This segment of Disability Audio discusses information that is relevant for claimants who are filing based partially, or primarily, on having Lupus.

Lupus is recognized as a disabling impairment by the social security administration in two ways. The first is that SSA has given this autoimmune condition a listing in the social security blue book. Titled “Disability Evaluation under Social Security, this is the manual that allows disability examiners, disability judges, and disability attorneys, to determine whether or not, based on what the medical records have to say about a person’s condition, if a claimant’s case meets specific requirements that may result in an approval of disability benefits based on lupus. The second way that an individual may potentially be approved for disability benefits, in either the social security disability or SSI disability program, of course, is through a medical vocational allowance. This is an awarding of disability benefits to a claimant who A) does not meet the criteria of a condition that has a listing in the blue book, and B) has a condition that is severe enough to prevent them from working and earning a substantial and gainful income for at least one full year at one of their past jobs or during the performance of some other type of work.

Lupus cases, it goes without saying are more difficult than certain other cases simply due to the fact that the severity of lupus tends to go and up down, or exacerbate and remiss. This can pose a problem for a patient with lupus who finds it nearly impossible to work on a consistent basis, yet who is applying for disability at a point in which their condition is, to some extent, in remission.