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Social Security Disability Income possibility?

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Posted 8/15/2010 10:16 PM (GMT 0)
I don't know if I have a prayer of getting anything.  I haven't worked that much in my adult life, a few years as a teacher's aide, and now I've been subbing in the local school district for 9 years - though less and less, because it's getting harder all the time for me.  Physically, and esp. mentally, I just don't know how much longer I can do it.  At least, with subbing, I can cancel a job if I'm feeling bad, no questions asked and no repercussions.  And if I can't even do this, who the heck is going to pay me to do anything else at my age (55) and in my condition?

I feel bad, because my husband works so hard to support our family!  We have 2 kids who are out of college, but definitely not self-supporting (they are trying) and 1 who still has at least a couple of years to go.  I want to help, but don't see how.

Does anyone have experience here?  Is there any kind of assistance for those who haven't earned enough?

Thanks, Debbie 

   

Posted 8/15/2010 10:54 PM (GMT 0)
I hope you find out, since I am in the same boat.
Posted 8/15/2010 11:11 PM (GMT 0)
If you don't have enough time in for social security disability, they will put you on supplemental security.  I think it is called SSI.  You have to go through a long process sometimes up to two years to get this.  Unless you are approved right away.  But if you aren't, don't get discouraged, it often takes three processes to get to see an administrative law judge.  But if you get it, it is worth it.  You might want to talk to a lawyer, get one that only gets paid if you get benefits.  And usually they just take a part of the back pay. 

Best wishes to you through this process.

Hugs, Karen

Posted 8/15/2010 11:20 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Debbie,

I hear ya. I've been self employed since 1997 and my income just keeps getting smaller every year. For the last few years it as been so ultra small that I honestly don't know how I have managed at all. You would gasp if I told you how little. That's one reason I've been stuck living with family. It isn't ideal, either. So yeah, I've been looking at this process. An online friend of mine is in the middle of it himself, and he had me listed as a reference so the S.S. office had me do a written interview about his health. It is tough. One-third of applicants make it on the first attempt to get it. The rest go to the appeals process. At the appeals level, most people hire an attorney. The attorney gets a portion of whatever they get for you - I think a max of 25%, or a ceiling of like $5k? I can't quite remember.

SSDI and SSI are two different things. In order to qualify for SSI, you first must be labeled officially as disabled by going through the SSDI process. BUT - even if you're not approved for some other reason for SSDI, you may still qualify for SSI if you're economically in need AND disabled. (Confusing, I know.)

Anyway - this site might help:
www.disabilitysecrets.com/

Don't get too worried yet. You may qualify. I put my quest for this on a shelf during this last health upheaval, but I really should move forward with it myself soon.

You're welcome to email me any time. I may not know much, but I'm glad to talk.
*hugs*
Posted 8/16/2010 2:23 AM (GMT 0)
Seem like alot of us are in the holding pattern where SSDI is concerned.
I am waiting for approval now myself.
I would assume that SSI would be the route for you to go. I know that your husbands salary may come into play only because when I was filing for SSDI they just said that with my husband salary I would not be approved for that and would only file SSDI. But I wait still, I was the support for my family and we have lost all my income so I sure hope they do something quick and easy.

I know it's frustraiting. I think some of my pain and fatigue now is caused from all the stress of the whole SS system. IT's crazy to think that any of us would not be approved but there does not seem to be much positive news out there to hang on to.

Good luck and don't give up the fight.

Steph
Posted 8/16/2010 10:40 AM (GMT 0)
I am in the middle of trying to get disability also. I was denied the first time and have since gotten an attorney. It's been over a year since I appealed that first decision. I keep my lawyer informed of everything that is going on with me. I have a doctor that is willing to speak on my behalf now. It's a long process, and does cause anxiety. I haven't worked since June of 2007. I applied because of fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety and OCD.
Posted 8/16/2010 2:47 PM (GMT 0)
Boy...this really makes me think about our system.  I have a family member who was a hard core drug abuser, went into liver failure and got SSD(or maybe SSI...don't remember) after waiting only one month for an answer.  He was also paid a huge lump sum of money for the three years he was out of work...what he would have earned at his old job that he couldn't do anymore because he was alway 'high'.  He paid off his house, car and remodeled his kitchen,  His son also got a monthly check...even though his wife worked for the State, earned almost six figures and had a gold plated heatlh insurance plan.    Being a drug addict, he was entitled to two physicals a year and free methadone.  (to keep him off the 'hard stuff'...is there anything more 'hard' than methadone?)

