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Social Security's rules for qualifying for disability with a heart condition change on October 30, for new claims and for claims already pending. Three conditions get their own listing for the first time, and SSA expects the change to raise benefit payments by $540 million over ten years.

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The Social Security Administration published revised criteria for evaluating cardiovascular disorders on July 2, 2026, the first full revision since 2006, and they take effect October 30, 2026. They apply to new applications, to claims still pending on that date, and to continuing disability reviews. The rule adds listings for aortic valve disease, cardiomyopathy and cardiac allograft vasculopathy, updates heart failure to current medical terms and thresholds, adds a new invasive measure for ischemic heart disease, and removes the separate listing for children's rheumatic heart disease. SSA estimates net increases of $446 million in Social Security disability benefits and $94 million in SSI over fiscal years 2026 to 2035. A September 16 correction fixed a heading number and changed nothing else. Not meeting a listing does not end a claim: SSA says it does 'not deny any claim solely' on that basis.

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To get Social Security disability benefits, most applicants have to show that a condition keeps them from working. One route is to meet a "listing," a published set of medical criteria that SSA treats as severe enough on its face. The listings for heart and blood-vessel disorders had not been fully revised since 2006.

On October 30, 2026, the new ones take effect.

Who it applies to

From the rule: "we will apply it to new applications filed on or after the effective date of the rule, and to claims that are pending on or after the effective date." It also applies to continuing disability reviews of people already receiving benefits. The listings expire in 2031 unless SSA renews them.

If you have a claim in progress, the criteria your file is judged against may change partway through.

What changes

New listings:

  • 4.07 Aortic valvular disease: symptomatic stenosis with a valve area under 1.0 cm².
  • 4.08 Cardiomyopathy, including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with a wall 20 mm or thicker, biopsy-confirmed AL cardiac amyloidosis, and endomyocardial fibrosis.
  • 4.16 and 104.16 Cardiac allograft vasculopathy, the disease of a transplanted heart's arteries.

Updated:

  • Chronic heart failure (4.02) now uses current terms for reduced and preserved ejection fraction. Ways to qualify include an ejection fraction of 20 percent or less on two tests at least 90 days apart; three hospitalizations of 48 hours or more within 12 months, at least 30 days apart; or an implanted circulatory support device, which counts as disability for a year.
  • Ischemic heart disease (4.04) adds a new catheter measurement, iFR, which SSA accepted after public comment.
  • Peripheral artery disease is renamed and given specific thresholds.
  • A heart transplant counts as disability for one year.

Removed: the separate children's listing for rheumatic heart disease. SSA now evaluates it under the heart failure and arrhythmia listings or by functional equivalence.

What it will cost

SSA estimates net increases of $446 million in Social Security disability benefits and $94 million in federal SSI payments over fiscal years 2026 through 2035. It does not estimate how many claimants that represents.

Two things worth knowing

Missing a listing is not a denial. "We do not deny any claim solely because a person's medical condition(s) does not satisfy the criteria of a listing."

Hospital stays count, but they are not the only way in. Commenters warned that hospitalization thresholds disadvantage rural and low-income patients. SSA kept them and answered: "None of the cardiovascular listings require a specific number of hospitalizations as the only way to meet the listing."

What the rule does not say

  • How many people will gain or lose eligibility.
  • What it means for people already receiving benefits, beyond saying continuing disability reviews will use the new criteria.
  • The September 16 correction fixed one heading number. It did not move the October 30 date or change any criteria.

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