Social Security Disability & SSI Benefits: Huntington’s Disease

Winning Your Case

You or your child can win a Huntington’s disease Social Security and SSI disability case if two criteria are successfully satisfied:

1. Non-Medical Criteria, and
2. Disability Criteria.

Successfully following the disability criteria means –

1. You appreciate how Social Security appraises Huntington’s disease (discussed below),
2. You satisfy a Huntington’s disease Social Security Listing (also discussed below) or you have disabling Functional Limitations (discussed on the next page), and
3. You Submit Winning Evidence (discussed on the last page).

With Social Security, Your Huntington’s Disease Medical Evidence Is Priority

Social Security regards Huntington’s disease as a very serious medical condition. Huntington’s disease is the degeneration of nerve cells in the brain. Symptoms include uncontrolled movements, cognitive impairment, and mood changes. Life expectancy after onset is about 20 years. When Social Security reads your medical records to determine if you are disabled, it is first reviewing those records for a diagnosis that is done by brain CT scan or MRI, and in some cases, genetic testing. With a well-documented diagnosis, your Huntington’s disease disability case should be allowed at the initial level. There is no cure and essentially no treatment. But, doctor’s often recommend physical, occupational, speech, and mental health therapy in an attempt to keep a patient active and alleviate symptoms as much as possible. Medications are nearly always given for movement or mood symptoms. Treatment records of your therapy and medications are important to Social Security because it will establish the ongoing nature and severity of your condition.

Huntington’s Social Security & SSI Listings

Adult Listing 11.17 and Child Listing 111.17. An adult must satisfy points 1 or 2. A child must only satisfy point 1.

1. An extreme limitation to your bilateral upper or lower extremities; or
2. A marked affect on your physical abilities and a marked effect mentally in one of the following areas –
   1. Work-related cognition,
   2. Social skills,
   3. On-task work behaviors, or
   4. Acceptable work performance.

If your Huntington’s disease results in only a mental disability, Social Security will evaluate the mental disability as a neurocognitive disorder – Mental Retardation & Intellectual Disorders. The listings for which are Adult Listing 12.02 and Child Listing 112.02.

Compassionate Allowance Case

A juvenile Huntington’s disease Social Security disability case can be adjudicated as a compassionate allowance for a faster decision – Expedited Cases.