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If people in Maryland have been diagnosed as having hemophilia, they may be able to apply for and receive Social Security Disability benefits. According to the National Human Genome Research Institute, hemophilia is a disorder associated with the blood that inhibits its ability to clot. It is classified in people as either hemophilia B or hemophilia A, depending on how severe the clotting issue is.
A genetic disorder that can be passed down to descendants, hemophilia may manifest itself in several different ways including the following:
- Blood in the stools
- Spontaneous bruising
- Throwing up blood
- After initial bleeding stops, the wound starts bleeding again
- Severe pain in limbs and joints
- Stroke
For people who have hemophilia B, which is the more serious of the two types, they can suffer bleeding in the soft tissues of the body, the bowel area, joints and the brain. Treatment is limited and may include extra pressure, infusions to add clotting factors or medication. There is no cure and because it is caused by a mutation of the genes, FIX or FVIII, testing is often used to determine whether people have the disorder. The disease is also more common in males and occurs throughout the world, affecting 20,000 to 34,500 for hemophilia B.
Social Security lists hemophilia under its adult disorders for hemostasis and thrombosis. To show that the disorder prevents people from working, they will need to provide evidence that they have been in a comprehensive hemophilia treatment center or an emergency department within a hospital for a period of at least 48 hours. Furthermore, the hospitalization must be an established pattern, having occurred “at least 30 days apart prior to adjudication” and within a 12-month timeframe, there must be no less than three incidents where hospitalization was required.