Can Scleroderma qualify for Social Security disability benefits?
Author: Attorney Lloyd Bemis
Updated: 3/20/2025
Can I get disability benefits if I am suffering from the effects of systemic scleroderma?
First you must meet the SSA’s financial requirement:
You must have worked long enough, recently enough, and not made over a predetermined level of income.
Second you must meet the medical requirements:
To qualify for benefits, in addition to meeting the SSA’s financial requirements, applicants must provide medical evidence confirming their diagnosis and demonstrate involvement of multiple organs or body systems or specific physical limitations. Key criteria for qualification include the involvement of two or more organs or body systems, with at least one affected to a moderate severity level, accompanied by symptoms such as severe fatigue, fever, malaise, or involuntary weight loss. Alternatively, applicants may qualify if they exhibit contractures or deformities in their hands or feet, necessitating the use of assistive devices, or if they experience irreversible atrophy in their limbs that impedes their ability to perform daily activities.
Additionally, the presence of Raynaud’s Phenomenon, characterized by severe complications such as gangrene or ischemia, can also support a claim for disability benefits. Applicants must document recurring symptoms that significantly interfere with daily functioning, including severe fatigue and malaise.
It is essential to provide comprehensive medical records, including treatment notes, diagnostic tests, and evaluations of organ function.
Scleroderma and Qualifying for Disability Benefits
Scleroderma Statistics
Scleroderma, also known as systemic sclerosis (SSc), is a rare disease that affects about 300,000 people in the United States.
Prevalence of Scleroderma
- The prevalence of scleroderma is higher in the US than in Europe or Asia, about 250 per million adults.
- More women than men are impacted by SSc, with a ratio of about 4:1.
Factors that affect prevalence
- Age: Scleroderma can affect people of any age, but it’s most common between the ages of 25 and 55.
- Sex: Women are affected more frequently than men.
- Race: Black people have a higher incidence of scleroderma than white people.
- Family history: There may be a slight predisposition to scleroderma in families with a history of rheumatic diseases.
What are the Functional challenges related to Scleroderma?
Functional limitations related to scleroderma primarily involve difficulties with hand movement due to skin thickening, joint stiffness, and tendon involvement, which can significantly impact daily activities like dressing, eating, and gripping objects.
Other limitations include impaired mobility due to tight skin on the limbs, breathing difficulties from lung involvement, digestive issues from gastrointestinal tract complications, and fatigue due to the systemic nature of the disease.
Key functional limitations of scleroderma:
- Hand dysfunction: Difficulty making a fist, gripping objects, fine motor skills limitations, and pain in the hands due to skin thickening and joint stiffness.
- Limited mobility: Stiffness and tightness in skin of the limbs, leading to restricted range of motion in elbows, knees, and wrists.
- Facial expression limitations: Tightening of facial skin can affect facial expressions and mouth opening.
- Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia): Esophageal involvement can cause problems with swallowing due to muscle weakness and narrowing of the esophagus.
- Respiratory issues: Pulmonary fibrosis (scarring and thickening of lung tissue) can lead to shortness of breath and reduced lung capacity.
- Gastrointestinal problems: Difficulty with digestion, abdominal pain, and diarrhea due to issues with bowel motility.
- Raynaud’s phenomenon: Episodes of color changes and pain in the fingers due to poor blood circulation in response to cold temperatures.
- Fatigue and weakness: Systemic inflammation and pain can contribute to significant fatigue.
Can I qualify for Social Security Disability Income?
The disabling symptoms of systemic scleroderma create many daily challenges for those living with this condition.
As mentioned above, cases of localized scleroderma are usually mild; however, systemic scleroderma is considered an impairment by the Social Security Administration and is listed in its Blue Book under Section 14.04 Systemic Sclerosis (Scleroderma). If you have systemic scleroderma, you may qualify automatically for disability benefits if you meet all the requirements stated under the listing.
In addition to a diagnosis of systemic sclerosis, you must have medical evidence of one of the following conditions.
- Two or more organs or body systems are involved, for example, the skin and lungs, with:
- One organ or body system affected to a moderate level of severity; and
- Two of the following symptoms – severe fatigue, fever, malaise, or involuntary weight loss.
- Contractures or deformities in hands or feet, with one of the following:
- A documented need for a walker, bilateral crutches or manual wheelchair that requires two hands; OR the inability to use one upper extremity to independently initiate, sustain, and complete work-related activities involving fine and gross movements AND a documented need for a one-handed, hand-held assistive device such as a cane; OR
- Finger contractures or deformities in both hands that prevent you from performing fine and gross movements like lifting objects, sorting papers, holding a pen, or tying your shoe.
