DISABILITY BENEFITS FOR HEARING LOSS
Disability benefits are available for those with severe hearing loss. For instance, the SSA insurance program offers two types of benefits: Social Security Disability Insurance benefits (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.
SSDI benefits are awarded if a person is disabled and unable to work. One must work first a certain number of quarters, in order to be eligible for SSDI benefits. Learn more, if you don’t know how to file for SSDI and SSI benefits.
SSI benefits are also for those who cannot work due to a medical condition. Likewise, they are also for people who have no work history. Or, they are for people who may not have earned enough work quarters to be qualify for SSDI benefits.
Similarly, SSI benefits are also available for children. In order to be paid SSI benefits, you must meet the income and asset restrictions set by the government. Learn about SSI benefits.
Many people who have hearing loss qualify for disability benefits. However, many people who have hearing loss are also able to work. Hearing loss is no longer considered an automatic bar to being able to obtain a job. Due to science, there are tools for hearing issues that can help you at school and at work.
DISABILITY BENEFITS FOR ADULT HEARING LOSS
In order to obtain disability benefits for hearing loss, you first need to apply. You can apply for benefits online at Social Security’s website. Once you apply, you will need to prove that you meet the following SSA listing found in the “blue book.”
For adults, the medical listing for hearing loss is found under Listing 2.00: Special Senses And Speech. For example, you can obtain SSD benefits for Ménière’s disease. Also, as an adult you can qualify for disability benefits if you have hearing loss without cochlear implants. However, you must meet one of two tests.
- Air and bone conduction audiometry. Your average threshold for air conduction in your better ear must be 90 decibels or worse and your bone conduction hearing threshold in the same ear has to be 60 decibels or more OR
- Word recognition. You must not be able to repeat more than 40% of words spoken using a phonetically balanced list of words.
If you, as an adult, have cochlear implants, then you will automatically receive benefits for one year after the surgery. After one year, the SSA will extend your benefits if your word recognition score on a “Hearing in Noise Test” (HINT) is 60% or less.
DISABILITY BENEFITS FOR CHILDREN WITH HEARING LOSS
For children, the medical listing for hearing loss and who do not have a cochlear implant, is Listing 102.10. Under this listing, children aged 5 and younger must have an air conduction hearing test. The result of the test must show an average threshold of 50 decibels or higher in the better ear.
Additionally, children aged 5 and older must have one of the following:
- an air conduction hearing test with an average threshold of 70 decibels or higher in the better ear and a bone conduction hearing test with an average threshold of 40 decibels or higher in the better ear
- a word recognition test with a value of 40% or lower in the best ear, or
- an air conduction hearing test with an average threshold of 50 decibels or higher in the better ear and a marked limitation in the child’s speech or language.
Find out about children’s SSI benefits.
HEARING LOSS AND COCHLEAR IMPLANTS
Listing 102.11 is for children who have hearing loss but have a cochlear implant (a device that sends signals through the auditory nerve to the brain). The SSA will find a child with a cochlear implant eligible for disability benefits for one year after implantation. Also, any child under the age of five with a cochlear implant will be found disabled.
If a child over five years old has a cochlear implant for a year, the SSA will find they have a disability if they have a word recognition test with a value of 60% or lower. The SSA uses the Hearing in Noise Test (HINT) or the Hearing in Noise Test for Children (HINT-C) to evaluate word recognition. See SSA’s listing for childhood deafness.
WHAT IS A COCHLEAR IMPLANT?
A cochlear implant is a complex electronic device that can help provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing. The implant has an external portion that sits behind the ear and a second portion that requires surgery to place it under the skin. The cochlear implant has a microphone, a speech processor, a transmitter and receiver, and an electrode array. Obtaining a cochlear implant is expensive.
Beyond that, an implant does not restore normal hearing. Instead, it gives a deaf person the sensation of sounds in the environment. This, along with therapy, can help a person understand spoken language. Typically, following surgery, speech-language pathologists and audiologists help you through the learning process. However, the device cannot restore the ability to hear.
HOW DOES A COCHLEAR IMPLANT WORK?
