Huntington’s Disease and Qualifying for Disability Benefits

Summary: Can I get disability benefits if I am suffering from the effects of Huntington’s disease?

Huntington’s disease is a relatively rare hereditary disease, affecting approximately one in every 10,000 people. The disorder is the result of a faulty gene that causes progressive damage to nerve cells in the brain, broadly impacting a person’s physical and cognitive abilities.

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The SSA recognizes Huntington’s disease in its Blue Book under Section 11.17. To qualify for Social Security Disability benefits the requirements of the listing must be met or the inability to work must be proven.

Though the symptoms of Huntington’s disease can appear at any age, the first signs of the disorder usually become apparent in people between the ages of 30 and 50 and worsen over the following 10 – 20 years.

Ten percent of cases begin before age 20 and are known as juvenile Huntington’s disease or JHD.

Early symptoms include clumsiness, mood swings, and unusual behavior progressing to difficulty walking, swallowing and talking in later stages.

Which symptoms appear first vary from person to person, but may be any of the following:

•    Stumbling or dropping things
•   Clumsiness and poor coordination
•   Uncontrollable movements
•   Difficulty concentrating
•   Mood changes
•   Short-term memory problems
•   Depression and irritability

As the disease progresses, an individual will experience more physical, cognitive and emotional changes.

•   Difficulty speaking, slurring words, or forgetting words
•    Involuntary movements in arms, legs, body, face and hands
•   Difficulty swallowing and eating
•   Weight loss
•   Difficulty concentrating
•   Slow processing of thoughts and difficulty learning
•   Emotional outbursts
•   Social withdrawal
•   Suicidal thoughts
•   Insomnia
•   Choking

These symptoms can cause you to miss work, possibly jeopardizing your ability to maintain employment.

There is no treatment to stop, slow, or reverse the progress of Huntington’s disease.

Treatment includes medications and various therapies to alleviate physical, emotional and cognitive symptoms.

•    Physical therapy can help maintain mobility and reduce the risk of falling
•   Psychotherapy can help manage behavior problems
•   Speech therapy can improve the ability to speak and use communication devices
•   Occupational therapy can improve functional abilities and teach a person how to use assistive devices such as handrails and eating and drinking utensils.

You will need to demonstrate to the SSA that you are following your doctors treatment plan to enhance your ability to qualify for disability benefits.

Huntington’s disease and Qualifying for Disability Benefits.

Huntington’s disease is listed as an impairment in Social Security’s Blue Book under Section 11.17 neurodegenerative disorders of the central nervous system, which includes Huntington’s disease, Friedreich’s ataxia, and spinocerebellar degeneration.

In order to meet the requirements of this listing, you must be able to prove you are experiencing one of the following limitations:

Disorganization of motor function in two extremities; for example, an arm and a leg or two arms or two legs, limiting the ability to stand up from a seated position, balance while standing or walking, or use the upper extremities.

OR

Marked physical limitation and one of the following:

•    Understanding, remembering, or applying information; or
•   Interacting with others; or
•   Concentrating, persisting, or maintaining pace; or
•   Adapting or managing oneself (Ability to plan independently, be aware of normal hazards)

If your physical limitations are not severe, Social Security will evaluate your condition under the mental listing for neurocognitive disorders.

In this situation, at least one of the following difficulties must be significantly worse than before:

•   Decreased coordination, such as walking or eye-hand coordination
•    Memory and learning problems
•   Difficulty focusing on tasks or paying attention to others
•   Difficulty planning or using judgment
•   Problems speaking and using language, grammar and vocabulary
•   Inability to use proper social behavior.

If your Huntington’s has not progressed to the point where you meet these criteria, you may still be eligible to receive SSD benefits.

Again, you must prove through medical evidence exactly how your condition is affecting your ability to work and function. Your doctor can complete a particular evaluation that will show you are unable to work and function as you once did because of your condition.

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.

Because Huntington’s disease can result in serious disability and death, it is among the conditions that are part of Social Security’s Compassionate Allowances program (CAL).

Under this program, applications for Social Security Disability benefits are handled on an expedited basis and benefits are approved in as quickly as possible in order to help those who need them most. Determinations made under CAL typically take one to two months. In order to qualify, an applicant must meet the listing requirements for neurodegenerative disease or the listing for neurocognitive diseases. You must provide complete medical records documenting a family history of Huntington’s disease, reports evidencing all motor, cognitive and psychiatric symptoms, and laboratory tests showing a CAG repeat expansion in the HD gene.
If you have Huntington’s disease and it has impacted your ability to work, you may be eligible for Social Security Disability Income.

In order to qualify for Social Security Disability, you will need to satisfy a few specific requirements in two categories as determined by the Social Security Administration.

The first category is the Work Requirements which has two tests.

1.   The Duration of Work test.   Whether you have worked long enough to be covered under SSDI.
2.   The Current Work Test.   Whether you worked recently enough for the work to actually count toward coverage.

The second category is the Medical Eligibility Requirement.

1.   Are you working?   Your disability must be “total”.
2.   Is your medical condition severe?    Your disability must be “severe” enough to interfere with your ability to perform basic work-related activities, such as walking, sitting, and remembering.
3.   Is your medical condition on the List of Impairments?   The SSA has a “List of Impairments” that automatically qualify as “severe” disabilities. If your disease is not listed this does not mean you cannot get disability, it means you must prove you cannot maintain employment due to your limitations.
4.   Can you do the work you did before?   SSDI rules look at whether your medical condition prevents you from doing the work you did prior to developing the condition.
5.   Can you do any other type of work?   If you cannot do your prior work, an evaluation is made as to whether you can perform any other kind of work.

More details can be found on our Qualifying for Disability page.

Author: Attorney Greg Reed has been practicing law for 29 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. Reed obtained board certification from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Greg is admitted to practice in the United States District Court - all Texas Districts and the United States Court of Appeals-Fifth Circuit. Mr. Reed is a member of the Travis County Bar Association, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, past Director of the Capital Area Trial Lawyers Association, and an Associate member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Mr. Reed and all the members of Bemis, Roach & Reed have been active participants in the Travis County Lawyer referral service.