Can You Get Disability Benefits for Diabetes?

Diabetes is a chronic condition that results when your pancreas—an organ that helps you digest food—has difficulty producing insulin, an important hormone that regulates your blood sugar. Both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes result in insulin deficiencies, but the causes of the disorder are different. Type 1 is an immune system response where your body attacks the insulin-producing cells in your pancreas, while Type 2 happens when your body stops being able to use the small amount of insulin it produces.

Many people can successfully control their diabetes with medication, exercise, and diet. But for others, diabetes may remain uncontrolled despite medical treatment, causing ongoing functional limitations. If you've struggled to control your symptoms and you're no longer able to work full-time as a result, learn what you'll need to prove in order to qualify for Social Security disability benefits.

Is Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes Considered a Disability?

Both types of diabetes can be considered a disability according to the Social Security Administration (SSA) if they keep you from earning at or above the level of substantial gainful activity for one year or more. For 2025, the dollar amount that the agency considers "substantial" is $1,620 per month, so if you're working even part-time and earning at least that much, you won't be considered disabled.

Social Security isn't as concerned with the exact diagnosis you have as it is with how your symptoms limit your ability to work, so whether you have Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes won't be the factor that determines whether you're disabled. Rather, you'll need medical evidence of symptoms or complications that either rise to the level of a listed impairment or are otherwise significant enough to rule out all full-time jobs (called a "medical-vocational allowance").

How to Get SSDI or SSI Disability Benefits for Diabetes

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are the two types of federal benefits provided for disabled adults and children. While many people use the terms interchangeably, SSDI and SSI have different preliminary eligibility criteria that you'll have to meet before Social Security can decide if you're disabled. SSDI eligibility is based on your earnings history, while SSI eligibility is subject to certain income and asset limits.

As long as you're legally allowed to receive either SSDI or SSI, Social Security will look at your medical documentation of symptoms or complications from diabetes to find out how severely they limit your abilities. If you only have minimal disruptions to your activities of daily living, it's unlikely that you'll qualify for benefits without evidence of another condition. But if you have painful neuropathy caused by diabetes, you may not be able to work at even the simplest sit-down jobs. Or, if you have organ failure related to your diabetes, you may meet the requirements of a listing that covers disorders of that specific body system.

Qualifying When Complications from Diabetes Meet or Equal a Listing

Complications from diabetes tend to be a result of damage caused by a concentration of high blood sugar (a condition called hyperglycemia) affecting certain nerves. When hyperglycemia goes on for too long, it can cause damage to these nerves and related organs. Examples include peripheral neuropathy in your extremities (hands and feet), kidney damage, diabetic retinopathy (poor vision), and cardiovascular disease.

Diabetes on its own isn't one of the listed impairments, a collection of disorders that the SSA considers serious enough to be potentially automatically disabling. But if any of the above complications are especially severe, the SSA may find that you meet or equal a listed impairment for a related condition. Depending on the location and intensity of your symptoms, you might meet or equal a listing if your record contains evidence of the following:

• Chronic hyperglycemia. Chronic hyperglycemia is the cause of many of the diabetic complications mentioned above. The SSA has medical listings for peripheral neuropathy, kidney damage, vision loss, and heart disease.
• Hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is the opposite of hyperglycemia—your glucose levels are too low instead of too high. Severe hypoglycemia can lead to seizures and cognitive deficits.
• Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). DKA occurs when your body runs out of insulin to break down glucose for energy and uses fat cells instead. DKA is life-threatening when left untreated and almost always requires hospitalization. DKA can cause irregular heartbeat, liver damage, brain swelling, and eating disorders.

Keep in mind that getting disability based on a listed impairment requires a very strong medical record with lots of specific evidence. You'll likely need to show that you've been hospitalized multiple times for diabetic complications, for example. If you think you may qualify for benefits this way, it's a good idea to speak with your doctor (preferably your endocrinologist) and see if they are willing to write a medical source statement explaining why you meet or equal a listing.

Qualifying for Disability Based on Your Residual Functional Capacity

Even if the SSA thinks that you aren't medically disabled under a listing, you can still qualify for benefits if you can show that no jobs exist that you can do with your current limitations. The process by which Social Security determines what you can and can't do in a work environment is called assessing your residual functional capacity (RFC).