Some system, huh?  I guess the answer is to become a screaming alcoholic or a drug addict.   $$$$$$$$

huggies

Donna

 

Posted 8/16/2010 3:06 PM (GMT 0)
Donna, are you sure he got what he would have earned?  That doesn't sound right.

 

After my husband passed on and COBRA was running out, I couldn't find any insurance company that would insure me with the several chronic illnesses I have.  So, I applied for SSDI and got it in a matter of months.  I did get a lump payment but it was because the SSDI was retroactive from the day my husband died.  I surely didn't get what he earned!  They just figured out what I would have gotten in disability payments from the date of his death.

 

Sherrine

 

 

Posted 8/16/2010 4:27 PM (GMT 0)
You may be right, Sherrine...all I know is that he got a lump sum of $34,000 and his son got money also but I don't recall how much.  Getting what he would have received on disability sounds right, as he would have earned more than that at his job over a three year period.
Posted 8/16/2010 4:39 PM (GMT 0)
Sounds like quite the rigamarole! Thank you all for weighing in.

Princess, after looking at the site you recommended, my first impulse was to run away screaming (I'm allergic to anything complicated and detailed!) But I guess, like so many here, I'm going to have to bite the bullet. Thanks for all the information.

Debbie
Posted 8/16/2010 4:48 PM (GMT 0)
It wasn't complicated.  I just followed the instructions to a "T".  I had my interview then they had me contact all of my doctors and request that they send all my records to SS.  After that, I got a form to fill out.  I just answered the questions honestly and mailed that in in a timely fashion. 

 

After that, they contacted me and wanted me to see their Internist and have my hearing checked.  Honestly, their doctors were pathetic!  LOL  My doctors were far superior but their doctors did agree that I had what I claimed I had and what my medical records showed. 

 

Next thing I know, I had a large deposit put in my checking account!  (I had given them my checking account number so if I was approved it would be automatically deposited every month.) 

 

So, it isn't that bad.  I did not use an attorney.  I did this myself.

Sherrine 

Posted 8/16/2010 9:23 PM (GMT 0)
Sherrine:

From start to finish (automatic deposit), how long did it take to get approved for SSDI? What did you do in the meantime? Like so many others in this forum, I crawl out of bed every morning and crawl to work. I work 8-10 hours a day and go to bed as soon as I walk in the door from work. I merely exist.

I have heard that it takes a minimum of 6 months at no-pay status or unemployed to get SSDI. Any thoughts on that?

I ache so bad I could cry, but I can't lose our house or my insurance by quitting work. I am stuck.

SJN
Posted 8/16/2010 9:36 PM (GMT 0)
I was left a life insurance policy from my husband plus I had investments so I was living on that. 

 

I applied around April and received the bulk payment in December.  Some people will call to see what's holding things up but I didn't.  I figured they'd let me know when or if I got it, and they did. 

 

I wish everyone the best at getting this.  I think there have been too many people applying that really could work and have lied on their forms so SS can be tough.  Many deserving people have to fight to receive help now.  But, because I was a widow and the fact that I have three chronic illnesses along with being legally deaf, that helped a lot.  I was a teacher but now I cannot hear little voices

 

Be sure to include any illnesses you have, besides fibro.  I did and I contacted each specialist I had seen, had records from each doctor sent plus operative reports sent, etc.  You want to cover all bases.  This helps prove that you are truly sick and unable to work. 

 

I have fibro, diabetes, Crohn's disease with an ostomy, and my hearing loss...at least that was what I had when I applied.  I have added a couple more "goodies" since then.  shakehead

 

You might want to speak with your doctors, too.  It was my Internist who told me that "You are the reason why social security disability was designed."  He encouraged me to apply because I was distressed that I wasn't going to have any health insurance.  I could have bought it but no one would take me on.  Anyway, I had his backing and my other doctors, too.  All of this figures into the picture, I think.

 

Sherrine

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