Cancer Patients Receive Attorney Help to Prove Cancer Disability Claims
For thousands of claimants, it comes as a shock when their long-term disability insurance, Veteran’s Disability benefits, or Social Security disability for cancer is denied.
Mark Whitehead is a disability claims attorney who is committed to fighting denials of disability benefits for cancer patients and protecting their rights to maximum compensation.
If you are having trouble getting your claim approved for disabilities due to cancer, our law firm is prepared to help you at any stage of the process, from the initial filing to appealing the denial in federal court.
For a free legal consultation, call 800-562-9830
Claiming Cancer Disability Benefits on a Long Term Disability Insurance Policy
Long-term disability insurance is offered by employers as benefit packages to employees, or sold by insurance companies to individuals. And, although insurance providers say that they will pay long-term disability benefits if you are unable to work, many will deny valid claims, minimize payments, or find ways to delay payments – hoping you will give up and abandon the claim.
Reasons in support of long-term cancer disability claims often include cancer treatment. Medications and invasive chemotherapy and radiation treatments can leave patients seriously fatigued and sick, as well as affect their cognitive functioning such as memory, focus, and ability to absorb and analyze information.
Insurance companies will challenge this, saying that the patient is exaggerating or not giving their maximum effort.
If your insurer has denied your disability claim, don’t give up. A court of law may view the insurance company’s denial much differently, when all of the facts are raised and properly presented. An experienced disability insurance lawyer representing your claim can make a huge difference in fighting against a large insurance company.
Winning Social Security Disability Benefits for Cancer
As a cancer disability attorney who is Board Certified in Social Security Disability Law, Marc Whitehead is able to assist you in perfecting your claim, with detailed evidence of your medical disability and proof of your functional and vocational limitations.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) views cancer as a long-term disability when it is expected to last 12 months or longer, or is found to be inoperable and terminal. When cancer responds to treatment, a patient may be considered able to go back to work within 12 months.
The Social Security Listing of Impairments, also referred to as the Blue Book, lists their medical requirements for cancer under listing 13.00 Malignant Neoplastic Diseases. (Malignant Neoplastic meaning “cancerous tumor or growth.”)
All cancers are further divided into the following sections, each with a specific and technical description of SSA’s threshold for disability for that cancer. Every cancer disability claim is unique.
| Section | Cancer | Section | Cancer |
| 13.02 | Soft tissue tumors of the head and neck | 13.16 | Esophagus or stomach |
| 13.03 | Skin | 13.17 | Small intestine |
| 13.04 | Soft tissue sarcoma | 13.18 | Large intestine |
| 13.05 | Lymphoma (including Hodgkin’s Disease) | 13.19 | Liver or gallbladder |
| 13.06 | Leukemia | 13.20 | Pancreas |
| 13.07 | Multiple myeloma | 13.21 | Kidneys, adrenal glands, or ureters–carcinoma |
| 13.08 | Salivary glands | 13.22 | Urinary bladder–carcinoma |
| 13.09 | Thyroid gland | 13.23 | Cancers of the female genital tract |
| 13.10 | Breast | 13.24 | Prostate gland– Carcinoma |
| 13.11 | Skeletal system–sarcoma | 13.25 | Testicles |
| 13.12 | Maxilla, orbit or temporal fossa | 13.26 | Penis |
| 13.13 | Nervous system | 13.27 | Primary Site Unknown |
| 13.14 | Lungs | 13.28 | Malignant neoplastic diseases treated by bone marrow or stem cell transplantation |
| 13.15 | Pleura or mediastinum |
Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments can resolve certain cancers. Yet these treatments come with side effects so severe they cause their own set of disabilities. Cancer also results in serious secondary conditions such as fatigue and depression.
Many cancers are listed on the SSA’s list of Compassionate Allowances Conditions, in order to fast-track benefits for claimants whose medical conditions are so severe that it is evident their illness meets disability standards.
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How Can Social Security Deny Claims for Cancer Disability?
Although cancer is recognized as a severe impairment, we have seen many initial claims for cancer benefits denied. If the cancer is discovered at an early stage, SSA may inaccurately decide that treatment will lead to remission. Side effects of treatment or secondary conditions may not have been considered.
Many first claims are incomplete, without sufficient objective evidence for the SSA to justify an award. A critical part of cancer disability claims is to show the SSA that you are in fact unable to work at your past job or any other job according to their vocational guidelines.
Do not give up on your claim. For the best chance of winning benefits under the Social Security Disability program, we encourage you to talk to a cancer attorney at no cost or obligation.
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Veterans Benefits for Cancer Disability
Marc Whitehead & Associates represents military veterans throughout the United States who suffer from different types of cancer. Consultations are free and confidential.
How can we help? As Accredited Veteran’s Claim Attorneys, we are armed with many resources. We can help obtain evidence that is critical to your claim, and can be creative in maneuvering through obstacles such as locating your records, or intervene if your records are incorrect. As your proactive legal advocate, we can help you find the support you need to prove your case, whether through documentary evidence or witness testimony.
The VA rater will observe the VA Rating Schedule to assess the level of your service-connected disability. A disability due to cancer is rated according to the loss of function it has caused and the effect on your ability to work. Rating percentages are also assigned based on laboratory data, since medical results become discriminating factors in reflecting disability.
Veterans may have been exposed to substances that are known to cause cancer, such as Agent Orange and radiation. Many of these veterans were exposed to these agents several decades ago, and are now at an age where cancer may develop.
If a Vietnam Veteran suffers from any of the impairments listed below, the VA will presume that the cancer disability was caused by exposure to Agent Orange:
- prostate cancer
- respiratory cancers
- most soft-tissue sarcomas
- chronic B-cell leukemias, such as hairy cell leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia
- non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- multiple myeloma
In addition, veterans exposed to radiation from atomic weapons, fallout, and nuclear reactors have presumptive conditions. There are 21 different types of cancers related to exposure to radiation.
Our veterans’ lawyers are here to answer your questions, and help you at any stage of the process. We will look at your claim objectively, to determine where your strengths and weaknesses are. Our representation will strengthen your claim in many ways, eliminate the frustration, and help you get the compensation you deserve.
It Helps to Have a Disability Insurance Attorney Review Your Case
We meet with many cancer patients who are devastated to learn that their disability benefits were denied. We have successfully represented thousands of claimants in their battle to obtain the disability compensation they need.
Call Marc Whitehead & Associates toll free at 800-562-9830 or request a free consultation with a lawyer to discuss your cancer disability claim.
Call or text 800-562-9830 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form