How does the Social Security Administration determine what is and isn’t a disability for a child with diabetes? The SSA does not list Diabetes as a “Listed Impairment for adults (a condition that automatically is considered a disability); only some of the complications qualify. (To learn about adult Diabetes and SSA, click here.)
But for children, it’s not a simple yes or no.
The Social Security Admin takes a somewhat different approach to awarding disability benefits to Juvenile Diabetics than adults. When our clients that come to us to help them file their disability claims for their children, we look at the 3 factors that will determine the outcome.
THE 3 DETERMINING FACTORS FOR DIABETIC CHILDREN WHEN FILING FOR DISABILITY BENEFITS:
- CHILDREN UNDER 6: Diabetes in a child under six years of age is always a ‘Listed Impairment’. A child under six years old from a household with a low family income qualifies for SSI disability if he/she requires daily insulin or if they need 24 hour a day adult supervision.
- CHILDREN 6 AND OLDER WHO REQUIRE MEDICAL SUPERVISION: Diabetes is not by itself a Listed Impairment for children who are age 6 or older. After the child reaches 6, Social Security will look at whether the child’s medical condition can be considered ‘severe’. SSA will award disability benefits if the child requires the same type of medical supervision and requires daily insulin as a child under 6.
- CHILDREN 6 AND OLDER WHO DO NOT REQUIRE CONSTANT MEDICAL SUPERVISION: What if the child does not require 24-hour adult supervision? Social Security will decide whether the complications caused by Diabetes are significant enough to be disabling just as they do in adults. (To better understand how Social Security decides whether Diabetes in adults is disabling, read this article on Diabetes and Social Security).
WHAT DOES A CHILD RECEIVE WHEN AWARDED THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY BENEFITS?
The monthly payment to a child under the SSI program in 2018 is $750 per month. If the child’s parent or parents are working, there will be a reduction in the amount of the payment. The disability payments can be used to pay for the child’s medical treatment, any medical co-pays or uncovered costs of daily insulin injections, along with healthy food for the child. Additionally, the child would be entitled to receive medical benefits through Medicaid.
It can take anywhere from 4 months to 2 years to get a resolution on the original filing. If denied, you only have 660 days to appeal or start the filing process from the beginning. Click here for 3 tips to improve your chances of getting approved.