Can I Get Disability for COPD?

COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a series of lung conditions that damage your lungs, blocking your airflow and impacting your ability to breathe. To qualify for Social Security disability benefits for COPD, you must meet the Social Security Administration’s (SSA’s) eligibility requirements.

This means that to qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for COPD, your case must be so severe that you will be unable to work for at least one year.

Two of the most common COPD-related conditions are chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

Because COPD impacts everyone differently, SSA will need to see whether your condition has worsened over time and what impacts it has on your ability to function on a daily basis. To be found disabled, SSA will need to see a formal COPD diagnosis (including the date the condition was diagnosed) as well as ongoing medical records, showing that you have sought medical care for your COPD and have followed prescribed treatments.

Work Limitations with COPD

While some people can work for years, or even decades, after being diagnosed with COPD, not everyone can. Some people may be able to adjust from a physical job to a more sedentary job. If you cannot adjust to a more sedentary job with your COPD, you may want to consider applying for SSDI and/or SSI benefits.

To be approved for Social Security disability benefits with COPD, your medical records and work history will need to support the fact that you can no longer work. To help support your case, you may need to document your job duties and the symptoms/limitations you have that make it so you can no longer perform those job duties.

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An attorney can help file your application for Social Security disability benefits, help collect evidence to support your claim, and translate correspondence you receive from the Social Security Administration throughout your claim.

How to Get Disability for COPD

To qualify for Social Security disability benefits for COPD, you must meet certain medical requirements, by either meeting a listing in the Blue Book of Listings or by showing the SSA that your residual functional capacity is below what full-time employment would require. Your COPD must be so disabling that you are unable to work full-time because of it.

When you file your claim for Social Security disability benefits with COPD, SSA will first see whether your case meets the Blue Book listing for chronic respiratory disorders, Listing 3.02.

When it comes to COPD, SSA will need to see specific medical records and testing results that show the severity of your condition. Detailed medical records are important in disability claims for COPD as it allows SSA to understand the extent of your conditions and symptoms. Objective medical records also help SSA understand how your symptoms impact your ability to perform activities of daily living.

To meet the Blue Book listing for COPD, your FEV₁ must be less than or equal to a certain value, which depends on your age, gender, and height. Alternatively, if your FVC is less than or equal to a certain value, you may also meet or equal the listing.

Additionally, you may meet the listing if you have had three exacerbations or complications that required a hospital stay in a twelve-month period (each stay must be at least 30 days apart and must last at least 48 hours, including any time spent in the emergency room immediately before hospitalization).

Work With Your Pulmonologist to Confirm Work Limitations

While SSA does have a Blue Book Listing for COPD, it is likely that SSA will need a residual functional capacity (RFC) evaluation from your doctor as well. This can be a simple report that details your own COPD symptoms and the limitations they have on your ability to function every day. You will want to work closely with your doctor so that s/he understands the everyday limitations you have as a result of your COPD.

Not all pulmonologists (or doctors in general) can complete a full RFC evaluation. In that case, it can be helpful for her or him to indicate your limitations and the cause of those limitations. The limitations can be included as part of your chart, they do not have to be on a separate piece of paper.

Some of the symptoms that may make it difficult to work with COPD include getting easily out of breath, dizziness and fainting, and lack of energy or fatigue.

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Can I Get SSI for COPD

COPD may make it difficult for you to walk any length of time or distance or it may make it so that you are constantly exhausted and fatigued. You may also have difficulty with walking, standing, bending, and squatting. Your COPD may also make it difficult for you to lift items over a certain weight or reach above your head at all.

You may be on certain medications for your COPD that make it difficult for you to function, including making you dizzy, drowsy, or fatigued.

To qualify for SSI benefits for disability, you must either be totally or partially blind or have a medical condition that keeps you from working and has lasted (or is expected to last) at least one year or result in death.

