Disability for Diabetes. It is the complications that count.

How Social Security evaluates diabetes

Social Security evaluates the effects of endocrine disorders under the listings for other body systems. For diabetes that means: nerve damage under the neurological listings, retinopathy under the vision listings, kidney disease under the genitourinary listings, heart and circulation problems under the cardiovascular listings, amputation under the musculoskeletal listings, slow-healing skin infections under the skin listings, and depression or thinking problems under the mental listings. Seizures or loss of consciousness from low blood sugar are also considered.

See our guides to peripheral neuropathy and heart disease.

When no listing is met

Most claims are decided on residual functional capacity: what you can still do in a work setting despite your symptoms. Social Security then asks whether any jobs fit those limits. For diabetes, limits often come from several complications at once: reduced standing and walking, poor feeling in the hands, blurred vision, fatigue, and the need for breaks to check and treat blood sugar.

Evidence that matters

• Endocrinology and primary care records with A1c history.
• Nerve conduction studies and foot examinations.
• Eye examinations showing retinopathy or acuity loss.
• Kidney function tests.
• Records of low blood sugar episodes, hospital visits, wounds, or amputations.

Ask your doctor to complete the physical impairments form in our free doctor forms. It records your limits in the terms Social Security uses.

Why these claims are denied

• The file shows a diagnosis and lab values but no complications.
• Poor control noted with no explanation, read as not following treatment.
• Each complication looked at alone instead of together.
• No doctor has described work limits.

When control is the problem

Social Security recognizes that poor control can result from the disease itself, from low blood sugar that comes without warning, from a mental health condition, or from treatment you cannot obtain. If any of these apply, the reason should be in your records.

If you are 50 or older

Under Social Security’s grid rules, a person limited to sedentary work at 50, or light work at 55, may be found disabled depending on education and past work.

Next steps

If you have been denied, you have 60 days to appeal. See what to do after a denial in Arizona, SSDI in Arizona, and SSI in Arizona. There is no fee unless benefits are awarded.

J Disability Law Firm, PLLC · Joseph J. Duerst, Attorney · 18444 N. 25th Ave, Suite 420, Phoenix, AZ 85023 · (602) 607-0000. This page is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different. Past results do not predict the outcome of your case.