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An injury must be catastrophic for someone to qualify for SSDI

On Behalf of | Jan 16, 2020 | Social Security Disability

There are many injuries that can negatively impact your quality of life without adversely affecting your ability to earn income. The long-term impact of an injury on someone’s ability to care for themselves or work is one of the most important considerations when trying to determine whether an injury qualifies for Social Security Disability insurance (SSDI) benefits.

Relatively minor injuries that include simple fractures, joint issues and painful but topical injuries such as contusions may temporarily affect your ability to work, but they likely won’t have a permanent impact either on your ability to perform a job or to care for yourself on a daily basis.

Individuals who will likely recover from an injury in the next six months to a year in most cases don’t have a claim to permanent disability or SSDI. Those who hope to qualify for Social Security Disability benefits due to an injury must have severe and life-altering injuries in order to receive those benefits.

What kinds of injuries qualify?

As a general rule, the Social Security Administration cares more about the severity of the symptoms that an injury or illness generates and less about the name of the condition. However, certain serious medical conditions may improve someone’s odds of successfully applying for Social Security Disability.

Generally speaking, the injury needs to cause a loss of function that will likely persist for the rest of their life. Examples of injuries that meet these criteria could include severe fractures, spinal injuries and amputations. Each unique injury will receive consideration based on both medical explanations of the injury itself and an applicant’s explanation of how the injury impacts their daily life and ability to work.

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