Help Getting Benefits
If you’re fighting cancer, then your symptoms, treatments or both can make it impossible to continue working. At a time when you need to focus on your health, you have added pressure from worrying about paying for rent, food and other necessities.
A monthly Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits check can put you back on steadier financial ground. And the Medicare coverage that comes with disability benefits can ensure you get the treatment you need.
But the truth is, Social Security denies most applications for disability benefits.
If you live in Greenville or anywhere in the Carolinas, you’re dealing with cancer, you need financial relief, and you’re thinking about applying for disability benefits, our disability law firm, Pilzer Klein, can help.
Our disability lawyers have helped thousands of people secure millions of dollars in benefits.
We can help you avoid common mistakes people make in their disability claims. And we understand how to explain a cancer case to Social Security.
Mostly, we want to see you get more support and more peace.
How to Qualify for Disability Benefits with Cancer
Cancer is the most common medical condition that people file Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) claims for, but a diagnosis of cancer does not guarantee you will be eligible for benefits.
According to the National Institutes of Health, the most commonly diagnosed cancers are breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, bladder cancer and melanoma.
Cancer is included on Social Security’s official list of qualifying impairments, which provides guidelines on how you could win benefits.
You will need to provide documented medical evidence that your cancer is expected to keep you from working—at your old job or any job—for a year or more.
No two people are alike, and no two cases of cancer are alike. How you feel, which treatments you’re prescribed and how much your ability to work is limited are based on a range of variables, including:
- Your overall health and physical condition.
- Type of cancer: Certain aggressive cancers may qualify you for benefits much more quickly, including but not limited to esophageal cancer, gallbladder cancer, brain cancer and inflammatory breast cancer.
- Cancer stage:
- Stage 0. The cancer has not spread, is often curable, and tumors are often completely removed in surgery.
- Stage I. The cancer has not spread into nearby tissues.
- Stages II and III. The cancer has spread into nearby tissue.
- Stage IV. Known as advanced or metastatic cancer, it has spread to other parts of the body.
- Type of treatment: Methods include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy and hormonal therapy. Treatment is highly individualized, with significant variations within each type. For example, there are seven different types of chemotherapy. Some people can work during some forms of therapy, such as those who work between radiation treatments. But working more than certain amounts established by Social Security disqualifies you for benefits.
The Carolina Social Security Disability attorneys at Pilzer Klein can help you determine whether you’re eligible to receive disability benefits for your cancer symptoms or treatment.
We’ve been helping people in South Carolina win disability benefits for over 35 years.
When Your Medical Condition Is Urgent: How to Get a “Compassionate Allowance”
It can take months to get Social Security Disability benefits.
But Social Security has a “Compassionate Allowance” list of specific types of cancer that qualify for faster approval.
To get a Compassionate Allowance, your cancer must meet one of these requirements:
- The cancer has spread
- The cancer is inoperable
- The cancer recurs despite treatment
You don’t have to request a Compassionate Allowance. If you qualify, your application for benefits will automatically be flagged for it.
But you want your forms and documents to clearly show Social Security your situation. Your disability lawyer can make sure nothing gets overlooked.
If you have cancer and can’t work, and you live in Greenville, Asheville, Spartanburg, Anderson—or anywhere in upstate South Carolina and western North Carolina—the disability lawyers at Pilzer Klein can help you get financial assistance so you can focus on what’s most important (and not bills and money stress) during a difficult time in your life.
Social Security Disability Is All We Do.