Social Security

Tim,

I have, and it is a battle, even with seemingly obvious disability. I recommend a lawyer, it is worth the money. Be prepared for a wait for initial payments and also for your retroactive when you get that far. Check with your township, city, county and state also for local programs, they tend to be easier to get quickly and will help while you go through the Social Security system. Email me if I can be of any help. Good luck.

Jerimy

As a single parent of a daughter w/cidp, I was quickly overwhelmed and sought guidance at the billing department while at the hospital (early on in her care). As it turned out, a financial counslor helped me not only negotiate medical bills, but also helped me submit paperwork for SSI. Our paperwork was approved the first time around. We were very fortunate, as I have read many are denyed at first. In Texas, we had to wait a full year after being diagnosed before we could submit an application, and approval came four months later. Medicare coverage will begin in 2008.

We found, as Jerimy suggests, that local help can be a tremendous help – without them, I know we would still be struggling with this issue. Hope our experiences give you some ideas to make things a little easier for you.
Best of wishes

cd

I think a lot of it depends on your current condition. I was approved via telephone a week after I applied, but they did have copies of my condition from my recent release from the hospital. If one’s condition is bad enough, they will approve you without an attorney. The main problem with an attorney is they get a portion of your SSD, usually around $5,000. I think it is better if you are able to get it on your own, but then I don’t know your present condition.

Tim, go for it. i had no dx when i applied(state employee) and i was approved in less then 1 month. it does take awhile to get the first check and retro pay but it is well worth the wait. it can be very stressful but with good coping techniques it is doable. just make sure you make copies of every form and keep all answers on topic and the same.

I was approved upon first application, without the use of an attorney. In fact, I was never even called in for a face-to-face interview. The process took about five months.

I submitted a doctor’s cover letter similar to yours, however it was a touch more in depth in terms of delineating physical limitations. Also, I think your doctor’s letter is missing key verbiage that is possibly make or break, which would be –

“Based on patient’s condition, and despite current treatment options, this patient will be unable to perform any work of any kind for a minimum period of 12 months.”

The SSDI wants to see that you are unable to perform any work, and that the inability to do so will be for a minimum of one year. That statement from your doctor must be front and center.

Good luck to you.

i agree with bill, good point, and a must have on disability forms.

Nate was approved for Social Security Disability on the first try. He didn’t qualify for SSI because his doc put him on State Disability.
State Disablity ran out in january so we re appplied for SSI. He didn’t qualify for that until he gets rid of his 401k.
Then he will.
In the meantime, he is still on SSA Disablitity with a raise to compensate the lack of State Disablity checks.
As long as your doctors state everything clearly and that you have a long recovery time with possibly permenent health problems, it should not be hard to get on SSA.
Just contact your local SSA office and they can do the interview on the phone unless you can come in. The had Nate sign a form allowing me to do his interview and fill everything out since he was still hospitalized.
It usually takes 5 mos to get approved, so don’t wait long.

Thray,

I say you should definitely apply for disability. The whole thing about attorneys is they can be worth their weight in gold…. Mine was, and frankly I’m shocked so many people got accepted the first time. But then most of the people I’ve talked to wait until they’ve been out awhile and then it’s harder to prove you’re still sick. In other words, the sooner the better.

Apply and get your doctor to go into as much detail as possible about the lingering effects and that he definitely expects it to last much more than a year. If they deny you, the appeals process is relatively easy, I believe (I used a lawyer, but then I knew I was in for a fight). So you can always try to go it without a lawyer. But if they deny your appeal, my advice is to DEFINITELY get a lawyer for the hearing. That’s when a lawyer comes in handy. Mine said her company wins about 95% of the hearings. I had a hearing and was utterly grateful that my attorney was speaking for me. I was tired and disoriented and really would have had no clue what was going on if I hadn’t had someone there who knew the ropes.

The thing about lawyers is: If you need one for SS, they’re invaluable. If you don’t, they’re costly. Mine got about a third of my backpay but it was COMPLETELY worth it. I know people who have battled SS for years and my whole ordeal took just over 18 months (just getting a hearing can take that long — and that’s not counting the time it takes to apply, be denied, appeal, be denied).

So my advice: Apply on your own and assume it will take awhile and start looking around for an attorney, but don’t hire one until your appeal has been denied. That way, you know they’re earning their keep!

Abby

I really think it depends on which state you’re in. Cal. seems to give it up pretty easily but I had to go 3 rounds eVen though I couldn’t even move out of bed or brush my teeeth because I was too weak. Go figure. It was very tough for me until the ss doc’s saw how bad I was. Good luck in all your endevours. Hang in there, that’s all I can say. God bless for a speedy recovery. xoxoxoxoxoxoxo Roxie

Since August of 2006, my husband, who not only has Guillian-Barre, but also has been diagnosed with cancer, has had his file sitting on the desk of the Administrator.
The way it was explained to me from a man who use to work for the department, they wait to see how many of these files dwindle down because of people too tired to wait or fight and need to make a living, or until they die.
This is due to the fact that the file is not active enough. This is due to not enough information being fed into it. I have seen the paperwork that the representatives ask for and that is not enough.
My husband applied for his disability over a year ago and we just now got the letter that he had been approved.
This took some doing. When he applied it was because that is what your Disability Insurance requires you to do. My husband had had back surgery and could not return to work. Then all of this other hit him like a ton of bricks.
I was told by the rep that was hired by the Insurance Company that the only way it would go through was if your utilities were going to be cut off or there was a threat of eviction. When I explained to them that the money Insurance was paying him was all that was coming into the house because I take care of him, that was enough to spark a critical care movement from the rep. Plus the fact that if she didn’t quit dragging her feet I was going to plaster the whole story all over the news. I also told the people at Hartford the same thing. After all they are paying these people to represent him.
Then I took the step of sending e-mails to congressmen, senators, and the President. I then sent e-mails to the newspaper editors from here to New York. Of course some of these e-mails came back and everytime they did I forwarded them right back out again until I got someones attention.
Not only that, I kept calling the representatives office until they got sick of hearing from me. Then I went the next step, I had my son e-mail me some pictures that he had taken of his daddy while he was here in January. I called the rep and told her co worker what I had. She gave me an e-mail address to send the pictures to and then took them to the Administrative Judge to show how bad the condition of my husband was.
Of course I did not stop there. I also e-mailed the pictures and the story to the local tv station and to the newspapers.
I was going to make sure someone was listening.
I don’t know who took the bull by the horns to get someone to look at what was going on but all of a sudden that file was drawing attention.
So, leave no stone unturned. Keep fighting and keep those files active. That is the only way you are going to get someone to look and review it.
I even had an attorney tell me that there are thousands of files sitting on these desks and unless they begin drawing attention they are basically like a dead letter basket.

Piper