- Atrophy in Arms or Legs, with one of the following:
- Irreversible atrophy in one or both legs that prevents you from walking without an assistive device that requires two hands such as a walker, or requires only one hand, such as a cane, but you’re unable to use the other hand due to a physical impairment; OR
- Irreversible atrophy in both arms that prevents you from performing movements like lifting objects, sorting papers, holding a pen, or tying your shoe.
- Raynaud’s Phenomenon, with one of the following:
- Gangrene in at least two limbs (arms and/or legs); OR
- Ischemia (lack of blood supply) that prevents you from walking without an assistive device that requires two hands, or requires only one hand; OR
- Ischemia that prevents you from performing movements like lifting objects, holding a pen, or tying shoes.
- You have “repeated manifestations” or recurring symptoms of systemic sclerosis that cause significant interference with your daily activities, social functioning or ability to complete tasks in a reasonable amount of time with two of the following symptoms:
- Fever
- Severe fatigue
- Malaise (feeling unwell)
- Involuntary weight loss
OR
You will need to provide complete medical records to Social Security as evidence of scleroderma, including visits to your doctor, your doctor’s treatment notes, blood tests, imaging such as MRIs, and organ function tests to see if the heart, lungs or kidneys are affected.
When you talk to your doctor, give your doctor specific examples of how your scleroderma limits your ability to perform tasks in the workplace, such as using tools, writing, typing, lifting, walking, and standing. Also, if you have to be absent multiple times a month or be off-task throughout the day because of your condition, ask your doctor to document these issues. The more details the doctor includes about your limitations within your medical records, the better. Ask your doctor to fill out an RFC (Residual Functional Capacity) form detailing your limitations in standing, sitting, walking, and reaching. Make sure you include treatments you have tried and how you responded.
What if I don’t meet the requirements of Social Security’s listing?
If you do not satisfy the Social Security Administration’s criteria for systemic sclerosis, you may still qualify for disability benefits by demonstrating that your medical condition has significantly impaired your functional abilities, rendering you incapable of performing your job.
For instance, you might find it challenging to stand for extended periods or walk long distances, and you may experience difficulties with balance.
The Social Security Administration will examine your medical documentation and conduct its own Residual Functional Capacity (RFC) assessment to determine if your medical impairment prevents you from doing the work you did prior to developing the condition.
If you cannot do your prior work, they will then determine if you can do any other type of work, taking into consideration your medical condition, your age, and your educational background, as well as any past work experiences or skills that you may have that could transfer to any other type of work.
The agency adheres to a specific set of medical-vocational grid rules to ascertain when it expects an applicant to acquire new job skills. Social Security recognizes that as we get older, employers will not be willing to retrain us to perform new tasks.
To account for this Social Security has established what they refer to as “Grid Rules” for individuals over 50 years old. For example, if an individual is 50 years old and has worked as a laborer performing heavy work, but due to a disabling condition, they are now limited to sedentary work, they can still be found disabled if they have no transferrable skills to a sedentary job. Similarly, if this same individual is between 55 and 60, they can be disabled even if they can perform sedentary and light work if they have no transferrable skills to such work.
If you cannot do your old job nor perform any other kind of work, or if you grid out due to your age and limitations, you will be considered sufficiently disabled for SSDI purposes.
What happens if I have multiple ailments?
You may also be eligible for SSDI if you have an additional medical condition.
Many applicants experience multiple health issues; although a single disorder may not fulfill the criteria of a Social Security impairment listing, the Social Security Administration is required to evaluate how the combination of all your medical conditions affects your ability to maintain employment and carry out daily activities.
“Once Social Security determines the limitations caused by your condition, they will employ a vocational expert to assess whether a person with these limitations is employable. Most vocational experts will find a person to be unemployable if their condition or the treatment rendered for the condition causes the person to regularly be absent two or more days a month or be “off-task” 15% or more of the workday.”
What are the basic financial requirements for SSDI?
Even if you meet all the SSA’s medical criteria for scleroderma, to be approved for Social Security disability you must also fulfill their fundamental financial requirements.
These requirements include:
1) having a disability that has lasted or is expected to last for a minimum of 12 months, 2) having sufficient work history in a position where you contributed to Social Security taxes to earn a specified number of work credits, and 3) your income must not exceed the threshold for Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA), which is $1,620 per month for non-blind individuals and $2,700 per month for blind individuals in 2025.
What if I don’t qualify for SSDI?
If you haven’t worked long enough to accumulate enough work credits, you may be eligible for disability benefits through Social Security Income (SSI). SSI is a program that pays monthly benefits to people with limited income and resources who are disabled, blind, or age 65 or older.
