Obesity Disability Benefits

Looking for Financial Help to Improve Your Well-Being?

Everybody knows that millions of people struggle with obesity.

The National Institutes of Health says almost half of adults in the United States have it.

Social Security Disability benefits provide financial relief for people dealing with health problems. You might wonder, for the purposes of getting benefits, is obesity a disability?

Not on its own.

But that doesn’t mean you should leave out the effects of obesity in your application for disability benefits or appeal of a benefits denial. Far from it.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) keeps a listing of impairments that can qualify for disability benefits and provides advice on how to prove each one. Obesity isn’t on the list.

But the SSA absolutely does recognize that obesity contributes to health problems that make it impossible to work—which is the key requirement to get benefits.

A challenge with a Social Security Disability claim for obesity is that just because obesity can worsen qualifying health problems, it doesn’t always. And millions of people who live with obesity can continue working uninterrupted.

For a successful claim for economic assistance, you’ll have to show how your case is different and more severe.

Morgan Weisbrod Social Security Disability attorneys in Texas have helped thousands of people with this task. We take disability law seriously. Our lawyers are board certified in this area, going above what’s required.

Our lawyers are in Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, serving all Texans.

If obesity is hindering your ability to function and make a living, we know how to approach your case. Getting disability benefits with obesity is possible with the right approach, and benefits could make a major difference in your life.

Two Ways to Qualify for Social Security Disability Benefits with Obesity

Even though obesity isn’t on Social Security’s official listing of impairments for disability benefits, you have two ways to qualify for disability benefits with obesity:

No. 1: Showing How Obesity Combines with Other Impairments to Become Disabling. If you have obesity and another health problem that meets one of Social Security’s qualifying impairments, you could win benefits by showing how obesity worsens your other condition.
No. 2: Showing How Obesity Limits Your Functioning. You could get Social Security Disability for obesity itself if it impacts your ability to function every day in a way that is equivalent to an officially listed impairment.

Social Security isn’t interested in a diagnosis of obesity when it considers disability benefit claims, but it does look at the practical, everyday effects of obesity on your life.

You can show them you have limitations in your ability to stand, walk, balance, sit for sustained periods, lift objects, carry objects, get into different positions, work with your hands, work with a typical range of motion, concentrate on tasks, and deal with heat or other environmental conditions on a job.

Put together, measurements of these activities are what Social Security calls your “residual functional capacity,” or RFC. It doesn’t matter what medical condition you have for your RFC rating. It only matters what you can do on a daily basis.
You get your RFC report by working with your doctors to assess your capabilities.

Your disability lawyer knows what types of information you need and how to guide the process to meet Social Security’s requirements.

To find out more about your individual situation and options, talk to the Texas disability attorneys at Morgan Weisbrod for a free consultation.

Other Medical Conditions that Combine with Obesity to Qualify for Disability Benefits

Social Security recognizes that many health impairments can be associated with obesity.

Several diagnoses people with obesity often get are in Social Security’s official listing of impairments for disability benefits:

Cancers (many types including breast, colon, ovarian, pancreas, kidney, liver)
Diabetes
Heart diseases (including high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes)
Mental health conditions (anxiety, depression)
Osteoarthritis
Respiratory diseases (such as asthma)

Qualifying for disability benefits with obesity requires a look at your whole health picture, not just one condition.

As with all disability benefits applications, you need to include medical records, such doctor’s exam reports, medical test results and more, that create a clear picture of how your health problems restrict your ability to work.

Morgan Weisbrod has Dallas disability lawyers and Houston disability lawyers who make this process easier for you.

We can help you get to a more secure financial situation that allows you to take care of your health.