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Get Financial Help to Deal with Troubled Health

Whether you’ve had asthma since you were a child, or you developed asthma later in life, you know how limiting it can be. If your case is severe, and your asthma attacks are frequent—maybe even requiring hospitalization—it radically impacts your daily life and ability to work.

If you suffer from asthma and can’t work, you’re looking at a financial crisis on top of a health crisis. A monthly Social Security Disability check could help keep you and your family afloat, so you can concentrate on getting the treatment you need.

Asthma is a type of chronic obstructive disease suffered by more than 25 million Americans—approximately 20 million adults and five million children under age 18. The Social Security Administration (SSA) recognizes asthma as an impairment that qualifies for disability benefits.

But because many people with mild asthma can still work with minimal treatment (most of us know people who carry inhalers with them), the SSA will only pay disability benefits if your condition is severe enough to prevent you from working—at all.

No matter where you are in your disability benefits journey—thinking about applying, starting an application, or facing the prospect of appealing a denial—getting support from an Indianapolis disability advocate can be a great help.

Hanley Disability has been helping people in Danville, Franklin, Lebanon, Noblesville and across Indiana for over 50 years. We’ve helped thousands of Indianans.

Social Security Disability Is All We Do.

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IMPORTANT!

Once you’re denied benefits, the clock starts ticking. Don’t wait too long. You might miss the deadline to appeal.

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Disability Benefits for Asthma: Understanding the Symptoms and Triggers

Asthma is an incurable and progressive disease, so prevention and long-term control are key.

When most people think of asthma, they think of shortness of breath—but it’s much more than that.

During an asthma attack, the muscles in the bronchial tubes contract and become inflamed, which narrows the airways and limits air flow. In addition to shortness of breath, symptoms can include wheezing, tightness in the chest and neck, rapid or difficult breathing, coughing, panic, or bluish fingernails or lips.

An asthma attack can be triggered by one or more things, including:

  • Allergens
  • Airborne irritants (chemicals, smoke, air pollution)
  • Respiratory infections
  • Medication
  • Strong Emotions
  • Exercise
  • Cold air
  • Exposure to chemicals

 

What triggers one person with asthma may not affect another at all. Learning to recognize and avoid your triggers, and keeping track of your breathing to gauge how well your medication is working, are important.

Describing the nature of your case of asthma will also be important when you’re trying to qualify for Social Security Disability benefits.

You don’t have to wonder whether you’ll qualify. You can check with our Indiana disability advocates to get an idea of what to expect from your disability claim.

There’s no charge to have a conversation with us.

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A woman using a respirator.

Qualifying for Social Security Disability with Asthma

To qualify for disability with adult asthma, you need to meet Social Security’s work and medical requirements.

Meeting the work requirement simply means you’ve worked long enough at a job or jobs that deduct Social Security taxes from your pay. This makes you eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) when you can’t work.

Meeting the medical requirement is a matter of proving the severity and duration of your medical condition. You could qualify with asthma if your attacks last a day or more and if they require intensive treatment, such as an IV bronchodilator, antibiotics or inhaler therapy. In addition, attacks must occur:

  • Even though you are being treated for asthma
  • A minimum of once every 2 months or 6 times a year
  • In a way that requires a doctor’s attention

Social Security medical requirements also include documented results from one of the following tests:

  • FEV1(forced expiratory volume) measurement using spirometry, also known as the breathing tube test
  • FVC(forced vital capacity) measurement, also using spirometry
  • Chronic impairment of gas exchange test, which involves a blood test and a pressure test

In addition to the test results, you’ll need to show a documented history of exacerbations or complications requiring three hospitalizations within a 12-month period and at least 30 days apart.

Each hospitalization must last at least 48 hours (including hours in the ER immediately before hospitalization).

Having an experienced Indianapolis disability advocate on your side will make things easier for you to keep track of everything you need—and improve the likelihood of getting the benefits you deserve.

Benefits can restore your sense of self-sufficiency when you can’t work. Don’t delay getting the benefits you need.

You pay no fee to work with an advocate to ease the process for you.

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A woman reaching for an inhaler.