Disability Benefits Resources
FYI: Information About Filing For Social Security Disability Benefits
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Each year, 2.5 million people apply to get some of that money back, in the form of disability benefits. But most applicants are denied.
A two-month investigation by CBS News found that this safety net might not be there when the most vulnerable of Americans need it most.
The following are resources about disability insurance compiled by our Investigative Unit.
The Basics
Dig DeeperCheck out the official Web site of the Social Security Administration. For the Veterans Administration, click here. Find out more about housing for people living with disabilities at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Department of Labor has information about working with a disability here. More resources are available at the American Association of People with Disabilities. Check out the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives, which provides representation and advocacy on behalf of those seeking Social Security and Supplemental Security income. Also, check out the Web site of the National Association of Disability Representatives here. Seeking help from a community of people living with disabilities? Check out the Handicap and Awareness Support League. For Information about Applying for Disability, visit the Social Security Administration disability Web site. To get more general information about Social Security Disability, click here. The SSA also has information about efforts to identify and implement compassionate allowances for children and adults. Learn more here.
Information for specific injuries or illnessesCheck out the Social Security Administration plan to reduce the hearings Backlog and Improve Public Service or its 2007 end-of-year fiscal report (.pdfs). The Social Security Disability Coalition offers free information and support, with a focus on SSDI reform. Check it out here. For information on the Fullerton - Edwards Social Security Disability Reform Act, click here. Think it couldn't happen to you? Read a first-person account of injury (graphic content) here.
Getting the Benefits you DeserveThe Social Security Administration (SSA) recognizes MS as a chronic illness or “impairment” that can cause disability severe enough to prevent an individual from working. Check out what the MS Society is doing to help individuals in trying to prevent difficulties in securing SSDI coverage. Or, check out the Muscular Dystrophy Association. For mental health resources, visit the Web site of the National Mental Health Association. The Invisible Disabilities Advocate is another resource. Visit it here.
Allsup, Inc., is a for-profit company that helps individuals in applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. The company's Web site includes several resource sheets, including:
To help individuals with disabilities apply for and receive the benefits they deserve, Allsup provides its “Top 10 Tips for Breaking through the Backlog.”Disability guidelines Disability resources Disability eligibility evaluation
1. Determine eligibility. To be eligible for benefits, claimants must have been disabled before reaching full retirement age (65-67) and meet the Social Security Administration’s definition of disabled, which generally means being unable to work due to a medically determinable mental or physical impairment expected to result in death or last for at least 12 months. Individuals must be under age 65 and also have worked and paid into the program for five of the last 10 years.
2. File immediately. If an initial claim is denied, Allsup notes that the wait for an appeals hearing now takes an average of 524 days. There is no time to lose.
3. Obtain doctor’s agreement. Claimants need written medical confirmation of their qualifying conditions when they apply. According to Allsup, not having a doctor’s agreement when filing could delay the process a month or more.
4. Get help. Filing for disability benefits is a complicated process akin to preparing a difficult income tax return. Allsup emphasizes that the earlier applicants seek help, the more support they can get to help put them back on the right track.
5.Prepare an accurate medical record. A comprehensive factual record is required to convince the government to provide benefits.
6. Establish your work history. Compile records of dates and tenure of previous employment. As noted above, individuals must have worked for five of the previous 10 years to qualify for benefits.
7. Meet deadlines. If benefits are denied at any stage of the process, claimants have only 60 days to file an appeal. If the deadline is missed, the process starts over from the beginning.
8. Reduce spending. The long wait for benefits means that people lose their savings, their cars and sometimes even their homes. Cut out unnecessary spending as quickly as possible and prepare for the long haul. And don’t use credit cards. Allsup reminds applicants that high-interest debt will add to long-term problems. There may be other, more affordable options for handling expenses.
9. Maintain health insurance. There will be a temptation to cut spending on insurance, but Allsup notes that even after individuals begin receiving disability benefits there is a two-year waiting period for Medicare eligibility.
