How Do I Calculate How Much Time Spent On Diabetes Management
The best way to see how much time you spend on your diabetes care is to log all of your tasks and your time spent. To make it easier, we have created a workbook and spreadsheet. They outline various tasks and allow you to document how much time you spend.
When considering tasks that could be noted rememberA person who is not reliant on an external source of insulin to live does not have to be concerned about blood glucose readings, anticipated activity levels, impending illness, or fat contents of meals when planning their day to day activities. The average person does not have to draw up a syringe, put in an infusion set or calibrate a continuous glucose monitoring sensor. A person without diabetes does not have to keep track of their insulin requirements, blood glucose levels or activity levels in a journal.
These tasks are commonplace for a person with diabetes. They are also all tasks that are recognized by CRA and count towards the 14 hour total required to be certified for the Disability Tax Credit as requiring life-sustaining therapy.
How To Apply To The Disability Tax Credit For My Child With Diabetes
As with adults, applying for a child for the Disability Tax Credit for diabetes comes down to the amount of time it takes to maintain the disease and its overall effect on the childs ADLs.
However, if you are applying for the DTC for a child with diabetes, the time you and the child spent doing and supervising activities related to tending to their diabetes will both count towards the 14 plus hours a week required to make them eligible due to life-sustaining therapy.
Activities counted as supervising a child with Type 1 diabetes that can be as the 14 hours per week requirement include:
- Waking the child at night to test their blood glucose level
- Checking the child to decide if more blood glucose testing is needed
- Any other supervisory activities be considered necessary to adjust the dosage of insulin
An eligible child may receive one or both of the following refunds:
- Federal Tax Refund If the impaired childs parent or caregiver has paid into Federal income taxes, they will receive the same amount an adult claimant would.
- Child Disability Benefits If the parent or caregiver has not paid into Federal income tax, they will only receive the Child Disability Benefits.
To learn more about the Child Disability Tax Credit, check out our in-depth guide.
How To Apply For Social Security Disability Benefits
If your diabetes is severe enough that it interferes with you ability to perform daily living activities or work activities, talk to your doctor about your likelihood of qualifying for disability benefits through either the Blue Book or an RFC. The application can take up to two years, while costing money you may not have and causing you unnecessary stress, so if approval isnt likely, the time and effort of the application may not be worth it.
You are responsible for including all the necessary documentation. In addition to every relevant piece of medical information, youll also need personal documents, such as a birth certificate and tax information. Sending incomplete forms or insufficient medical evidence could force the SSA to take the time to collect the information themselves or deny you benefits.
Necessary medical testing will include:
You can apply for Social Security Disability Insurance in person at your local SSA office, over the phone, or on their convenient online application. You can only apply for Supplementary Security Insurance in person at an SSA office.
Whether youre applying online or in person, make sure you application has no errors and no questions are left blank. The SSA deals with thousands of cases on a daily bases, and missing or wrong information can cause a denial of benefits, or at the very least a delay.
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Does Diabetes Count As A Disability In Canada
While diabetes is one of the eligible conditions under the DTC, you will only be eligible for the tax refund if you spend an excessive amount of time maintaining the disease.
Due to its impact on activities of daily living and the time spent maintaining the disease from constantly monitoring blood sugar levels to injecting insulin, the CRA considers diabetes a disability.
The CRA provides a tax refund to help offset the costs of insulin shots and lifestyle adaptations through the DTC, which is available to those with either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. However, your physical and mental health conditions may/will also be considered.
The CRA will look at many different factors when determining if an individual is eligible for the DTC. To be found eligible, you must:
- Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
- Live with a prolonged impairment, marked restriction, two or more significant restrictions, or depend upon life-sustaining therapy.
- You or your supporter pay federal taxes.
Diabetes Mellitus Is A Term For Several Chronic Conditions Involving Problems With The Hormone Insulin
The pancreas releases insulin in the body to store and use fat and sugar from food. When a carbohydrate is eaten, the body converts it to glucose and releases the glucose into the bloodstream to be stored or used for energy. Diabetes occurs when the pancreas produces very little or no insulin or when the body responds inappropriately to insulin. If the body doesnt use insulin properly, too much glucose can be released into the blood resulting in high blood sugar. High blood sugar is a serious condition if untreated, it can damage nerves, eyes, kidneys and other organs.
