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First off general disclaimer, I am not a lawyer so please do not construe any of this as legal advice. If you have questions about your specific situation, call your state bar and ask for Legal-Aid or ask for a list of Social Security Disability law firms, most work on a contingency fee and can give you answers for free. Now that we're past that ugliness, lets move forward. I'd like to talk about Social Security Disability. Why should I care about Social Security Disability? Beyond not wanting to see the sick and injured dying in the streets (which should be enough), Social Security Disability benefits account for about 140 billion dollars, or about 1600 bucks a household. It is paid out of your FICA taxes which comprise about 15% of your income. What is Social Security Disability? Glad you asked, it actually comprises quite a bit of different benefits and the words "Social Security Disability are often used interchangeably which just causes more confusion. Here are a few types: SSI: These benefits are means tested based on your household income which is in turn based on how many members are there between your spouse and children. Separated spouses can count as individuals but this typically requires an atty. There is no work credit requirement or any requirement other than means testing and medical. SSA determines whether you are disabled and you are awarded MediCAID and anywhere from around 700/mo on down to 0. Any earned income counts against it. People with Downs, severe autism, etc usually have this right off the bat. Children can get SSI but that's an entire field I'm completely unfamiliar with. SSDI: Based on work credits earned the same way Social Security retirement is earned, but with a time limit. Typically once you stop paying FICA (Assuming you are 31 and have worked a while) you have about 5 years to apply while you are still insured. Not everyone pays their FICA taxes. Some don't pay anything (Private contractors who only want to pay Federal income taxes) and some instead pay into an alternative retirement/disability plan (Usually state/city government employees and teachers and other union members that would rather manage their own money). Your SSDI benefits can expire and effectively become useless. Unlike SSI benefits they are NOT means tested. While you can't be working over 20 hours a week (really 10) or making over 1070/mo while applying, you can have a billion dollars in your savings accounts and it won't make a lick of difference, your SSDI payments are completely static. Your payments are based on what you paid in (Anywhere between like 500 and 2500) and come with MediCARE, a noticeable improvement from SSI. Widows: Essentially SSDI but you use your dead spouses credits instead of your own. Notably a very big win for gay partners who can now get married that makes a huge difference in surviving partners lives. Adult Child: Essentially you didn't have a chance to start working, so you apply using a parents credits. That parent must be SSDI, Widows, or SS Retirement. Well those sound simple enough, what is the process like? It's pretty loving rough. The first decision takes about 3-7 months from the time you submit your application. Roughly 2/3rds of people are turned down, and that number is fairly static (ie there's a solid chance the SSA specifically tries to maintain that number and not let it budge an inch). After the first step, you can appeal if declined. If declined, the appeal will take 3-7 months again. So now we're already averaging just short of a year. If your appeal (also known as a reconsideration) is declined, you then move to a hearing. It can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to get that hearing. then the judge will take up to 6 months to officially write their decision (and I do mean up to). Then they will award you benefits! Now you merely wait 1-3 months, and that sweet sweet government cheese begins rolling in. And in the mean time, you can't earn any real income. Hope your family is rich and caring! And of course you probably won't have loads of medical bills during that time, because what kind of medical bills could be accumulated by someone who has to apply for disability right? Wow, that sounds hosed It is. It doesn't get worse right? Well, pretty much at any point the SSA can re-evaluate you and determine on a whim you're not disabled based on lovely medical evidence. Then they'll turn right back around and put a lien on you for every dime they ever gave you. These evaluations often come without warning and without any honesty as to the intent. Some Dude with a quota posted:It took you four years to get on benefits, and you've only had them for two years, but we're going to want that 100k back. What is this thread for? Overall just discussions of Social Security Disability outside of SS retirement as well as debate over what changes would be effective if any at all would. I have a million suggestions but I'd hate to bog down the first post in them. mugrim fucked around with this message at 05:11 on Aug 28, 2014 |
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Aug 28, 2014 05:00
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Berk Berkly posted:For someone who probably should be on SSD, and who obviously has little to no income and likely some, if not a lot, of medical debt, how do you recommend even attempting this? There are a whole lot of factors there, and it would be irresponsible of me to tell you what to do even if I knew those factors. If it was me, here is what I would honestly do: 1) Try to find an alternative job through my state's vocational rehab or someone who can work with me. This is not to diminish the struggle I or anyone else in that situation would go through, but to emphasize just how difficult SSDI can be to receive. If Voc rehab can't find you a job or anything then it's a much easier win if you do apply as they work directly with SSDI and can attest. 2) I would get the largest attorney within 100 miles if Voc rehab was unsuccessful. Attorney's work typically off a contingency fee (25% of your back pay or $6000, whatever number is smaller). If your atty does not have a salaried atty locally, they'll probably just contract someone elses locally salaried atty's. Do not get ANY atty who wants to charge you for anything (other than back pay) and absolutely ask up front. There are lots of firms that pay for medical record retrieval, sending you to doctors visits, etc and then bill the SSA for it when they win. I would not see a need to get one that bills me for anything. In general, atty's are often a successful way to go if you qualify for Dire need or Terminal status. Dire need means you're pretty much homeless, Terminal typically means if you are talking to me in a 24 months it would rightly be called a miracle (pancreatic cancer, stage 4 cancers, T cell well below 200, etc). Also, once you are over 50 years of age, the process does get much easier. This is part of why SS Disability is booming right now. It's jumped like 25 billion dollars a year overall in about 4 years. The population of old super obese people just under retirement age right now are beginning to fully come out of the work force in huge numbers. That combined with an economy favoring middle aged people without as many health problems. mugrim fucked around with this message at 05:47 on Aug 28, 2014 |
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Aug 28, 2014 05:41
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This is a link to conditions SSA considers "Disabling" Merely having a condition is not enough. Prior education, job experience, ability to retrain, etc are evaluated against what actually makes you disabled.
