Disability

[Mattemma]

My friend is on it in Ohio.She has COPD among other things and is slowly dying as her lungs waste away.It tooks years and a lawyer to get her on.She has little to live on.They take money from her disability to pay for medical,AND she still has to pay for meds.I don't understand that. If your dh needs it he should apply now as it may take YEARS to get anything.My friend did get a big chunk of money for the years she was denied,but unfortunately her kids scammed her of all of it.

 

[Wannabefree]

I really don't think we'll have a problem with getting approved. Narcolepsy is so rare, and the doctors have pushed for this for so long....literally everyone who has this condition is on disability. DH truly is the exception. I don't see any reason he will be denied. Then again...it is the goobernment If he gets denied, he gets denied, but I don't see it happening I'm leaving it in God's hands. I can't have something else to worry about too awful much. I have enough on my plate as is right now. I guess we'll find out more tomorrow when we go fill out the initial paperwork.

 

[dragonlaurel]

Good luck!

 

[Woodland Woman]

Yeah i have seen some bad situations on disability/fixed incomes. That is what we have tried SO hard to avoid and have done pretty well avoiding it for 15 years i might add DH has narcolepsy and takes the max dosage allowable by law of ritalin. It is mre and more headache every time he goes to the Dr.

Wow. I see how that could be really dangerous especially if you are driving. It is great that there are meds that can help.

I hope your husband will be able to find something to do he enjoys even if he has to be on disability. Maybe he will find a hobby he can make money at.

 

[2dream]

Wannabefree - Even if he is approved - it still takes months. My DH has one of those automatic approval diseases. No questions asked after you file and show your medical records. Guess what - even that took almost a year to get started. There is a 6 month waiting period and they were nice enough to pour over his medical records to find the first mention of ALS so they could get his checks started quicker. So it took from January of 2010 to September of 2010 for him to recieve his first check and that was just a partial check. It was October before he got his first full check. 2 months shy of a year and that was for a disease that has automatic approval.

My advice is get online tonight and file. Get the ball rolling as quickly as possible. It takes months of forms, waiting, forms, more waiting, medical records, more medical records - oh we can't find your medical records, can you send them again, more forms and more waiting.

 

[Wannabefree]

2dream, thanks. I know it won't be immediate. Nothing with the government is unless you owe them money We have struggled through finances for two years now, what's another 6-12 months I'm not in the least concerned about having to wait, but I do want to get it rolling NOW. So, I think he has decided, and we will be going tomorrow to file. *sigh* Much prayer and thought has gone into the decision, and we really feel it is what's best for all of us, DD included. We have financial issues pretty well planned/sorted out to hold us until his first check would come..around December 2012 or so I sure hope the Mayans are wrong at this point I'd hate to get that far and the world end before his check hits the mailbox

 

[2dream]

Here you are wishing the Mayans are gonna be wrong and I am just waiting for Dec 2012. Its my only hope for early retirement.

 

[tortoise]

I'm surprised by the variety I've read about in individiual disability cases.

For example, I have a disorder that makes me rarely able to work. It is on the list, but it is unheard of for someone to get approved without going to additional Dr exams, going to court, multiple hearings and appeals. BUT, I was approved with none of that, first time. It only took 4 months. I'm usually in denial about how this disease affects me; I guess it is worse than I thought.

The government wants disabled people to work, even small payments into the system help. I can earn about $700/month without affecting my benefits, although I have not been able to work that much. I think the most I've made was $400/month.

Right now, it is manageable because I get Medicaid. But when my fiance and I get married, I won't be eligible for it. I hope to buy Medicare supplement insurance, I have no idea how we will manage my cost of care. I think the cost of my medications is still greater than my SSDI benefit, but I haven't checked lately. ETA: Checked. Med expense is down to $4K/yr now. (Yay!, was close to $12K/yr for a while)

 

[Wannabefree]

Thankfully while his issue is serious the meds are cheap. We are out about $50 a month with doctor visit and medication. It is going up to $125 though because we changed doctors for him to be able to see a specialist. Then he wants to do about $1500 worth of additional tests up front Maybe later :/ Can't do it right now.

 

[raro]

I would give anything to go on disability, but my check amount wouldn't be enough to even cover my mortgage, let alone living expenses. And I have terminal cancer, so that would be an automatic approval. I will likely work until I die. It's a crappy world sometimes.