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Qualifying For Disability Benefits With Type 1 Diabetes
If your child has type 1 diabetes, your family might be eligible for financial assistance through disability benefits. The Social Security Administration offers benefits for people of all ages who are unable to work or participate in typical childhood activities due to an illness. Childhood diabetes may medically qualify, but technical eligibility for disability benefits can be challenging to meet.
Learn more about financial assistance for your diabetes by clicking the button below.
For Patients Over The Age Of 18
When looking specifically at qualifying based on a diabetes diagnosis, you would need an official diagnosis of type 1 or type 2 diabetes, along with at least one of the following conditions:
- Neuropathy is the damage sustained to the nerve-endings in your hands, arms, feet, and toes. Neuropathy results in a loss of feeling and sometimes loss of function in those extremities. Severe neuropathy can result in the need for an amputation. To use neuropathy as a qualifying factor for disability status, it must significantly affect two extremities to the extent that your ability to walk or stand is impacted.
- Acidosis is when there is an abnormal increase in the amount of acid in your bodily fluid . To use this acidosis as a qualifying factor for disability status, it must occur once every two months and be documented via blood tests.
- Retinopathy is damage to the blood vessels and nerves in your eyes. Severe neuropathy can lead to significant loss of vision or complete blindness in one or both eyes. To use retinopathy as a qualifying factor for disability status, you must have a significant loss of visual acuity in both eyes. This severity of damage considers the patient to be blind.
- Other conditions like gastroparesis, nephropathy, etc. may be considered.
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Does Type 2 Diabetes Qualify For The Disability Tax Credit
Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body cant properly use the insulin released or does not make enough insulin. As a result, sugar builds up in the blood instead of being used as energy. About 90 percent of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes more often develops in adults, but children can be affected.
Unlike Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 doesnt always require insulin administration, but it takes a significant amount of time, money, and effort to maintain when it is necessary. If caring for the disease takes up to 14 hours per week to tend to, you could be eligible for the Disability Tax Credit.
How Do I Apply
You can do it through the local Social Security Administration office or state agencies .
You can apply in person, over the phone, by mail, or online. DDS will get information from your doctors to decide if your diabetes qualifies as a disability.
If you donât qualify, your case is kept on file in case you decide to appeal.
The process isnât quick. It can take 3 to 5 months to get a decision, depending on how long it takes for DDS to get your medical records and other information they need.
Itâs not unusual to be turned down the first time you apply. Up to 80% of first-time applications are rejected. If you appeal, it can take another 3 to 5 months to get a decision. If that appeal gets denied, you can appeal once more before an administrative law judge. That process can take as long as 2 years.
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Qualifying For A Medical
Getting a medical-vocational allowance is by far the more common way to get approved for disability benefits. If the symptoms of your diabetes prevent you from performing your past work or any other jobs in the economy, you can get approved for benefits under a medical-vocational allowance. A medical-vocational allowance takes into account your age, education, vocational history, and Residual Functional Capacity in deciding whether you’re capable of meeting the demands of any full-time work.
Your RFC is an assessment that how much you can still do despite your impairments. Social Security regulations require your RFC to be based on medical evidence, so you or your attorney should submit copies of your relevant medical records to demonstrate the extent of your functional limitations. What your records should include depends on the specific symptoms involved. For example, an individual with peripheral neuropathy might submit medical evidence mentioning an unsteady gait, poor fine motor control, or numbness and tingling in the extremities. Or an individual with chronic hyperglycemia might submit evidence from a psychiatrist documenting difficulty concentrating and fatigue that interferes with his or her ability to sustain full-time work.
Is Diabetes A Disability
Under the 2010 Equality Act, type 1 diabetes is defined as a disability, in that it may have a substantial, long-term, negative impact on a persons ability to carry out normal, day-to-day activities. Many people with type 2 diabetes are also covered by this definition. The aim is protect you from discrimination, such as needing time out during the working day to check your blood sugar levels or recover from a ‘hypo’ episode.
It sounds confusing, but if your diabetes is being controlled by medication or diet, the impact of your condition on normal activities is decided as if you were not taking medication or following a managed diet i.e. if you were not taking insulin to treat type 1 diabetes, this would have a severe impact on your abilities and so is considered a disability.
Can you claim disability benefits if you have diabetes?
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What Is Considered Life
The activities required to maintain diabetes fall under life-sustaining therapy. However, to be found eligible for the DTC for diabetes, you must spend more than 14 hours a week maintaining or treating your diabetes. Some activities that fall under life-sustaining therapy are:
- Insulin therapy
- Purchasing medication
Do Diabetics Automatically Qualify For Disability Tax Credit If They Use A Pump
At one point, you were automatically eligible for the DTC if you used an insulin pump however, as of 2004, the insulin delivery method no longer matters. As mentioned previously, what matters is the amount of time you spent injecting insulin or tending to your diabetes. Insulin pumps inject at all points of the day, so to be eligible for the DTC, the time you spend maintaining the pump must exceed more than 14 hours per week.