A cochlear implant is not a hearing aid. Hearing aids amplify sounds so a person who is hard of hearing may hear them. Cochlear implants bypass the ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve. The auditory nerve then sends the signals to the brain and the brain recognizes the signals as sound.
Futhermore, hearing through a cochlear implant is not the same as a hearing person being able to hear normal sounds. It also takes some time for a person with a cochlear implant to learn to distinguish the sounds. However, it does allow many people to recognize some sounds of speech, hear sound over the telephone, and hear warning signals.
Children and adults who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can receive cochlear implants. Worldwide, there are over 740,000 people using cochlear implants. In the United States, approximately 120,000 devices have been implanted in adults and 65,000 in children.
Implantation of a cochlear device is still a surgery. Therefore, you need to talk to your doctor and make an informed decision about whether the implant is right for you. Obtaining a cochlear hearing device can also be a difficult decision if your social life revolves around sign language. A cochlear implant does not eliminate all hearing loss. Think of all of the social and emotional issues of getting a cochlear implant before you have surgery.
WE WORK ON A CONTINGENCY FEE BASIS
If you have hearing loss that prevents you from working, then you need to hire an attorney to help you with your Social Security case. In order to hire Cannon Disability, all you need to do is call us or contact us online. We offer a free review of your case. And, it doesn’t cost you any money to contact or speak to us.
Better yet, it also doesn’t cost you any upfront money to hire us. Why? Because you only pay us an attorney fee if we win your case. This means if we win your SSDI or SSI case, then you pay out of your back benefits. If you do not win, then you do not pay any attorney fee.
If there are costs in your case, then you pay those. However, those costs are usually less than $100. Once we win, we are paid from your back benefit. Some attorneys claim that you don’t pay anything for their services, because the SSA sends the check. However, the check is still money from your back benefits. So, you are paying the attorney with your back benefit money if you win.
In order to hire most lawyers, you have to pay upfront fee. We don’t work like that. You don’t have a job. So, the only way to pay us, is for us to win your case. That is our goal.
CONTACT US FOR HELP WITH YOUR HEARING LOSS CASE
At Cannon Disability, we work as a team to help you win your hearing loss disability claim. Proving hearing loss to the SSA can be complex. For example, even if your doctor states you need benefits, you will need to submit medical test results to the SSA. You need to know what those tests are.
We can help you understand what elements of hearing loss that you need to prove to the SSA. No matter where you live, we can help you, because we have clients throughout the West, including Utah, Nevada, Idaho, and California. Utah SSDI benefit information is available. Likewise, learn about Nevada SSD and SSI information. We also have information of Idaho SSDI benefits and California SSD information as well.
We have the experience you need to help you submit the proper medical records to the SSA. For example, Dianna Cannon has been helping her client win benefits for over 30 years. Also, Brett Bunkall has won hundreds of cases in Utah, Nevada, Idaho, and California. Andria Summers has over 20 years of experience helping thousands of our clients win SSD benefits.
Our attorneys understand the law. Additionally, we have helped thousands of people who cannot work, win benefits. If you cannot work because of hearing loss, then contact us today.
Hire our legal team. The SSA has attorneys, experts, and doctors on their side. You need a legal team too. We have the experience you need. Let us help you win your SSDI and SSI benefits for hearing loss.
WIN BENEFITS WITH OUR LAW FIRM
At our law firm, our lawyers have won over 20,000 SSDI and SSI cases. This means that we have helped over 20,000 people to win Medicaid benefits and Medicare insurance benefits too. Also, in 30 years we have won over $100 million in back due and ongoing benefits for our clients. You are three times more likely to win your benefits if you hire an attorney. However, you need to hire an attorney who has legal experience and understands the law. Hire a law firm, like us, that focuses only on Social Security law.
If you have any mental or physical condition that prevents you from working for over 12 months, then we can help win your benefits. You can apply for SSDI and SSI benefits on Social Security’s website. If you need help filing your claim, call us today. Every day you wait to file your claim is a day you lose money. Because, the start of the SSA being able to pay you benefits begins on the date of your application.
Contact us today. Take advantage of our free review of your case. Call and we will answer your questions. You can explain why your hearing loss prevents you from working. We will be able to tell you if you qualify for benefits.
