Disability Involving the Digestive System
Being diagnosed with a serious digestive disease does not guarantee approval for disability benefits (with the exception of liver transplants). Social Security will grant automatic disability for some disorders (such as gastrointestinal hemorrhaging, chronic liver disease, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), short bowel syndrome, and severe weight loss) that meet the agency's listing criteria. But applicants with other digestive disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and celiac disease, have to show that the limitations these disorders impose on their functioning prevents them from doing even sedentary work.
If you have severe liver disease or bowel syndrome, or another digestive illness that causes gastrointestinal hemorrhaging or weight loss, you may be able to get disability benefits.
Crohn’s disease causes inflammation deep in the layers of the intestinal wall and throughout the gastrointestinal tract.
If symptoms of your celiac disease or gluten sensitive enteropathy (GSE) are severe enough, you may qualify for SSDI or SSI benefits.
Most (but not all) people with Hepatitis B are able to recover without having functional limitations, and thus aren't eligible for disability benefits.
Hepatitis C is a viral infection that is contracted by exposure to infected blood.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can significantly affect your ability to work a full-time job. Find out if you can get disability benefits if you can no longer work.
Find out how Social Security evaluates cirrhosis and other liver diseases, as well as when alcoholic cirrhosis can be disabling.
Nolo's disability book, written by a former chief medical consultant for Social Security, explains how Social Security assesses digestive impairments.
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