Can I Get Disability for Hearing Loss

If you suffer from hearing loss, you may qualify for Social Security disability benefits. To qualify for Social Security disability benefits for hearing loss, you must meet the eligibility requirements outlined by the Social Security Administration (SSA).

To qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits due to hearing loss or deafness, your hearing loss must be so severe that you are unable to work on a full-time basis.

Work Limitations

While some people can work with some (or even total!) hearing loss, not everyone can. Additionally, SSA makes a distinction between those who have been treated with cochlear implants and those who have not.

To be approved for SSDI or SSI benefits with hearing loss, your medical records will need to support that you cannot work due to your hearing loss. Depending on your age and any past relevant work, it may be that you need to show that you are unable to perform any job that exists in the national economy, not just your past work.

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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 Hearing Loss

To qualify for Social Security disability benefits due to your hearing loss, you must meet certain medical requirements outlined in the SSA’s Blue Book. Additionally, as alluded to above, you must be disabled and unable to work even on a part-time basis.

When you file your initial application for SSDI or SSI benefits for deafness, SSA will evaluate your case to see if you meet one of the two listings for hearing loss: 2.10 Hearing loss not treated with cochlear implantation or 2.11 Hearing loss treated with cochlear implantation.

Audiometric Testing is Important

SSA will consider you to be disabled under Listing 2.10 if you do not have a cochlear implant and your average air conduction hearing threshold is 90 decibels or higher in your better ear and an average bone conduction hearing threshold of 60 decibels or greater in your better ear. Alternatively, if you have a word recognition score of 40% or less in your better ear, using a standardized list of phonetically balanced monosyllabic words, you can meet listing 2.10.

Listing 2.11, on the other hand, covers hearing loss with cochlear implantation. According to SSA, they can consider you to be disabled for one year after the initial implantation. After the initial year, SSA will review medical records looking for a word recognition score of 60% or less, determined using the HINT.

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Can I Get Disability for Being Deaf in One Ear

When reviewing files with alleged hearing loss, SSA will often look to what is possible with your “better ear.” As noted above, with respect to audiometric testing and listing 2.10, SSA will consider what your average air conduction hearing threshold and average bone conduction hearing thresholds are in your better ear.

This means that while it is possible to get SSDI or SSI benefits if you are deaf in one ear, your “better ear” will likely also need to be hard of hearing.

Additionally, as is always the case with Social Security disability cases, if you do not meet or equal one of the Blue Book listings, you can still be found disabled if your residual functional capacity (RFC) is such that you are unable to sustain competitive employment.

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Can I Get SSI for Hearing Loss

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

In 2023, the highest federal SSI payment will be $914 per month for a single person and $1,371 per month for a couple. Certain states add payments for individuals and couples as an additional supplement.

In many states, if you qualify for SSI benefits, you may also be able to qualify for Medicaid health benefits, which can be used to pay for your health care expenses.

Additionally, if you are applying for SSI benefits for hearing loss, you must have below certain income and asset thresholds to qualify. 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 collectively have less than $3,000 in assets.

The Social Security Administration divides income into two categories for SSI purposes: 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 Hearing Loss

If you are applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits for hearing loss, you must have worked and paid into Social Security for a certain amount of time. Work credits are calculated based on how much money you earn and pay into Social Security. You can earn up to four work credits per year for every year you work. The required number of credits to qualify for SSDI benefits varies based on your age, but for most individuals, SSA will require that you have worked five of the last ten years (or earned enough in each of five of the last ten years).

The amount of money needed to earn one work credit changes annually, in 2022, you earn one credit for every $1,510 earned in wages or self-employment income. Once you earned $6,040, you have earned your four credits for the year. For 2023, one credit is earned every $1,640 earned in wages or self-employment income. This means, once you have earned $6,560, you have earned your four credits for 2023.

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 hearing loss 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.