Disability claims system fails to support long COVID sufferers.

COVID long haulers face barriers to receiving disability benefits due to the difficulty of proving their condition and navigating a disability claims system that was already difficult before the pandemic. Long COVID has added additional hurdles, as there is no clear way to diagnose it and many symptoms are real but vague. The Social Security Administration has a strict definition of disability, and benefits start five months after the government determines a person is qualified, but the wait to qualify is long and arduous. The severe backlog of applications at SSA and medical providers’ knowledge gaps about long COVID are also hindrances.