10. Don’t give up. The Social Security Administration denies more than 60 percent of all initial applications, but two-thirds of the people who appeal eventually will receive their benefits.
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See all 117 CommentsAs American''s we should demand this be taken care of NOW and not send one red sent out of the country to help others until every single person waiting in the "back log" at least gets an answer.
Shame on us!
what you reported is happening to me.I applied in 2005
and was denied,then in 2006 denied again,filed an appeal and that was denied and filed another appeal which is front of the Virginia appeals boardnow.And I am A Gulf War Veteran fought for this country and had to get my Congressman John P. Murtha''s office involved in my case.I have 12 out of 17 discs in my back that are herniated with advance disc degenerative disease.So I can say from personal experience you have to file and appeal more than once.
IF I CAN BE OF ASSISTANCE, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CALL ME ANYTIME, AS I WOULD LOVE TO HELP THEM AND MY FEE IS MINIMAL COMPARED TO AN ATTORNEY, AND I ALSO HAVE DEALT WITH THE LOCAL AND NATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY OFFICE ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS.
ALSO, MANY ATTORNEY''S DO NOT TELL THEIR CLIENTS, LIKE I DO, THAT THEY ARE ALSO ENTITLED TO RECEIVE A $500 REDUCTION,IF THEY ARE DISABLED OR ELIMINATE THEIR PROPERTY TAXES ALTOGETHER, IF THEY ARE WHEELCHAIR BOUND. MY PHONE NUMBER IS 561-312-3739, OR FAX 561-881-2168.
I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU!! HOPE I CAN HELP SOMEONE, AS I HAVE DONE IN THE PAST AND MY CLIENTS ARE WILLING TO ATTEST TO THIS!!!
What are we suppose to do? SSD doesn''t look favorably on you if you dont have a doctor and are not taking medication for your problem, but then they also dont help you get this help either. And even if you do get the SSDB you have to wait up to 2 years for Medicaid to kick in...excuse me but if a person gets SSDB then doesn''t it follow they NEED medical help and medication, and on what SSDB pays who can afford insurance not to mention getting any with a pre-existing condition. Seems to me the whole system is designed to make you give up, shut up, and suffer in silence.
We are still waiting for our payments to start and back pay.
My husband is disabled and entitled along his/my daughter. Her whole childhood has gone by doing without. How do you get back the years -her/our lives could have been so much better.
I''ve had to file for bankrutcy -almost evicted twice etc...
And we are still waiting after finally being approved.
And nobody can tell us why or when we will finally get paid.
RDeko
Problem number 2 is our consumer base is growing rapidly as the baby boom generation enters the age where they are most likely to become disabled. The obvious solution would be to hire more people but our budget doesn''t allow it, we can''t even replace people we lose.
I don''t work in a hearings office so I don''t know what the deal is with the waiting time there. However, I can say that the people I have been fortunate enough to work with at SSA are among the most caring individuals I have met. We are not out to ruin anyone''s lives and try our best to help people within the confines of the law. There are certainly aspects of the law I would like to change, like the waiting period for SSDI benefits and Medicare.
I would really like to know if Mr. Investigative Reporter Man took the time to actually visit a field office and see what it''s like. He should shadow a claims representative for a week. I think he''ll have a new appreciation for the dedicated employees of the Social Security Administration.
September 27 not Dec 27 -still waiting for payments.....
My biggest issue with the SSA is the massive delay. I hit a deer in ''03, have spinal cord injury in my neck and lower back, some spinal column but not cord impact in my thoracic. I applied in April ''04, after trying unsucessfully to work. I was denied, of course, because (according to one source) 95% of people are, their first time. I appealed, and 18 months later (January ''06) I had my first hearing. The appeal was submitted in August ''04... Eventually, that judge retired, so I had a second hearing in February ''07, with a fairly quick denial. Oddly enough, the judge ruled that I had a severe impairment of type degenerative disk disease with radiculopathy in my lumbar, but that I did not have degenerative disk disease with nerve root or spinal cord compression or compromise (that, of course, is the definition of radiculopathy - nerve root compression or compromise near or at the spinal cord).
