Can you get Social Security disability for Lymphoma?

Many Indiana residents wonder if they can receive Social Security disability benefits for lymphoma. Lymphoma is addressed in the Social Security Administration’s Listing of Impairments at listing 13.05, within Section 13.00, Malignant Neoplastic Diseases.

What lymphoma is

Lymphoma is a type of blood cancer that starts in the lymphatic system, the disease-fighting part of your body. It develops when white blood cells called lymphocytes grow out of control, which can cause tumors to form in the lymph nodes and elsewhere.

There are two main categories. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma accounts for roughly 90 percent of lymphoma diagnoses and is far more common than Hodgkin lymphoma. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is formed by B-cells or T-cells, and the many different types are generally divided into aggressive (fast-moving) and indolent (slow-moving) forms. According to the American Cancer Society, non-Hodgkin lymphoma accounts for about 4 percent of all cancers in the United States, with roughly 79,000 people diagnosed each year.

Symptoms may include:

• Swollen lymph nodes
• Abdominal or chest pain
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Night sweats
• Weight loss

There is no clear cause of lymphoma, but there are known risk factors. These include older age, certain infections, exposure to some chemicals, and medications that suppress the immune system.

What listing 13.05 actually requires

This is where many claimants are caught off guard. Having aggressive or indolent lymphoma is not by itself enough to meet listing 13.05. The listing asks what the disease has done despite treatment.

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (13.05A) is met in one of two ways:

• Aggressive lymphoma, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, that is persistent or recurrent following initial anticancer therapy.
• Indolent lymphoma, including mycosis fungoides and follicular small cleaved cell, requiring the initiation of more than one anticancer treatment regimen within a period of 12 consecutive months. Where this applies, disability is considered from at least the date that failing regimen began.

Hodgkin lymphoma (13.05B) is met where there is a failure to achieve clinically complete remission, or where the lymphoma recurs within 12 months of completing initial anticancer therapy.

Lymphoma treated by transplantation (13.05C) applies where you have had a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. You are considered disabled until at least 12 months from the date of transplantation. Social Security may be able to establish an earlier onset date than the transplant itself if your records support it.

Two exclusions are worth knowing. T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma is not evaluated under 13.05, and is instead covered by listing 13.06. And if you have HIV infection, primary central nervous system lymphoma and primary effusion lymphoma are evaluated under the immune system listings in 14.11 rather than here.

Meeting 13.05 also does not mean benefits continue indefinitely. Where you qualify through transplantation, that period runs at least 12 months from the transplant date. Under the other routes there is no fixed end date, but Social Security will review the claim in due course. Either way, it then evaluates any residual impairments under the criteria for whichever body system they affect, so lasting effects such as neuropathy, cardiac damage, or chronic fatigue need to be documented in your records before that review comes.

Adult non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Compassionate Allowances

Adult non-Hodgkin lymphoma also appears on Social Security’s Compassionate Allowances list. This program identifies conditions that clearly meet the agency’s disability standard so those claims can be decided quickly rather than waiting in the normal queue.

There is no separate application. You file for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) the usual way and Social Security screens your claim against the list. Stating your diagnosis precisely and getting the pathology and staging results into the file early is what helps the screening catch your claim. The disability standard is not lowered and no specific turnaround is promised, but these claims are prioritized.

If you do not meet listing 13.05

Many lymphoma claimants do not meet the listing, particularly those whose disease responded to initial therapy but who are left unable to work. That does not end the claim.

Social Security must then assess your residual functional capacity, meaning what you can still do despite your condition. As with any claim decided this way, your condition also has to have lasted, or be expected to last, at least twelve months. Indiana residents who suffer from lymphoma may not be able to carry out even simple job tasks. Chest and abdominal pain, along with fatigue, may prevent a person from keeping a steady job. A compromised immune system can make regular attendance at a workplace unsafe. Neuropathy from chemotherapy can limit the use of the hands, and difficulty with concentration, persistence, and pace can rule out work on its own.

Your age, education, and work history matter at this stage too. A claimant of 50 or older with no transferable skills is in a considerably stronger position than a younger claimant with identical limitations, and at 55 the vocational rules shift again in the claimant’s favor. Since June 22, 2024, Social Security also looks only at work performed in the previous five years rather than fifteen.

Be sure Social Security knows about every condition you have, not just the lymphoma. The agency is required to consider the combined effect of all your impairments.

The medical evidence your claim needs

Lymphoma claims turn on documentation of the disease and how it has responded to treatment. The records that usually matter most include:

• Initial and follow-up pathology reports
• Staging results and imaging
• Bone marrow examination results, where relevant
• A treatment history showing each regimen and the dates it started and ended
• Transplant records, including the date of transplantation
• Treatment notes describing side effects and functional limitations

The treatment history matters more here than in most cancer claims, because both the aggressive and indolent criteria turn on timing: whether the disease persisted or recurred after initial therapy, and whether a second regimen was started within 12 months. Gaps or vague dates in the record can cost a claim that should have been approved.

Talk with an Indiana disability attorney about your lymphoma claim

If you are an Indiana resident unable to work because of lymphoma, it is worth talking through your options with a disability lawyer or representative before you file.

For lymphoma in particular, the argument usually turns on dates. Whether the disease persisted or recurred after initial therapy, and whether a second regimen began within 12 months, are what the listing asks, and those answers live in the treatment history rather than in any single test result.

Contact my office for a free case evaluation, and I will go through where your claim stands and what your records still need.