Social Security disability claims based upon cancer usually come in two types — those approved quickly and those that don’t get approved at all.

Those approved quickly are those where the cancer has spread. Of course, if that has happened, the cancer is extremely dangerous.

Those where the cancer has not spread are seldom approved. The reason is that there is a 12-month duration requirement for Social Security disability benefits. Unless your condition is fatal, you have to have been or be predicted to be disabled for at least a year. Cancer may be treated with surgery, chemo, and radiation but generally, all of that, as terrible as it is, is over in less than a year. After that, unless things go in a bad direction, the patient can expect at least a period of remission and can hope to be done with cancer forever. If a patient goes into remission in less than a year, they can generally re-start their life, including work. If it comes back, of course, then a new Social Security disability claim is likely to be successful.

There are cases where the cancer has not spread but where the patient is still disabled for longer than a year. Sometimes, surgery or chemo or radiation leaves behind serious problems that prevent work. Sometimes the surgery, chemo, and radiation take longer than a year. Often, the cancer isn’t the only health problem the patient has.