When applying for Social Security Benefits regarding immune system disorders, the SSA has a template called the bluebook that gives them all the guidelines to evaluate if you are eligible for Social Security disability benefits. The majority of debilitating conditions are classified into one or more of the fourteen sections. The immune system issues are discussed in the thirteenth section. The immune system diseases are divided into nine groups in the Blue Book. The SSA utilizes the following categories and general factors to assess whether a claimant is eligible for disability benefits:
- Systemic lupus erythematosus – You can qualify for disability if your condition has either, two or more organs/body systems that lupus interacts with and at least two of the following symptoms: fever, severe fatigue, malaise, or involuntary weight loss OR SLE manifestations on a repeated basis, with at least two of the constitutional symptoms or signs (extreme fatigue, fever, malaise, or involuntary weight loss) and one of the following at a notable level:1. Restriction of daily activities.
2. Impairment of social functioning.
3. Impossibility of finishing activities on time owing to lack of concentration, persistence, or pace. - Systemic vasculitis – If you have systemic vasculitis and the meet the above guidelines for SLE of the SSA’s bluebook guidelines, you will qualify for social security disability benefits since they’re identical.
- Systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) – The requirements to qualify for disability regarding systemic sclerosis consist of the same as SLE, as well as, fixed abnormalities that result in the inability to walk normally or perform fine motor skills, as well as irreversible injury to one or both feet. If you’ve had many manifestations that have been proved to seriously impede your capacity to operate in a work place, or if your condition is accompanied with Raynaud’s phenomenon, you may also qualify (gangrene, ulcerations).
- Polymyositis and dermatomyositis – If you have muscle weakness (shoulder or pelvic) followed by medical documentation of at least one of the listed requirements in the bluebook, impaired swallowing caused by muscle weakness, impaired respiration caused by muscle weakness, limitation of your joints, or repeated manifestations of polymyositis, you will qualify for disability.
- Connective Tissue Disease – The requirements for connective tissue are identical to SLE, meeting the requirements for SLE above will qualify you for disability regarding connective tissue disease.
- Immune deficiency disorders, excluding HIV infection – Medical documentation must demonstrate that your infections (which may include pneumonia, sepsis, meningitis, septic arthritis, sinusitis, or endocarditis) are either resistant to standard treatment or severe and frequent enough that you require hospitalization and/or IV treatment at least three times per year. If, however, you have received stem cell transplants, you will be declared incapacitated for one year and then periodically reviewed.
- Inflammatory arthritis – Your arthritis must impact a major joint system or be accompanied by deformity or other consistent indications that impair your capacity to conduct daily tasks or work in a particular setting.
- Sjögren’s syndrome- The requirements to qualify for this condition are identical to SLE above.
- HIV – To be deemed fully disabled, you must meet one of the following conditions: Bacterial infections, fungal infections, protozoan infections, helminthic infections, viral infections, malignant neoplasms, non-responsive ulcerations or sores, motor or cognitive impairment, wasting syndrome, sinusitis, sepsis, endocarditis, meningitis, septic arthritis, or chronic diarrhea
Other conditions that meet the criteria for immune system disorder include:
- AIDS
- Ankylosing Spondylitis
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Epstein-Barr Virus
- Psoriasis
- Raynaud’s Disease
- Scleroderma