CDL Social Security Disability Law Blog

The new medical criteria for evaluating musculoskeletal disorders are now in effect. The new listings contain specific criteria for evaluating the effects of musculoskeletal disorders on functioning. They also seek to resolve inconsistencies in policy applications that made it confusing for disabled Americans to get the benefits they deserved.

Many medical conditions can cause seizures. From epilepsy to brain tumors, a variety of medical disorders and viruses can result in seizures. While some seizures go away on their own with treatment, others can become debilitating and interfere with a person’s ability to work, maintain their lifestyle, and even properly care for themselves.  

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common motor disability in childhood and affects an estimated 1 in 345 children in the United States. This disability is present from birth and can drastically affect the child’s entire life. Disabilities and impairments range drastically depending on the severity of CP. However, according to the CDC, 41% of children with CP were limited in their ability to crawl, walk, and run. In addition, 31% of children with CP needed the use of special equipment such as walkers or wheelchairs.  

Every year, 1.5 million people suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the United States. These injuries range from minor concussions to serious and life-threatening brain injuries. Severe brain injuries can result in a lifetime of disability, pain, and suffering.

Injured individuals may suffer cognitive impairments such as speech and language abnormalities, thinking skills, and loss of motor function. They may be unable to perform their daily care and work in their chosen profession after suffering a serious TBI.

Did you know that during a stroke, nearly 2 million brain cells die every minute?  

Over 6 million Americans suffer bone fractures each year, whether through accidental falls or a direct trauma inflicted to the bone area from car accidents or a direct blow.

Usually, broken bones, including broken arms (fractured upper extremities), heal within 6 weeks. 

But what happens if you experience complications in the healing process? 

Ulcerative colitis is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that affects approximately 3 million adults in the U.S., according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. This disease, for which there is no cure, causes inflammation and ulcers, or sores, in a person’s digestive tract.

If you’ve been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, you know just how debilitating the disease can be and how it can make it impossible for you to do the job you’ve done your whole life. This disease significantly weakens muscles, to the point that they are difficult to use. This is especially troubling for workers who have labor-intensive jobs and rely on their physical capabilities to earn an income. 

If you’re a Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) recipient, there’s another stimulus payment on the way.

When you win Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, the amount of money you receive every month is based on a complex formula that considers how much you have paid in Social Security taxes during your working years. But if those monthly checks stayed stagnant and were never adjusted for changes in the US cost of living, inflation would eat up your benefit amounts and you’d have less purchasing power over the years you receive SSDI. There’s no way you’d be able to continue to make ends meet if SSDI benefits weren’t periodically increased to beat the rising costs of inflation.