Numerous conditions cause eye disorders and impaired vision. Loss of eyesight can present a tremendous obstacle to earning a living.
If your claim for disability benefits for an eye impairment was denied, do not hesitate to contact us. We help disabled workers and veterans fight back and win denied long term disability benefits for blindness, various levels of visual impairment, eye disease and other chronic eye problems.
If you were unjustly denied disability benefits, do not give up. What seems like an uphill battle can be fought and won, with an experienced and focused legal team at your side.
Over 50 named eye conditions exist. Serious problems can happen suddenly or gradually. Some eye impairments that lead to disability claims are more common than you might expect, including:
- Diabetic Retinopathy (blood vessels in the retina change)
- Glaucoma (damage to the optic nerve)
- Hemianopia (partial or full loss of vision in the left or right half of the field of vision in one or both eyes – common after stroke or brain injury)
- Keratitis (corneal ulcer)
- Macular Degeneration (breakdown of the eye’s macula, a small part of the retina responsible for central vision)
- Nystagmus (uncontrollable eye movements, likely neurological)
- Ocular herpes (type 1 herpes simplex virus of the eye)
- Ocular melanoma (cancer)
Other diseases or injuries—such as Multiple Sclerosis, Diabetes, brain injury, stroke, infections, detached or torn retina—may cause serious vision loss or disabling effects of blindness, blurred or double vision, or severe sensitivity to light.
Disability Insurance Claims for Eye Disorders
If you have a private disability policy or a group disability plan, you may be entitled to long term disability insurance benefits for loss of vision. However, insurance companies are highly skeptical of disability claims for vision impairments or blindness.
Insurance providers are quick to protect their own interests, which often means they find ways to deny legitimate claims. Many insurance carriers simply do not recognize the seriousness of eye disorders as a disabling medical condition. Disability providers may deny claims on the premise that a person who is visually impaired can still function and work, and that eye problems are generally treatable.
While short term disability benefits for blindness or vision loss may be quickly awarded under a policy, long term disability benefits can become much more complicated under the same policy.
Don’t let severe vision impairment devastate your family’s finances. If your insurance company won’t pay, speak with national disability attorney Marc Whitehead. Our law firm is here to fight for your right to the long term disability insurance benefits you deserve.
For a free legal consultation, call 800-562-9830
Social Security Disability Claims for Eye Disease
If your claim for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) was wrongly denied, we can help you appeal the decision. Social Security has extensive criteria that must be met before they will award benefits.
You may medically qualify for SSDI benefits by meeting one of Social Security’s disability listings for eye disorders. The SSA Listing of Impairments for eye disease and vision loss are found in Section 2.00, Special Senses and Speech.
Instead of indexing all of the individual eye diseases and conditions that exist, such as cataracts or glaucoma, SSA breaks down eye impairments into three categories that apply to disability due to loss of vision:
- Loss of Central Visual Acuity
- Contraction of the visual fields in the better eye
- Loss of visual efficiency
There may be other origins for your eye disorder, such as ocular melanoma, a malignant melanoma of the eye. The SSA listing would be under chapter 13.00, Cancer.
What happens if your disabling eye condition does not meet or equal an SSA listing? You may still qualify for SSD benefits, and in fact this is a common path toward winning Social Security Disability benefits.
For an award to be made in this case, your claim will be evaluated on the basis of your functional limitations and abilities. This is known as a medical-vocational allowance, where further analysis is done to prove your limited vision or blindness prevents you from working in any job.
The legal team at Marc Whitehead & Associates is committed to helping claimants receive the SSDI benefits they deserve. Attorney Marc Whitehead is board certified in Social Security Disability law, and our firm is prepared to help now.
Veterans Compensation Claims for Eye Impairment
Damage to eyesight is widespread among military personnel. Disability compensation is available to veterans for service connected vision loss due to injury, disease and other conditions. However, getting your claim processed quickly and successfully is far from easy. Our firm helps veterans at all levels within the VA disability system.
VA rates eye disorders according to the VA Schedule of Ratings Disabilities under Section 4.75, the Organs of Special Sense. To claim compensation, the veteran must be evaluated for various conditions of the eye. Regulations must be followed regarding the military visual impairment rating system.
Certain veterans with vision loss may also qualify for Special Monthly Compensation, as well as Specially Adapted Housing or Special Home Adaptation benefits, and Auto Allowance. It is critical that we identify and submit all relevant evidence to ensure your claim is fully supported.
If your claim was denied, or you disagree with a low disability rating, we can help you appeal with a solid case. We will represent you at all hearings, and serve as your legal advocate every step of the way.
As with hearing loss, thousands of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer vision disorders as a result of brain injury. Simply being near an IED blast can cause brain damage that leads to severe injury to the body, including eye damage such as hemianopia.
We have seen many cases where the veteran is unaware of their injury for long periods of time, and the condition goes undiagnosed. A veteran’s service connected eye problem is not always incurred during combat, either.
If you have a chronic eye condition that prevents you from working, you deserve to receive the disability benefit you have earned and are entitled to.
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If you were denied long term disability benefits, Social Security Disability or Veterans’ Disability Compensation, we are prepared to help you now. 800-562-9830
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