Rheumatoid Arthritis is a condition that may end up severely affecting one’s way of life, ability to perform daily tasks and maintain gainful employment, especially one that may be physically demanding. This post is designed to help explain how a Disability Tax Credit for Rheumatoid Arthritis can ease the cost of treatments.
A few facts about Rheumatoid Arthritis:
- Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease wherein the body’s immune system turns inward and attacks the joints, muscles and even organs of the sufferer causing excruciating pain, inflammation and physical restrictions, like walking impairments.
- RA is the most common form of autoimmune disease and affects millions of people worldwide. It typically first affects people between the ages of 20 and 45 and often results in total disability.
- Employers are often reluctant to retain the services of people with RA or to hire them since they typically cost a company as much as 3 times what an average employee will cost in benefits and lost productivity.
- While treatments have improved in recent years – mostly through the advent of biotics – there remains no cure for rheumatoid arthritis and the exact cause remains a mystery.
- Women are far more likely to suffer RA than men.
People with RA get slammed from several directions at once. First, their health suffers a debilitating blow that transforms their life and the lives of their loved ones. Second, they are often forced to either leave their jobs or cut back drastically in order to cope with the limitations imposed by the disease. And third, the cost of the most effective treatments can only be described as astronomical.
Biologics Highlight the Importance of the Disability Tax Credit for Rheumatoid Arthritis
One of the most promising treatments in the fight against RA to come along in years are called ‘biologics’. These drugs are genetically engineered to interfere with RA’s ability to signal attacks on joint tissues and have proven extremely effective in many cases for reducing pain and inflammation and slowing joint damage. While biologics are not without their side effects they nonetheless represent the first chance many RA sufferers have had to gain significant relief from their disease.
However, biologic treatments can be incredibly expensive, with some costing more than $10,000 a year. Just how an unemployed or underemployed person with RA and a slew of other health-related costs to cover is supposed to afford this treatment has become a hotly debated issue with few answers.
With the need so great and the cost so high many Canadians disabled by RA find their only significant ally to be the Disability Tax Credit. This program of the Canada Revenue Agency:
- Is designed to help disabled people mitigate the burden of unrelenting medical expenses
- Can provide up to $40,000 in annual relief to those who qualify
- Can be claimed for as many as 10 years retroactive to the date of disability
- Can be claimed by the disabled person themselves or by a supporting person
Helping You Apply for a Disability Tax Credit for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Disability Credit Canada exists to help those overwhelmed by the cost of biologics and other drug treatments obtain the benefits they so desperately need under the Disability Tax Credit program. We’ve seen the difference this program can make in the lives of our clients and make it our mission to ensure they receive the maximum benefits they’re entitled to by law.
If you or someone you know is disabled by RA or any other disease or condition call Disability Credit Canada and find out more about what we can do for you. You can have no more effective advocate in your corner as your application winds its way through the Disability Tax Credit approval process. Even if you have previously been denied benefits under the Disability Tax Credit there is a good chance we can get your rejection overturned on appeal. So don’t wait another day. Call us. The financial assistance you need is out there. We can help you get it.