s day-to-day functioning. Dementia affects an individual’s memory, judgment skills, language capabilities, and personality. There is an array of medical conditions which can lead to dementia. Some of the most generic conditions are head injuries, suffering from a stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease.
However, dementia is most commonly found in elderly people, but dementia symptoms can happen to a person of any age. To be sure that you have dementia or not, you must consult your doctor. Don’t be hesitant to know more about dementia.
Are you suffering from dementia for 12 months or more? Is dementia preventing you from working for over a year? If yes, then you are likely qualified for getting Social Security Disability Insurance (SSD/SSDI) benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.
If a person is deprived of his retirement benefits owing to dementia, then he or she can apply for SSDI benefits. If you reach your full retirement age i.e., 65, 66, or 67 years of age, you should know that your SSDI advantages will be automatically transformed to retirement benefits.
Dementia Disability Benefits
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has added dementia disability to the list of the conditions that an individual goes through under its initiative named Compassionate Allowances (CAL). This initiative is an attempt to give all the individuals experiencing dementia access to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) along with Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Are you curious to know when you can apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)? Let’s tell you. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is paid to the individual experiencing dementia and to family members if the person is insured, which means that you worked for quite a long time and you paid all your Social Security taxes regularly. SSDI makes an initiative to make monthly payments to dementia disabled individuals. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is also done based on the criteria that the person is 65 years of age or above, or in case he or she is blind or disabled.
Social Security benefits are significant for those who, at an early age, experience dementia as they are initially denied the benefits, but if they appeal then they are granted the benefits.
However, individuals who experience dementia at an early age face enormous challenges. The individuals also go through issues in the decision-making process which happens to drain a person both emotionally and financially.
The addition of dementia in the list of Compassionate Allowances simplifies and streamlines not only the SSDI/SSI application process, but also in attaining the SSDI/SSI benefits in an accelerated way. If you want to know more about how to get your dementia disability benefits, then you should contact a disability lawyer.
Can You Claim Disability for Dementia?
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has set some criteria which you have to meet for an official disability described in SSA’s listing of impairments and, if they find you disabled, then you can claim disability benefits for dementia. In case you meet the requirements of the disability listings, then the overall process of achieving disability benefits will quicken up.
The listing 12.02 is the disability listing related to dementia and neurocognitive disorders. The listing got updated in the year 2017 and to meet the listing you must have your medical evidence to prove that your skills have declined in one or more areas described below:
- Ability to remember and learn something
- Ability of planning and judgment
- Ability to make the right use of words which comes in the proper use of language
- Concentration power i.e., your ability to listen and pay attention to assigned tasks
- An individual’s social behavior
- An individual’s physical coordination
If, after checking your medical records, it is shown that you are suffering a decline in one of the above-mentioned areas, then the Social Security Administration will analyze whether your functioning is severely affected by any of the declines.
Precisely, you must have an extreme constraint in any one of the following areas or constraint in two of the areas described below:
- The ability to understand instructions
- The ability to focus on your work assigned
- If an individual is taking precautions for any hazards and other safety measures
- Your communication powers
A person must show the medical evidence with proper documentation of one or two of the above-mentioned factors that will qualify him or her for the disability listing. SSA may also demand the reports of various testing such as intelligence testing, neuropsychological testing, psychological testing, and regular medical visits along with proper evidence of hospitals.
Statistics have highlighted that people of the age of 65 years or above usually survive for 4 to 8 years after they have been diagnosed with dementia while some may survive for 20 years also. And if the people suffering from dementia do not seek any prevention, cure, and proper treatment, then dementia will likely grow to have a serious impact on their health.
If you discover that your near and dear one is feeling lost and facing difficulties in dealing with everyday work, then you can consult a renowned attorney. This can help in determining whether your loved one is seriously suffering from dementia so that he or she can receive proper treatment and seek disability benefits accordingly.
This can indeed aid the person in getting relieved of some of the issues that might be bothering him or her. Build an understanding about dementia disability, and whether the Social Security disability application will be right to apply for or not.