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Aug 28, 2014 05:45
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There are certain things that can 100% be seen as objectively awful about the system by any person who is not a monster. 1) A wait time of 4-7 months for the first decision is ridiculous, especially when technically you're not supposed to be on unemployment before you apply and about two thirds of cases are shot down and have to be appealed (of which a huge amount will then be approved ANOTHER 4-7 months later). A hearing date after the second denial of 1-2 years is unconscionable. 2) Payouts - SSI is unlivable without outside help. SSDI is manageable for some, but for most it's still incredibly light. 3) Priorities - Like many things, SSDI is easier to get the richer you are and many offices deliberately obfuscate initial applications when 'helping'. I've seen it happen way too many times at the exact same offices to think it's a coincidence. Many people do not have any access to medical care so when an SSA employee asks for a Consultative Exam for conditions they know to be non-severe and ignore the disability at hand, it's pretty disgusting. 4) Overpayment/Cessation - It is loving criminal to re-evaluate people and find them not disabled after spending three years of their lives fighting for benefits. To then on top of that ask them to give you the money back when you know they can't work is that much worse. If you think someone defrauded you, take them to a criminal hearing and see how great your proof holds up when the deck is not stacked 100% in your favor. mugrim fucked around with this message at 05:48 on Aug 31, 2014 |
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Aug 31, 2014 05:45
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Lord Windy posted:How long do you have to work to qualify for SSDI? http://www.ssa.gov/retire2/credits3.htm Essentially if you're older than 31, it's required that you paid FICA 5 of the last 10 years.
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Sep 1, 2014 05:10
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Adult child benefits are extremely difficult to get relative to SSDI, especially if you've ever worked over SGA. You have to be under 22. Also, if you have a parent on SSDI it is also possible. ClothHat posted:This can't be overstated enough. I work with severely mentally disabled individuals that all require SSI to live independently from their families. Most receive around $900 a month, with those that are able work earning slightly more. The average rent for a 1 bedroom apartment around here is about $1,400 a month. They can't save more than $2,000 so any sort of unexpected expense is a tragedy. I don't disagree with your point in general, but who do you know on just SSI who is receiving 900/mo? Current maximum is just about 720/mo. Are you sure you're not counting a state program on top of it, or a different program like Adult Child? I'm kind of surprised with the relative absence of posts. Is SS Disability not juicy enough for people? We have a ton of Libertarians on this board who I assumed would be all too happy to debate the merits of a disability program, and a ton of lefties I assumed would be outraged by the insane wait times. Anyone have any insight on this?
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Sep 3, 2014 23:12
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Guy Fleegman posted:I'm 55. I simply gave up on the whole system. It was so loving convoluted. I spent day after day interviewing and filling out and mailing forms away only to receive follow-up forms to fill out and mail back ad nauseam. It all culminated with a letter of rejection that brought me to tears. I've got years of diagnosed and documented mental issues. I have no left bicep and I am missing a ligament in my right elbow which basically renders both of my hands useless. I live by myself on the outskirts of St.Louis, Missouri. The system shouldn't be this difficult. The DE will never see her kids, shes very wrong and working an old wives tale. In fact, if SSA discovered those kids were not hers they could claim she wasnt disabled by virtue of being a child care provider for the children of others which would mean she could work over SGA doing that. I have personally seen that happen several times by other dumbasses who have no idea what they are doing. There is no way to "screw the system". If you get approved and you should not have, you will get charged with overpayment and they will get their money back, and life will be hell for you. Also, never do it yourself. That is why you failed, it has nothing to do with what you think it does. As a 55 year old pretty much any lawfirm will take you gladly for SSDI since you are the easiest category to get approved. Whatever money you think you are saving by doing it alone is wrong. This is the equivalent of a hobbyist electrician wondering why their house constantly shorts and then thinking its the wire they bought. It is not. Get a professional before your credits expire, their prices are either free or 25% of your first check.
