The American Medical Association recently released a report [1. The AMA has recently designated obesity as a disease.] officially recognizing obesity as a disease.

With one in three Americans falling in the obese or super-obese BMI spectrum, the AMA hopes that by defining morbid obesity [2. The  University of Rochester Medical Center defines morbid obesity as follows:  if a person is 100 pounds over his/her ideal body weight, has a BMI of 40 or more, or 35 or more and experiencing obesity-related health conditions, such as high blood pressure or diabetes.] as a disease the medical community will implement more aggressive efforts to combat this debilitating condition (and the ancillary diseases associated with it) and prompt insurance companies to pay for treatments, counseling, and medication reimbursements.

What does this mean in the context of Social Security Disability?

Just because obesity has garnered much more attention as a debilitating disease by various members of the medical community, don’t assume SSDI will follow suit.  Currently obesity is not listed in the Social Security Administration’s Listing of Impairments, or database of diseases that will automatically qualify a claimant to receive disability benefits. Continue reading →