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Does My 6 Year Old Child Qualify For Disability After Being Diagnosed With Type 1 Diabetes In October 2020
No. Diabetes does not prevent being able to work.
The IRS defines disabled this way:Permanent and total disability.You have a permanent and total disability if you can’t engage in any substantial gainful activity because of your physical or mental condition. A qualified physician must certify that the condition has lasted or can be expected to last continuously for 12 months or more, or that the condition can be expected to result in death.Substantial gainful activity.Substantial gainful activity is the performance of significant duties over a reasonable period of time while working for pay or profit, or in work generally done for pay or profit. Full-time work in a competitive work situation for at least the minimum wage conclusively shows that you are able to engage in substantial gainful activity. Claiming disabled has no tax benefit unless child care was necessary so that you could work that normally cuts off after age 12, but is allowed if the care is necessary for an older disabled child.It also allows claiming a Qualified Child as a dependent beyond the age of 18 and would do nothing for a younger child.
Programs Tied To The Dtc
People who are eligible for the DTC may also qualify for other important programs, including:
For more information, visit the Government of Canada’s website.
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What Benefits Am I Able To Clain For Children Over The Age 16 Years
In most areas, anyone over 16 must apply for Personal Independence Payment instead of DLA.
Carers Allowance is £64.60 a week to help you look after someone with substantial caring needs.
To claim the person you are caring for must be in receipt of either:
- Personal Independence Payment daily living component
- Disability Living Allowance the middle or highest care rate
You dont have to be related to, or live with, the person you care for.
You must be 16 or over and spend at least 35 hours a week caring for them.
Carers Allowance is taxable. It can also affect your other benefits.
You might be able to get Carers Allowance if all of the following apply:
If you are aged 16 or over, you spend at least 35 hours a week caring for someone have been in England, Scotland or Wales for at least 2 of the last 3 years you normally live in England, Scotland or Wales, or you live abroad as a member of the armed forces youre not in full time education or studying for 21 hours a week or more you earn no more than £102 a week
Diabetes UK has some information on completing the forms here At the bottom it goes through the pages step by step. We always do a week to 10 days care diary. We also test at night time. To be awarded the middle or higher rate you usually must be giving night time care. Always keep a copy of your completed application form.
There is also a closed Facebook group which offers support for parents applying for DLA.
Children with Type 1 diabetes have a right to DLA
Social Security And Diabetes
DIABETES IN ADULTS AND CHILDRENby Stan Rosenberg
For the diabetic in middle to later stages, the
question of ability to work becomes a primary query. It is the purpose herein to review
the Federal Entitlement to assist those who may be eligible for benefits and are not
aware. The keystone phrase for entitlement to Social Security Disability or the
companion Supplemental Security Income program for adults or children is the
existence of a & quot severe disability& quot which must be severe enough to keep a child
or adult from being able to perform any type of substantial gainful employment. In simple
terms, the disability must be one that does not allow you to do any type of work that you
have the education or ability to perform. From birth to age 65 there may be substantial
benefits for those whose diabetic condition has progressed to the point of disability.
A starting point to obtain these benefits is
found in the & quot Appendices of the United States Code, 20 CFR 9.08 Diabetes
Mellitus& quot with:
Neuropathy demonstrated by significant and persistent disorganization of motor function in two extremities resulting in sustained disturbance of gross and dexterous movements or gait and station or
Acidosis occurring at least an average of once every two months documented by appropriate blood chemical tests or Amputation at or above the tarsal region due to diabetic necrosis or peripheral arterial disease or
If you have worked for at least ten of the last
claim denied.& quot
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Diabetes Is No Longer Included In Social Securitys Blue Book As A Separate Listing So A Diagnosis Of Diabetes Wont Automatically Qualify An Applicant For Social Security Disability Benefits
In order to qualify, you must show that diabetes has severely limited your abilities or your symptoms must match the requirements of a listed impairment. For example, your medical condition may be similar of the requirements of the following listed impairments
- Cardiovascular problems . Coronary artery disease, chronic heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, and irregular heartbeat.
- Diabetic retinopathy . Blurred vision or poor visual acuity.