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Sep 4, 2014 13:32
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SeraphSlaughter posted:This topic applies to me. I've been on SSDI for about 5 years. Been legally blind since birth so I'm technically receiving from my dad's working history, even though he applied for it (and received it) around the same time. It's not too terrible, I guess. I used the money to put myself in a relatively self-supported position (moved out of my house for a bit with some friends, paid rent and lived just like a normal working person) and the fact I'm legally blind means my SGA is nearly double, so I can safely work when I land a job (usually temp positions are the only ones that'll hire me). The OP made a point that working hours have something to do with that? Is that true? I've never seen that, only a dollar limit (SGA), and there was an 8 month period where I was working for CVS and sometimes had 30 hour weeks (that still came under SGA), and I've never been contacted by SSA about it. I filed my earnings on my taxes and everything. Blindness has its own set of rules which you touched on initially and most of it is outside of my realm other than knowing that SSA has extremely strict standards on blindness relative to other organizations. The SGA I was referring to was specifically while filing for a non-blindness ssi or ssdi claim.
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Sep 4, 2014 17:22
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wateroverfire posted:Yeah it'd probably do really well there. I really don't know who that applies to though. There's a fuckload of insanely dangerous temporary jobs out there and they rotate often enough that non-disabled people will be hired at some point. Part of the issue comes down to how you define disability which is extremely difficult. This is why I prefer Minimum income. The wait time for SSDI claims are intense and it's amazing how much people freak about about VA care but 3 years to get approved for Disability (including for veterans) is just par for the course.
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Sep 5, 2014 03:52
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OctaviusBeaver posted:That's what made me interested enough to click on this thread. Anyone want to tell me if/why it is wrong or right? I listened to it and got distracted a few times, but these people are morons. Hale county, their poster child for "cheats" is also 12% more obese than the state average, in a state that is already top 10 or 5 in the nation. It also skews older. Older fat people are pretty much always going to have diabetes, heart problems, back problems, and weight bearing joint problems.
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Sep 5, 2014 20:12
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esquilax posted:Being old and fat with diabetes, heart problems, back problems, and weight bearing joint problems typically does not permanently prevent you from performing the essential duties of your own occupation, let alone any occupation. It 100% does for many cases, especially if you have all of those things at once. If your doctor assigns you a lifting limit of 10 pounds or under because of a prior heart attack or stent, you are not capable of even office jobs, assuming you have the education. Past 50 years of age (ie "Old" by SSDI since 62 is early retirement age) they no longer expect you to retrain for a new career, so it's not "Any job" it's "Any job you are have a strong enough experience/knowledge base for". The "Any job" thing is bullshit the way you are interpreting it. It's used as verbage, but technically no one, and I mean no one meets that qualification. Missing 4 limbs? Well you could work in the circus as a freak or for performance art. You could just be a lifeless body someone is paid to stare at as long as that has happened at least once ever. While some ALJ's use that verbiage, they're rare even for the assholes to interpret it harsh. I've only heard of one that has ever done that.
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Sep 6, 2014 02:43
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esquilax posted:I've been using the terms "own occupation" and "any occupation" in the way that they are used by normal professionals that work with disability insurance, and SSDI is based on the fairly standard "any occupation" definition. It's been other people using quadriplegics as an example, and I've clarified like 3 times now that I was using the technical disability insurance definition. I thought you worked with SSDI, are the terms "own occ" and "any occ" seriously unfamiliar to you? I do work with it, and it's not unfamiliar to me at all. Your hilarious interpretation of it is though. Or maybe you were just exaggerating to make a point? If your doctor says you can't lift above 10 pounds (something that severe Orthopedic issues, heart issues, and diabetic neuropathy can require) and you have a sub high school grad education and are older than 50, that's pretty much a slam dunk with the SSA by most ALJs. By definition, it's not just that you can't work any occupation, but that you can't earn SGA from it. That SGA part is kind of key since pretty much anyone can do anything for a very short period of time. Yeah, maybe technically you can sit and answer a phone a couple of hours a week, but unless you can be expected to earn over 1070/mo from it then it's not truly employable. It is entirely not only possible, but probably that people with lovely educations, who are over 50, have diabetes, have heart issues, and weight bearing joint issues is not physically able to work 107 hours a month at 10 bucks an hour. When you live in a place where everyone is crazy obese and old and uneducated, the idea that a significant portion of the population is not capable of SGA is entirely possible.
