Understanding When a Medical Condition Qualifies for Disability Benefits

Does my health condition qualify me for disability benefits?

Any medical condition that limits your ability to work will qualify you for disability. Now just because you have a medical condition does not mean you are qualified for disability. The example I give is that statistics by some measures show that 85% of people who are 50 years or older have degenerative disc disease in their spine, but 85% of people who are 50 years or older are not disabled. Just because you have a diagnosis and just because you have a condition doesn’t mean that you are disabled. That is a separate process, a separate thing we have to evaluate. But having a condition – any condition, really – is the starting point. You have to have something that causes a limitation that prevents you from working.