Social Security Disability

In my case it was fairly easy. I have CIDP but the progression of my case was similar to GBS. When I was discharged from the hospital early in 2011 I could barely walk with a cane (after a month at home using a wheelchair and walker). I was unable to much beyond rehab twice a week and resting up in between. And I was less than a year and a half from full retirement age of 66. The last is important, because of the lengthy recovery time. If you are ten years from retirement and expected to recover sufficient to work in a couple of years, then it will be more difficult.

This is a duplicate of I post I recently made under another topic, but it is more appropriate for this topic –

Qualifying for disability is not always an easy task for many of us. I was denied when I first applied and again on my first protest. I used paid help from a person who had experience dealing with Social Security disability to help improve my chances of getting approved. Finally on my third (grievance complaint) attempt, that was conducted via a phone interview with an agent from SSA, I was granted disability.

I tried to make disability coverage retro-active to when I became disabled with GBS/CIDP, but they wouldn’t do that and I lost several months of income. I found out later they no longer grant retro-active disability coverage.

Start with the on-line application to help speed things up a bit: http://www.ssa.gov/applyfordisability/ There is a lot of red tape involved in filling and you will have to gather documents, and then wait for their large wheels to slowly turn before you receive a response.

I would advise filing right away for disability and being persistent in the face of rejection.

Spencer, you did not mention what country or state/providence you are from and these kinds of benefits vary widely between government agencies. In the USA, to my knowledge, Social Security does not pay partial or short-term disability benefits. It is usually the state or private insurance that covers temporary disability.

For instance, in my State of California I had a freak work related knee injury (while flying to a job site) that required surgery then time off work to heal. My employer and I had been paying for the California Disability Insurance via payroll deductions. This arrangement, and the fact that my injury was work related, allowed me to get all the medical bills covered along with compensation for lost wages.

I will assume you have some form of GBS-CIDP or you wouldn’t be posting in this forum. I think it might be difficult to link the cause of your disability to work, if that may be needed to process a claim.

Maybe if you gave us a little more background we might be able to provide more specific ideas, suggestions.

If you meet the age requirements, there is typically a 5 month waiting period (unpaid) in order to qualify for SSA Disability and you must meet ‘blue book’ criteria. The blue book contains a list of “severe” disability impairments and can be found here: http://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/AdultListings.htm Info about the waiting period can be found here: http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/151/session/L3RpbWUvMTM4MDI0OTM1Ni9zaWQvUzM1NE1rQmw%3D

Neither GBS nor CIDP are specifically listed in the blue book meaning, I believe, that you would have to go through a longer evaluation process to determine if your condition warrants coverage. More info about that here: http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/page9-8.html

Once SSA-mainland determines your ‘conditions’ meet their criteria of “severe”, they will pass the final decision onto their state offices in Hawaii. Hawaii will use medical evidence to evaluate your ‘impairment’ vs. the ‘conditions’ and make a decision that you qualify, or not. The evidence must show that the impairment is severe and has lasted or is expected to last for a continuous period of at least 12 months, or result in death.

Another approach, if you qualify, is to use the State of Hawaii TDI program and tap into its benefits without affecting your SSA benefits. You must file the form TDI-45 within 90 days of the disability. Learn more about Hawaii’s TDI program here: http://labor.hawaii.gov/dcd/home/about-tdi

Here is more info about filing for disability in Hawaii:
http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/disability-resources-hawaii.html

You have a tall task in front of you and I hope it all works to your advantage. Keep us informed about what you learn so others here can gain from your experience.

That’s excellent news! I agree that if you can work and want to work that you should do it.

I couldn’t figure out how to start a new topic, so I’m replying to this old one. If I could’ve named this topic it would’ve been:

Social Security and NYS

If anyone is reading this and qualified for New York State Social Security Disability and has CIDP, please tell me if at first you were not approved. I can work part-time doing some computer consulting, but the bulk of my work was as a lighting technician in film and television production, which also involved driving trucks. My onset was with GBS and put me in the hospital for 7 days and then inpatient rehabilitation for 10 days and then outpatient physical therapy, of which insurance wouldn’t pay for anymore because I was getting worse with CITP. I find it very uncaring and hurtful, that the state that I have lived my whole life would say that I’m not disabled when I am walking with a walker, almost bizarre that they would tell me – you’re not disabled. Granted, I can walk with a walker and I can do some work, but I have lost 80% of my income.

i have GBS, comatose for 117 days, meachanical breathing, paralysis, etc applied for disability on 9/16/2012, received first payment on 11/1/2012. was told i was “fast-treacked” due to “expected death” according to SSA

I was diagnosed with gbs on march 2018 and in the hospital for 3 months and then sent to a rehab center for pt. My therapist told me to apply for ssi since he said that he didn’t think I would ever be able to work again. So I applied and it went right through praise God. They called and had a phone interview with my therapist before they put it through. I am 61 years old and didn’t think that i would be retiring so soon. So I had applied and got the news that it had gone through with in 2 months .