SSI is based on income instead of work credits and is financed by general funds of the U.S. Treasury.
I have long-term disability insurance – should I file a claim?
Long-term disability insurance (LTD) is coverage to protect your income if you are unable to work due to illness or injury and is purchased as part of a group employment plan or privately through an insurance company.
Policies pay between 50-60% of your salary, and benefits continue until you return to work or for the number of years stated in the policy. If you have long-term disability insurance, you should file a claim right away. Do not quit your job before you file a claim because LTD coverage is good only as long as you are still employed. Be sure to check the policy’s definition of “disabled” as each policy will state the definition of “disabled” which is in use. Note that some LTD companies require claimants to apply for SSDI also, and it’s possible to receive both long-term disability insurance benefits and SSDI concurrently.
The attorneys at Bemis, Roach & Reed have experience in representing clients at all levels of the Social Security Disability process and in long-term disability insurance cases.
Citations:
Scleroderma Stastics
The SSA Systemic Sclerosis Disability Requirements
Scleroderma.org
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Disability Benefits FAQs
Social Security has some basic financial requirements.
Before you are eligible for Social Security disability benefits, you must satisfy some basic financial requirements. You must: 1) have a disability that has lasted or is expected to last 12 months; and 2) you must have worked in a job where you paid Social Security taxes long enough and recently enough; and 3) you must not earn more than Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA), which is $1,620 per month in 2025 for nonblind applicants and $2,700 per month for blind applicants.
Basic SSDI Requirements –>
You may also be eligible for Social Security Disability benefits if you have another medical condition.
One disorder alone may not meet the criteria of an impairment as stated in Social Security’s Blue Book, but if you have more than one medical condition, Social Security must consider how those health issues combined limit your ability to hold a job and perform necessary daily tasks.
Disability for Multiple Impairments –>
If you are 55 or older or have another medical condition you may get approval.
Applicants who are 55 or older often fall under a grid rule, which means they are not expected to learn a new job.
Disability for those over 55 –>
How much does a disability lawyer cost?
Disability lawyers charge on a contingency basis, meaning they only collect a fee if you win your case and are awarded disability benefits. Federal law sets the amount that attorneys can charge which is based on a percentage of past-due benefits you are owed up to a fixed amount, whichever is less. So, there are no out-of-pocket costs for you.
Disability Lawyer Costs –>
Should you file a claim?
If you believe that you meet Social Security’s medical and financial requirements, you should apply for benefits. If you are still unsure or would like to talk to someone, please contact us at 512-454-4000. We are always ready to take your call and discuss your options with you free of charge. We are happy to help folks just like you find the best solution for their personal situation.
How do I file for Social Security Disability benefits?
Once you have decided to file a claim, you can take the first step and apply for Social Security Disability benefits in person at your local Social Security Administration office, online, or over the phone.
How to Apply for SSDI –>
Appealing denied benefits
Most who file are denied initially. That doesn’t mean you won’t qualify; you just need to file an appeal.
There are four steps to the Social Security appeal process.
SSDI Appeals Process –>
Do I need a disability attorney for SSDI?
You may certainly file a claim on your own, but evidence shows that your chances for approval are increased significantly if you have legal representation.
Do I need an SSDI attorney–>
What if I don’t qualify for SSDI?
If you haven’t worked long enough to earn enough work credits, or if you earn too much income, you may be eligible for disability benefits through another Social Security program, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or from a long-term disability insurance plan through your employer or a privately purchased policy.
What is Supplemental Security Income or SSI?–>
I have long-term disability insurance – should I file a claim?
Absolutely – you should file a claim as soon as you become disabled.
LTD Disability Appeals Process–>
Disability benefits are an important source of income for those who are unable to work. If you are not able to work due to accident or illness, you may be eligible for Social Security Disability or Long Term Disability benefits. If you have applied for benefits and been denied, contact the attorneys at Bemis, Roach and Reed for a free consultation. Call 512-454-4000 and get help NOW.
Author: Attorney Lloyd Bemis has been practicing law for over 35 years. He is Superlawyers rated by Thomson Reuters and is Top AV Preeminent® and Client Champion Gold rated by Martindale Hubbell. Through his extensive litigation Mr. Bemis obtained dual board certifications from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Lloyd is admitted to practice in the United States District Court – all Texas Districts and has argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. Mr. Bemis is a member of the Travis County Bar Association. He has been active in the American Association for Justice and is a past Director of the Capital Area Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Bemis and all the members of Bemis, Roach & Reed have been active participants in the Travis County Lawyer referral service.
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