According to the US else's security website, in order to be found to be disabled, you must meet two criteria: be unable to perform any "substantial work" due to your medical condition and your medical condition and must have lasted one year, be expected to last one year or to result in death. Which means that if you have had RA for a year or more and it has affected your body to such an extent that you can no longer work (although I don't know what "substantial" means), you will most likely qualify for receiving Social Security payments. Because of that is, as far as I can see, the specific condition that is giving you a disability matters less than the fact that the disease or condition makes it impossible for you to work.   The social security website is actually very helpful. They have a section dedicated to disability and there is loads of information on how to qualify, how to apply, how long it will take for the decision to be made, etc. There's a page called Disability Starter Kits and it has a Fact Sheet with all kinds of information, including links to forms and checklist on the information you need to bring to your appointment that can help speed up the decision. Click here for the Fact Sheet and here for the Social Security Disability homepage.