Some Happy News

I wanted to let you guys know that I received a letter from the local SS office yesterday (yes, I have yet to receive the one from ODAR ((ALJ Hearing Decision)).   It told me to contact SS immediately regarding my minor child's SS and gave me a direct name to speak with....strange.  I gave the lady a call and the receptionist told me that my ODAR letter was mailed on the 24th and so this office mailed this letter on the 30th.  The Holidays must have screwed up the mail delivery since they were coming from two different cities.

Anyway, I was told by the receptionist that my ALJ decision letter states that I was fully granted SSD from the exact date that I injured my back in March of 2009.  There is a 5 month wait and then the back pay starts from there.  She even started crying when she was telling me because it was so great to be able to give somebody good news.  What a sweet and wonderful person!  So then she sends my call to the person identified in the letter and it turns out that my daughter will receive 50% additional SSD because of my award until she reaches the age of 18.....she's just turned 11.  Also, Medicare kicks in after two years of SSD benefits, so that will help too when it comes to all these horrible medical bills.  I'll still keep my husband's medical coverage, but it will be great to have lower co-pays for meds and lower out of pocket expenses for a while. 

What a wonderful Christmas present this is for my family!

Thank each of you who kept us in your prayers and all of the support and kindness you have given.  You guys mean so much to me!

I also wanted to let you guys know that it can happen if you just keep fighting (and get a good attorney).  Mine earned her money IMHO.

HUGGS GUYS!!!!!!!!!!

    Oh RM , Thats the best news !!! You must be so very happy and releived ! Congrats big time to you and your daughter !! Its so great to see someone who deserves benefits get them , you persevered and you made it happen , thats awesome !!! Mikel

I am so happy to hear you got great news! It's about time. I am still waiting to receive my first denial from SSDI so that I can start the appeals process. What a nightmare!

Congrats once again, you deserved this. Take care.

RM, I am so, so happy for you! What a relief that must be, to finally have the financial burden eased, so you're not stressing about the future. Thank you for sharing your good news!

hugs,
Pam

RM that is awesome news and I am sure you want to pinch yourself to make sure its really real. Yes, your daughter is also entitled to monetary benefits as a result of you being disabled. I never received an award letter, I just had quite a bit of money show up in my bank acct one day. I just knew the bank had messed up so I called them to tell them to take the money out of my acct that they had deposited someone else money in my acct. The lady said they had not made a mistake that the money belonged to me. I argued with her that she was wrong and she had no answer for me other than that. I waited almost another month thinking eventually the bank would catch it and nothing happened. More money got put in my acct again. By this time I am a complete nervous wreck because I have no idea where this money is coming from and I am not about to spend a penny of it. I called my sister finally and told her about the mess and she immediately said you have been approved for SSD. I said no, I have not received a letter from them however, it is a little past the time I should hear something. By this time I am so paranoid I am afraid to call SSD because I am afraid of hearing I was denied. Finally, I called SSD and yes I had been approved per the lady, I tell her it can't be because I never received an award letter. I asked her to send me a copy of the letter and she said all they could furnish me was a letter stating I was approved on such and such date. It was not until after I got that letter that I would touch that money, lol.

If you are currently insured under your husband's health insurance and he is actively employed, the coverage should stay in effect until you are eligible for Medicare. I was covered under my husbands insurance until Medicare kicked in then I had to switch over to Medicare as a primary and his insurance is my secondary. If you have a script card thru his insurance you may want to consider keeping his insurance as a secondary once you are eligible for Medicare. The reason why, is alot of our meds are not covered under those other plans. Even paying $530.00 for my coverage with that script card is much cheaper than what my meds run a month. My Humira is $1,000 a month just for it. But, you have plenty of time to work thru and make those decisions and stuff is changing all the time.

Again, so glad it worked out for you.

 

   Dear RM,

 

    Gosh I am so sorry I am late to respond to you! Ive been swamped. But, goodness, it was so nice to hear some good news. You have needed this for a long time now! I know 5 months is a long time to wait, but just knowing you will finally get some much needed help really brightens my evening!

 

*warm hugg*
     dani

RetiredMom,
First of all, BIG congrats to you! I sure know the relief that comes with that approval.

Since I'm just a few steps ahead of you in the process, I will say that I got my initial letter of approval by directly going to my local SSD office. I found out I was approved on the phone - like you - only I was approved for SSI (a different, income based program) because I applied for that at the same time I applied for SSD. The SSI came in first, and I got a call from the SSI caseworker asking me for some info. so she could "get me some money" and I had to ask her if that meant I was approved for SSD and she said yes, but my payment wouldn't start until Dec., so they gave me some SSI until then. (The SSI payments are deducted from your back SSD award.)

I had wanted a copy of the medical records and results of my two IME's, so I had to go my local SSD office to get those (even though I requested them on a release form), and it was that trip to the SSD office that got me a copy of my initial determination letter. She printed it out for me. Some time later I got one in the mail, with other info. like a brochure, etc. Then it seemed every day I was getting something from SSD!

I just got my first SSD automatic deposit and I found that out by calling and checking my back account. I ALSO found out the back award had been deposited on the same day, but I still have not received a notice of much that would be, etc. Like straydog, it just appeared in my account and I want to get it out this week so it's not subject to any creditors or hackers getting it! I also had set up my SSD online account as instructed (I got the instructions in the mail) and when I checked Friday these deposits weren't listed online so best I can tell you is keep checking your bank account if you have automatic deposit set up with them!

If you're not too far from your local SSD office, you could call and see if they could print you out your notice, if you don't receive something in the near future. I've got to make some copies of it because I know I'll need it for other things. I can actually get a partial refund of my property taxes if I apply before the end of the year. So keep an eye out for things you may be eligible for now that you're disabled under SSD rules. I hate to use that word, but sometimes it's a necessary evil.

What a great holiday present for us both - and your daughter!

PaLady

I'm so happy for you! CONGRATS...
So glad something good came your ways, many more blessing to you too....
((((((((((((((((((((((((((((RetiredMom))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Lots of healing Hugz

Dear RetiredMom and PALady,

Congratulations to you both!! I'm so glad for you!! It's really nice to hear good news!

I should say that I haven't applied yet for SSDI because I'm still working part-time, although I can't go in to the office anymore. I work from home over the Internet.

BUT I've been approved for the part-time CA state disability, and since I paid for long-term disability insurance, I've recently found out that I was approved by the LTD company as well, so when the state money runs out, I will have the LTD. So I will have to apply for SSDI eventually, but I think I will have help from my LTD company.

Congrats again!!!! You go, girls!!
JoAnn

retiredmom

 

I also want to give you my congratulations, (even if it is a bit late!) I am sure  this takes a big load off of your mind and will make your Christmas a heck of allot  nicer, just knowing it is approved! I wish you well and I am extremely happy for you!

 

White Beard

Woah, I will definitely be looking up info on the reduction of property taxes. I JUST paid these for the year and it leaves us too broke to imagine.

Great information everybody!

And......Thank you!