Security Disability Conditions – Special Senses and Speech

Hearing Loss

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI or SSD)
Is a payroll-funded program to supplement the income of those unable to work due to disability.

General Qualifications for SSD Eligibility

For you to be eligible for SSD, your disability must last for at least a year or be terminal. You must also be under age 65 to be eligible, as 65 is normally the age of Medicare eligibility.

To be eligible for SSD, you must have accumulated a prescribed number of Social Security credits (normally accumulated through work experience and payment into Social Security) during the 10 years immediately preceding disability.

Requirements vary according to age, and if you suffer disability before age 23 you may be able to draw on your parents’ Social Security credits without affecting your parents’ eligibility for SSD.

Hearing Loss and SSD

If you meet the general qualifications for SSD and have satisfactory evidence of a medically determinable impairment that causes hearing loss, you are eligible to file for disability benefits relating to your condition.

In most cases, you are required to submit results of a complete otologic examination performed by a licensed physician. Results of this examination can confirm the medically determinable impairment causing your hearing loss. Within two months of your otologic exam, you must also undergo audiometric testing to assess the severity of your hearing loss. This testing must be given by an otolaryngologist or audiologist qualified to perform such tests.

If you have a cochlear implant

You will be considered disabled until one year after initial implantation. After one year, further testing will be required in order to determine continued eligibility for SSD.

If you do not have a cochlear implant

Your audiometric testing normally will involve pure tone air conduction and bone conduction testing, speech reception threshold (SRT) testing, and word recognition testing.  This testing must be conducted in a sound-treated booth or room, and you may not wear hearing aids during the testing.

For further information about hearing disability or disability conditions relating to hearing loss, click here.

If you’re considering applying for Social Security Disability, click here for a free SSD evaluation. If you’d like more information about Social Security Disability, a bonded, licensed MedicareMall representative will be happy to answer your questions. We’ll also be glad to answer any questions you may have about Medicare or Medigap.

Contact MedicareMall now and we’ll make it our priority to help you make the best-informed decisions possible when it comes to your health or disability.

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