Hearing Loss May Qualify for Social Security Disability Benefits

Hearing Loss May Qualify for Social Security Disability Benefits

Hearing loss is considered a disability by the SSA and may qualify for disability benefits based on a detailed medical chart review.

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Disability can ruin your life – it can have a negative impact on the quality of your life and also bring economic constraints when you can no longer work. Programs such as Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) are designed to support disabled Americans who qualify for these benefits. Eligibility for disability benefits is based on a medical chart review that should clearly reveal the impairment. Hearing loss is one such disability that may qualify for disability benefits. Though hearing loss will not automatically qualify a candidate for SSDI, benefits may be granted if he/she meets certain criteria and cannot work anymore due to the disability.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses its Blue Book, a medical guide, to decide whether an applicant is eligible for disability benefits. The SSA has made this book available online to enable applicants to determine their eligibility before filing an application. Applicants can also consult a disability attorney, who with the support of a medical chart review company, would review their medical records and help decide whether they would qualify for disability benefits. 

People with hearing loss must meet the criteria for eligibility listed in the Blue Book in Section 2.10 and 2.11.

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Primarily, the Social Security Administration requires an ENT or licensed physician to perform a physical examination of the applicant to determine whether any temporary condition is preventing the applicant from hearing well.

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This temporary condition could be allergies, infections and so on.

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The SSA also requires a documented audiometric testing by a licensed ENT physician or audiologist.

What information is provided under Section 2, 10 & 11 of the Blue Book?

The former applies to applicants with hearing loss not treated by cochlear implants and the latter pertains to those who have undergone a cochlear implant surgery.

Cochlear implantation is considered a disability for a full year following the surgery.

Even after that period, an applicant may still qualify for the benefits if he/she has a word recognition score of 60% or less using HINT or Hearing in Noise Test.

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For a person’s hearing loss to be approved as a disability under Section 2, 10 of the Blue Book, he/she must meet at least one of the following criteria. 

A word recognition score of 40% or less in the better ear that is determined by using a standardized list of phonetically balanced monosyllable words Or

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An average air conduction hearing threshold of 90 dB (decibels) or more in the better ear and have an average bone conduction hearing threshold of 60 decibels of greater in the better ear.

Applicants could still qualify for disability benefits without meeting or matching a disability listing. In this case, the SSA conducts a residual functional capacity or RFC evaluation to grant a “medical vocational allowance.” For this, considerations include the applicant’s age, education, job skills, training, work history and other factors which would help determine the kinds of work he/she is qualified to perform. The SSA then compares the applicant’s typical job duties in his/her qualified work areas with his/her physical/mental and/or emotional limitations. To make this comparison, the SSA use the applicant’s medical records and the information they receive from the applicant and his/her doctors. The SSA’s effort is to understand whether the applicant’s hearing loss prevents him or her from working in any job they are otherwise qualified to do.

Applicants would find the services of an attorney useful when claiming disability benefits. It is easier to find out whether you qualify for benefits because most attorneys utilize dedicated medical review services to evaluate the applicant’s medical condition and arrive at a correct inference. They would also gather and present all the required medical evidence including copies of the entire medical chart, audiometry results, HINT results, and bone and air conduction test results, ensuring that all records needed to approve the applicant for disability benefits are available. As in any claim filing, applicants who have legal representation stand a better chance of having their claim approved.

www.mosmedicalrecordreview.com

918-221-7791