Does A Stroke Qualify For Social Security Disability?
Last updated on January 3, 2025
Few things can change your life more suddenly and dramatically than a stroke.
If a stroke leaves you — or someone close to you — unable to function like before, you could qualify for Social Security Disability benefits and get financial relief. Benefits include monthly checks to cover your basic needs and allow a more secure life after a stroke.
Strokes vary greatly in severity. Different people recover in widely different ways. The Stroke Awareness Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other sources say almost 800,000 people in the United States have strokes each year.
The most important part of getting approved for Social Security Disability is that you must be unable to work any significant amount for at least a year after a stroke. Otherwise, you’re likely to be denied for disability benefits.
You can get support in your effort to win greater economic stability after a stroke from a Social Security Disability lawyer who focuses on this process. You deserve a disability lawyer who treats you and your case with care, respect and dignity. And you deserve a lawyer with deep experience in this area of law.
In Yakima, Kennewick, Sunnyside, Spokane, Wenatchee, Richland, Walla Walla, Pasco or Ellensburg, the disability law team at Bothwell Hamill & Sutton, PLLC has helped thousands of people for over 40 years.
How Social Security Defines Strokes For The Purpose Of Disability Benefits
Social Security officially specifically recognizes strokes as medical episodes that can qualify you for disability benefits.
The government calls a stroke a “vascular insult to the brain,” which means the death of brain cells from either a loss of blood flow or a ruptured blood vessel or aneurysm.
This lines up with how doctors describe strokes. Johns Hopkins Medicine explains that there are two major types of strokes:
- Ischemic strokes: An artery or vein blockage of blood movement, which Johns Hopkins says causes about 87 percent of strokes.
- Hemorrhagic stroke: Bleeding in the brain, as from a rupture, which is responsible for the other 13 percent of strokes.
If you or a loved one request disability benefits because of damage from a stroke or strokes, the Social Security Administration (SSA) says it will need evidence of these kinds of effects:
- Loss of ability to speak or understand speech
- Loss of physical functioning
- Medical reports showing these losses lasting at least three months
You don’t have to figure out on your own how to apply for Social Security Disability after a stroke. You don’t have to collect all the medical records you need without any help.
This is what experienced disability lawyers do. You can start getting answers and a plan for what’s next by having an absolutely free conversation with the Central Washington disability attorneys at Bothwell & Hamill.
What You Need For A Disability Claim For A Stroke
The SSA gives you three paths for showing that your stroke had severe enough consequences to prevent you from working and warrant financial assistance:
1) The inability to communicate that lasts three months straight
2) Inability to stand, balance, walk or use your hands and arms for at least three months
3) The decline in physical ability combined with mental functioning problems like handling information, interacting with people, focusing on tasks, and controlling your behavior
The medical evidence you use to confirm your struggles after a stroke can include laboratory test results, examination reports, and medical imaging such as X-rays, CT scans, MRIs and EEGs (electroencephalography.)
For your disability application, you can also submit your own statements about the ways your daily life is limited in the aftermath of your stroke. And you can submit statements from people who know you.
You can also get a disability lawyer to put everything together for your claim — so you can save your energy for taking care of yourself and recuperating.
Could You Use Financial Assistance After A Health Crisis In Central Washington?
Your disability attorney charges nothing upfront. You only pay a lawyer fee after you win benefits.
It’s worth it to get support for your disability claim for a stroke because disability benefits mean better conditions for you to live your life after this health crisis.
Our lawyers have helped people with stroke cases many times before. In Washington state, talk to us at Bothwell Hamill & Sutton, PLLC.
