When you have a condition that is severe enough to keep you from making a living in California, you may decide to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance through the U.S. Social Security Administration. If you count yourself among the approximately 10 million Americans with osteoporosis, you may wonder if the condition counts as a disability and thereby makes you eligible for these benefits.
Per American Bone Health, osteoporosis patients have porous bones and low bone mass due to the bones thinning over time. Because the bones of an osteoporosis patient are already brittle, they are more prone to breakage than the bones of people without osteoporosis.
Determining if osteoporosis is a disability
The SSA does not consider osteoporosis, in and of itself, to be a disability that automatically makes you eligible for SSDI. However, you may still be able to qualify for SSDI when you have osteoporosis if your condition leads to debilitating symptoms that hinder your ability to work. The SSA also references a Disability Evaluation Under Social Security guide, or a “Blue Book,” to determine if your condition is, in fact, a disability. However, if your osteoporosis is the result of a condition listed in the Blue Book, it may help you qualify.
Determining overall eligibility for SSDI
The SSA also considers other factors when deciding whether to award you SSDI. Whether you are able to work at all is one such consideration. Whether your condition prevents you from performing basic functions for at least a year is another.
Because osteoporosis is not by itself a disability, the strength of your application is going to depend largely on how much medical evidence you have to back up your claims.