In 2023, the highest federal SSI payment is $914 per month for a single person and $1,371 per month for a couple. Certain states have an increased maximum payment for individuals and couples as they supplement the federal SSI amount, including California, Michigan, New Jersey, and Montana.

In most states, individuals who qualify for SSI benefits will also receive Medicaid health benefits, which can help pay health care expenses.

If you are applying for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for COPD, you must have below the income and asset thresholds to qualify for benefits. SSI is a federal program that provides monthly payments to millions of people who have limited income and few resources.

To qualify for SSI benefits as a single person, you must have less than $2,000 in assets. If you are married, you both must have less than $3,000 in combined assets.

SSI divides income into two categories: earned and unearned. Earned income includes any wages, net earnings from self-employment, royalties and honoraria, and money from sheltered workshops. In 2022, a person must have less than $861 per month in unearned income to qualify for SSI, while a couple must have less than $1,281 per month in unearned income to receive SSI. For earned income, an individual can earn up to $1,350 per month (maximum substantial gainful activity amount) and still receive SSI, while a couple can earn up to $2,607 per month and still receive SSI benefits.

If you live in a state that adds money to the federal payment, you may be able to receive SSI even if you have greater income. SSI payments are also reduced for people with other incomes, including if your bills are paid by someone else.

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Can I Get SSDI for COPD

If you are applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits for COPD, you must have worked in jobs and paid into Social Security for a certain amount of time. Work credits are calculated based on how old you are, how long you have worked, and how much money you have earned. You can earn up to four work credits per year for every year you worked.

The amount of money needed to earn one work credit changes annually. For 2023, you can earn one credit for every $1,640 you earn in wages or self-employment income. Once you have earned $6,560, you have earned your four credits for the year.

The number of work credits you need to qualify for disability benefits depends on when your disability begins. Normally, you will need 40 credits, 20 of which were earned in the prior ten years (ending with the year your disability begins). Therefore, we usually say you will need to have worked five of the last ten years to qualify for SSDI benefits.

If you can meet both the medical requirements and work requirements outlined by SSA, you can be found disabled for rheumatoid arthritis and receive Social Security disability benefits.

Social Security only pays benefits for total disability, no benefits are payable for partial or short-term disability. You must be totally disabled and unable to work for at least one year to qualify for Social Security disability benefits.

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Can I Get Disability for COPD

The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses the Blue Book of Listings to understand the way a condition impacts your ability to function and work. SSA evaluates COPD under Listing 3.02, Chronic respiratory disorders. SSA understands that the spectrum of chronic respiratory disorders includes a wide variety of disorders, each with a different cause, course, and outcome. Therefore, each condition is evaluated a bit differently.

Generally, when SSA evaluates a claim for COPD, the agency will need to see certain spirometry results, which measure how much air you can exhale. SSA also likes to see arterial blood gas analysis, which can measure how well your lungs take in oxygen and let out carbon dioxide.

SSA will also need to see reports from any surgeries you have had, as well as any hospitalizations and other treatments.

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Can I Get Disability for COPD

In some cases, if you do not meet one of the Blue Book listings, SSA will be able to find that you are disabled based on your COPD if your residual functional capacity (RFC) eliminates all jobs in the national economy.

The RFC is important to a COPD disability case because it shows the maximum amount of work you are able to perform. If you have a supportive doctor who believes you are disabled due to your COPD, s/he can help your disability claim by indicating why you are disabled and unable to work.

It isn’t enough for your doctor or pulmonologist to say you are disabled and unable to work. SSA is the one that decides whether your condition prevents you from working in any capacity. SSA reviews your file to determine whether your condition would allow you to perform a different job, your same job, or if you are entirely unable to work.

While your doctor should never inflate or exaggerate your COPD symptoms, if s/he can describe how you are actually doing and what limitations you actually have, that can be helpful for your disability case.

Make sure you talk with your doctor either before you apply for Social Security disability benefits, or shortly after, so s/he can keep notes that will help her or him fill out the RFC form in a timely manner.