Your symptoms may have been ambiguous and difficult to diagnose. You may have been tired, nauseous, lost weight, or felt abdominal pain from time to time. You knew something was wrong, but the doctors didn’t know what was causing your symptoms.
Now, however, you have a diagnosis. Your doctor has told you that you have large intestine cancer or small intestine cancer. Your whole life changed with your diagnosis. You can’t work, and you may worry about how to pay your bills.
You may qualify for Social Security disability.
How to Qualify for Social Security Disability With Intestinal Cancer
Both small intestine cancer and large intestine cancer are included in the Social Security Administration’s Blue Book Listing of Impairments. If you meet the requirements of a listing and submit a complete Social Security disability application, then you should receive Social Security disability benefits.
Small Intestine Cancer Listing 13.17
The Social Security disability listing for small intestine cancer requires that you have carcinoma, sarcoma, or carcinoid and that one of the following is true:
- It is inoperable, unresectable, or recurrent
- You have metastases beyond the regional lymph nodes
- You have small-cell (also known as oat cell) carcinoma
Large Intestine Cancer Listing 13.18
People with large intestine cancer qualify for Social Security disability if they meet the requirements outlined in listing 13.18. This listing includes cancers from the ileocecal valve through the anal canal. Large intestine cancer is also known as colon cancer, colorectal cancer, rectal cancer, and bowel cancer, and it most often impacts people over the age of 50.
If you have cancer of the large intestine, then you must be diagnosed with one of the following things to get Social Security disability benefits:
- Adenocarcinoma that is inoperable, unresectable, or recurrent
- Squamous cell carcinoma of the anus, recurrent after surgery
- Cancer with metastases beyond the regional lymph nodes
- Small cell (also known as oat cell) carcinoma
Other Ways to Qualify for Social Security Disability
Even if your intestinal cancer doesn’t meet the requirements in Listing 13.17 or 13.18, you may still qualify for benefits if you can prove that your condition is either: (1) equal in severity to a Blue Book listing; or (2) so severe that you cannot work.
How to Speed Up the Social Security Disability Process
Some people with small intestine cancer and large intestinal cancer can get Social Security disability benefits more quickly than others.
Compassionate Allowances Program
The compassionate allowances program allows some people with intestinal cancer to speed up the Social Security disability determination.
People with large intestine cancer generally qualify for the compassionate allowance program if they have adenocarcinoma that is inoperable, unresectable, or recurrent, or large intestine cancer with metastases beyond the regional lymph nodes.
Likewise, people with small intestine cancer may qualify for the compassionate allowance program if they have inoperable, unresectable, recurrent, or cancer with distant metastases that meets the criteria in listing 13.17.
Contact a Social Security Disability Lawyer
Whether or not you qualify for the compassionate allowance program, you can improve your chances of filing a successful Social Security disability application by working with an experienced New England Social Security disability lawyer.
The majority of initial Social Security disability applications are denied. Many of these applications are denied because of missing information or incomplete answers. Applicants who appeal often get Social Security disability benefits, but appeals take time and add anxiety during an already stressful time.
We will make sure that you have all of the required documentation for your initial application, including, but not limited to:
- The results of diagnostic testing
- Pathology reports
- Operative reports
- Physician notes
- Treatment plans and reports on the outcome of your treatments
Our Social Security disability attorneys can help you complete your initial application or appeal your Social Security disability denial, if necessary. If you have a Social Security disability claim in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, or New Hampshire, please contact us today for a free consultation.
Are You Looking for a Social Security Disability Attorney in Boston, MA?
If you are looking to apply for social security disability, you need to speak with an experienced social security disability lawyer as soon as possible. Please contact us online or call our Natick Office directly at 508.283.5500 to schedule your free consultation.
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