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Sep 6, 2014 04:13
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esquilax posted:Again, I've used nothing except the technical definition of the term as I've said (for the 4th time now). You are just putting words in my mouth and it makes it even worse if you actually understood what I originally meant by those terms and aren't just covering for yourself now. Obviously being unable to lift 10 pounds is an actual disability that makes it easy to meet an any occ definition, I never said it didn't. Saying 25% of the working age population has disabilities that are that severe and long term however, is an really high number that deserves some investigation. The reporter does an investigation into why its a really high number, and handwaving her findings away with something like "their obesity rate is 40% instead of 30%, it's probably right" really doesn't do it justice at all. Younger fitter people flee because there are no jobs, astronomical obesity rates, lovely rates of education and high school graduation, rural area with limited medical care, etc. I know a lot of places that go 15-20% that are similarly rural and have those confounding variables. A statistical outlier as a rate working adults is going to happen in both directions in an area with less people. Hell, in a rural area that small it could be something as simple as a singular generous ALJ combined with all the other lovely confounding variables. The area has had an almost completely consistent population count for 140 years and a 10% unemployment rate. Acceptance rates overall are actually lower than they were prior, but more people are applying by rather large numbers. More people are maintaining unemployment and not getting a technical denial for working over SGA because of the economy. This means edge cases are more likely to stay in the hopper long enough to be evaluated. But here's a better question: What would you do with Hale County? btw, do you crack down on Utah and it's super low disability rates, wondering how evil their judges are? Shocker I know but rural areas are easy to get high percentages on many different stats because of their low density. What is your theory here? mugrim fucked around with this message at 05:39 on Sep 6, 2014 |
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Sep 6, 2014 05:33
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I'm confused on the direct deposit issue. What is the difference between cashing a monthly check for three bucks at a check cashing location, or withdrawing it from an ATM for three bucks?
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Sep 6, 2014 07:33
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Kwyjibo posted:For those in a (reasonable, non-fraudulent) home, ATM isn't an option. I thought you meant money was being distributed by the home health agency, now it makes more sense. I misread it. esquilax posted:If you are able to hold a job at Wal-mart or you have the necessary background and ability to work in IT, you generally do not qualify for SSDI. Because, after considering medical conditions age, education, past work experience and any transferable skills, you are able to adjust to other work (which is basically the "any occupation" standard used in private disability insurance). Wal-Mart actually prefers people work under SGA, and many locations abuse the gently caress out of SSI and SSDI in order to get workers who need the income/access to cheaper medication. They would rather have someone on state programs than working a second job. I'm guessing you're not all that hip on labor news in the US, because it was the biggest expose for a while. They were trying to get people to average 25 hours or less a week. At hiring wage (8 an hour in most areas) puts your earnings at shy of 1000 bucks. esquilax posted:Half of the at-work construction workers I know are old and fat with back problems, and most private companies that employ blue collar workers go to great lengths to manage their diabetics and heart patient employees to keep them well enough to stay at work. Being old and fat doesn't prevent you from working under "any occupation" like SSDI requires, although people may additionally have disabilities that do actually prevent them from working. Do you live in one of the few union enclaves in this country? Worker protections in this country are extremely weak. I know you're not talking about commercial work I posted a huge propublica article in this very thread about millions of blue collar temporary workers that have replaced the jobs you're talking about. This is without even going into the 1099 misclassification crisis we have on top of that. There's a gently caress ton of unemployed people who don't have a strong enough background to get an office position, or don't have it as a real option in their area. Here's some articles for ya: Temporary work, Lasting Harm Sweet Sweet Death - Senator Asks OSHA About Temp Worker Buried Alive In Sugar The Expendables - How the temps who power corporate giants are getting crushed. How New York and Illinois Curb a Labor Violation While Others Fail
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Sep 6, 2014 20:21
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Lutha Mahtin posted:My mom has been unable to work since she was involved in an accident. I get so angry every time she tells me how things are going, because she has had to fight every entity at every step of the process. Her old employer's insurance carriers are being as uncooperative as possible, and her initial SS application was denied, so she finally had to take me up on my offer to loan her some money. She's "lucky" in that she was able to hire a lawyer on contingency, and is applying to SS with one of those companies that helps with that, but I almost can't imagine how awful it must be for people in situations worse than hers. It's less that she's 'lucky' and more that she has a real case. Typically you can find a lawyer for contingency if you have a case with standing.
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Sep 13, 2014 21:16
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