I was severely injured in a motorcycle accident, I broke all my ribs, clavicle, shattered scapula on my left side, lacerated spleen which was removed, complications with fluid filling up around the lung, mental complications dealing with the whole situation. I was told I was very lucky to survive with all the complications. Another man who was brought in the same day with simular complications died the next day. I had surgery to repair the clavicle, but the scapula I was told, was shattered so much that nothing could be done to repair it. It now sticks out of my shoulder looking as if it is going to come through the skin. The clavicle was not repaired til 3 months after the accident due to all the fluid problems and could not undergo surgery til problems were cleared. So it became a complicated surgery its self. My right shoulder has torn ligaments and other complications that have not even been taken care of yet, the same with the back problems I am having. I applied for ssdi, and was told it will take forever,if it happens at all. This is pissing me off because I know people who get ssdi for social anxiety disorder, and they are out in public all the time, even bars! This is bullshit. I have worked all my life, in the oilfields, which is not easy work, and there is no way I will ever be able to do this again. I even served my country for ten years. To be told i may not qualify is very disturbing, especially because of those people out there that take advantage of the system and they get taken care of, and they are not Disabled. Any body else out there experience a problem like this. I even went to DHS and was told they could not help. If I was a female and had 5 kids with no father around they would put me up in the hilton to make me comfortable. Meanwhile I will be homeless because of not being able to work. I remember michelle obama stating that for the first time in her life she was proud to be an american because her husband was elected, I for the first time, am sickened to be an american.
Have you actually been turned down yet?
Almost everyone is turned down the first time around, keep at it and you may need a lawyer.
Apply for your State Disability.
Document everything and make sure you can get your medical records.
Since there really isn’t a General Question here, let’s move this to MPSIMS. NOt that it’s pointless, just that there appears to be no GQ.
samclem Moderator
Have a cite for your opinion?
I think a lot of people exaggerate how difficult it is to get SSDI, depending on their condition.
You have a readily documented host of physical disabilities. Anyone in charge of the paperwork at SSDI is going to take one look at your x-rays and medical files and say "daaaaaaaaaaammmmnnnn.
From everything I’ve read (as I’ve considered apply if my health gets much more fragile), it’s a matter of obsessive documentation, following the instructions to the T, and getting your doctors to back you up.
The stats I’ve read is that 25-33% of applicants are approved the first time, but only 10% make it on appeal. So, do it right the first time, and good luck.
Yup. My sister-in-law screwed up her back on the job; it took her a while to apply and she had to apply a second time, like most people. Just plug away. It sucks, but that’s how the system works - not enough workers to handle the load is part of the problem.
I work with a few homeless groups…and I have a good friend who is an SSDI lawyer. One of the best things I’ve learned is that writing to your local congressman/senator really helps. They have office staff who actually monitor the mail, and WILL intercede in important cases. Your case seems to be a slam dunk, once you can get past the red tape. The people at the congress/senate office know how to make that happen.
Good luck.
-D/A
You might be right, but in my experience, almost everyone I know who has applied based on a psych disability is initially denied and then approved on appeal.
The supposed logic is that they want to weed out the people who can’t go for several months without a job while their appeal drags on.
Good info. Thanks. I’m going to keep that in mind for my tax appeal.
Just remember that even when you are approved for SSDI, you have to wait 24 months to be eligible for Medicare, so you will have to pay for COBRA or individual medical insurance, or pay all your medical bills yourself. That makes SSDI much less attractive than working if you have a job with medical benefits.
You can still look into the state health exchanges - most states (37) had high-risk insurance pools pre-health reform. Post-health reform, all were required to have them. Then there was the $50 billion funding to help those pools.
Keep in mind, many states (regardless of where they get funded) run out of money; however, many still have some available. The insurance through the high-risk insurance pools is still expensive, but they offer subsidies to people with low incomes.
If you’re not eligible for a high-risk insurance pool, you might try seeing if you qualify for Medicaid. Or you might see if you qualify for both (not 100% sure how Medicaid & PCIPs coordinate).
Also, I strongly urge you to keep working at the SSDI. Get representation if you have to, but keep applying. If you do get representation, your representative has caps on the amount of your award they can take as a fee.
Edited to add: Exactly what were you told? You didn’t say you were told that you didn’t qualify - just that it’d take a long time. Exactly what information were you given? It’s possible that someone was telling you that it may take a while to qualify to cover their butt. There’s a huge difference between you don’t qualify and it’ll be a while.
The lawyer my firm refers people to for help with social security/disability claims told us that everyone is turned down at least once and he won’t even take someone as a client until that person has been turned down at least twice. Keep at it, documenting all along, and contact an attorney who specializes in social security/disability issues.
My husband was on SS disability. Accepted on the first try.
Disability isn’t just about how sick or injured you are. Disability is about what you can and can’t do and how permanent the damage is. It isn’t about surviving in the short term at all. It won’t pick up the current bills, and the amount of the award will depend entirely on your work history–not on how much you need.
My understanding is that if you are expected to recover, you won’t be eligible for disability. There are questions on the forms that will ask about the likelihood of recovery, though I can’t remember any specific questions.
Anyway, I filled out all of the paperwork for my husband online. I did not consult an attorney.
If you are a veteran, there may be other services available to you.
And the last thing: You have no way of knowing just how disabled people are. There are people around you who look healthy or relatively healthy who are dying. You may be envying someone whose problems you really really don’t want. I’m sure there were people who thought my husband wasn’t disabled since he usually looked fine. He wasn’t.
This is not true. My wife was approved in less than 90 days. Her disability (systemic scleroderma) is specifically mentioned in the law, so when all her medical records were submitted, she was approved with no problems.
True, but they will back date your eligibility by up to 24 months. This is for cases where there is a substantial gap between the date of the disability (which is the date that really matters) and the date you apply. That means, that if/when you are approved, they will also owe you benefits for those months.
There may be some exclusions based on other assistance you’ve received though - such as state disability income, unemployment (which you really shouldn’t be collecting if you claim to be disabled), etc. That you’ll need to check into.
That was not my wife’s experience. She had COBRA extended for the 24 months, but we had to pay the whole premium. Medicare never paid any back benefits.
Not medicare, ssdi and your eligibility for Medicare. If you are disabled on 1/1/2000 but don’t file until 1/1/2003, you will become eligible for Medicare on 1/1/2003 since your claim will be back dated to 1/1/2001 - thus “eliminating” the 24 month waiting period. Of course nothing is actually eliminated, they’re just cutting you some slack for not having filed at the first possible moment that you could have.