A typical RFC for applicants with diabetes will include limitations on how long you can sit, stand and walk for, as well as how much weight you can lift and carry. The SSA refers to these physical restrictions as your "exertional level." You might also have "non-exertional" limitations, such as restrictions on how often you can use your hands, or how long you can concentrate.

Social Security will use your RFC to determine whether you're currently capable of doing any of the jobs you've done in the past. Depending on your age and past work history, you'll likely have to show that you can't do an easier, less physically demanding job, such as assembling small parts. If you need to take extra breaks throughout the day to manage your blood sugar, the agency will likely find that you can't do any jobs.

How Hard Is It to Get Disability for Diabetes?

There isn't really a definitive answer to this question because it depends largely on the strength of your medical record. Symptoms and complications of diabetes can range from treatable to life-threatening. Social Security will look closely at your doctor's notes to see if complications from your diabetes persist despite treatment. If your diabetes is under control (meaning your blood sugar levels aren't too high), it's unlikely that you'll be awarded benefits.

If your diabetes is regularly referred to in the record as "uncontrolled," the SSA wants to see that you're at least making attempts to get your blood sugar under control. If you're following your doctor's orders, taking your medication as prescribed, and sticking to a diet—but your blood sugar is still too high—the agency is much more likely to find that your diabetes is disabling.

If you have gaps in your medical history or if your doctor makes a recommendation that you don't follow, Social Security will want to know why. Without a good reason, the SSA can deny your claim for benefits for failure to follow prescribed treatment, because the agency doesn't know if a treatment would have worked well enough for you to do any jobs.

One of the most common reasons people with diabetes might not follow prescribed treatment is that they're unable to afford expensive insulin. Social Security recognizes that diabetes medication is often cost-prohibitive, and the agency won't hold it against you if you don't get treatment that you can't afford. Or, if you have diabetic neuropathy that progresses to the point where your doctor recommends amputation, you can decline without affecting your application for benefits.

Getting VA Disability Benefits for Diabetes

Veterans who have service-connected diabetes may also be eligible for disability compensation from the VA. Type 2 diabetes specifically is afforded presumptive service connection by the VA provided you received a disability rating of at least 10% within 1 year of military separation or you meet the service requirements for exposure to Agent Orange.

The VA Schedule of Rating Disabilities evaluates diabetes under diagnostic code 7913. According to the Schedule, the following ratings are assigned to veterans with the corresponding sets of symptoms:

Your VA disability percentage rating plays a major role in calculating the amount of your monthly compensation payments, and your rating is in large part due to your medical records. Therefore, it's essential that all your VA medical records as well as records from private medical providers are included in your claims file ("C-file"). You can request your C-file and review it to make sure that the VA isn't missing anything that they need to properly assess your disability rating.

How to Apply for SSDI, SSI, and VA Benefits

Applying for SSDI or SSI is a relatively straightforward process. Social Security provides several easy methods for you to start your disability application. You can choose the one that you're most comfortable with:

• File online at Social Security'sofficial website.
• Call 800-772-1213 (TTY 800-325-0778 if you're deaf or hard of hearing) from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, to speak with a Social Security representative.
• Go in person to your local Social Securityfield office.

You can apply for VA benefits in a similar manner. You'll need to complete Form 21-526EZ, Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits, which you can do in a few ways:

• Apply online using the electronic version of Form 21-526.
• Fax Form 21-526EZ to 844-531-7818 (from inside the United States) or 248-524-4260 (from outside the U.S.).
• Bring your application to your local VA office.
• Mail the form to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Claims Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444.

Veterans can receive both VA and Social Security benefits, although being found disabled by one agency doesn't guarantee that you'll get disability from the other due to the different criteria for each. But if you have medical records strong enough for the VA to give you a 100% disability rating, for example, it's likely that the SSA will come to a similar conclusion.

What If My Diabetes Doesn't Qualify?

Most disability applicants aren't awarded on their first try. Fortunately, you can appeal within 60 days after receiving a denial letter. And if you're denied again, you can request a hearing with an administrative law judge, where you have your best chances of getting awarded benefits. You may want to consider hiring an experienced disability attorney who can help you explain in clear terms how your symptoms keep you from working and help put any less-than-glowing parts of your application (such as evidence of drug or alcohol abuse) into context so that they don't sink your claim.