So I guess I have three issues:
Two, judges who have no oversight, who can take as long as they want, just sitting on a case, or writing decisions that are contradictory and incorrectly cite evidence as well as ignoring or excluding other evidence (the prescriptions for wheelchairs, the diagnosis of the neck damage, etc.), who basically can take whatever time they want to rule however they feel and massage the "decision" to justify their position - regardless whether it applies to the facts in evidence.
I guess there is a fourth issue. While these people who cannot work due to disablility are waiting for the benefits they paid for, they are required to tap every resource they can to simply stay alive and with a home. This means that they will be on public assistance, as well as tapping the resources of charities and entities that can help with utilities, etc. That is assuming that they manage to get enough help to stay together, alive, and housed. HOW MANY families fall apart, HOW MANY people become homeless, HOW MANY simply die, because of the time if takes our federal government to do the right thing? In a private insurance business, the initial application approval rate would be over 50% anyway, even in the worst businesses...
They didn''t start processing until until Nov 24th almost 60 days from approval.
No workman''s comp =yes attorney and they don''t have an answer either.
This is for SSD
I apologize for the length of this comment, but I have been waiting for over 4 years for the approval, trying to get the media involved for probably three of those years. Hopefully this comment will be read by enough to start a grassroots effort to reform the SSA at least where the SSDI element is involved.
David Smith
darkcat@earthlink.net
I have heart disease, 6 stents in my heart and a triple by-pass, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, PAD, DVT in both leg, chronic neuropathy get worse, five screws in right ankle and severe neck and back injuries from an auto accident. I have all my cervicals disc with bulges and all my lumber discs with bulges, can''t stand longer than 12 -15 minutes, can''t sit longer than 30-40 minutes can''t raise my arms. I take 400 units of insulin a day for severe diabetes and 16 other medications. Who would hire me?
But Social Security says I can still work and don''t qualify for benefits. I have also worked into the system for 40+ years.
With the stroke of a pen your life could be destroyed forever! If you or anyone you know needs help contact the Social Security Disability Coalition which offers FREE information and support with a focus on SSDI reform at:
ssdcoalition@hotmail.com
I''ve been falling down since 2002, walk with a cane, am single and no one will date me because of the cane, spend endless hours alone finding it nearly impossible to achieve motivation, despite psych meds, to keep moving every day. Just went for 3 months of aquatherapy...nothing''s really helped...and don''t feel any better. Psychotherapists have been clueless. People always ask me why I can''t work since I have a good mind, etc., etc. and I am sooo tired of trying to explain. CHRONIC PAIN IS HORRIBLE AND I WOULDN''T PUT MY WORST ENEMY THROUGH THIS!
With the stroke of a pen your life could be destroyed forever! If you or anyone you know needs help contact the Social Security Disability Coalition which offers FREE information and support with a focus on SSDI reform at:
ssdcoalition@hotmail.com
There are so many people that apply for disability that are not disabled or have neve worked that apply for disability everyday. People go to the welfare office and say they need a check because they can''t work and welfare sends them to social security to apply for disability since they claim to not be able to work. then the junkies are now mentally disabled so that is more claims. do you relaize how many claims that is and how many go to the hearing office and waste time. only to be denied only to reapply because the agency told them to do it. There are so many people that come into the office and say they have worked all their lives only to have a couple hundred for 4 years! what is that. and you expect what? And all those people on ssi. You talk about the survivors benefits. at least someone worked for that. they are entitled to survivors benefits. but that ssi. the government really needs to recheck that. they pay about $630.00 to every disabled individual. so if you have 10 children that is $6300 per month. is that fair. you didn''t earn 1 dime of that so how is that fair? The entire social security system needs to be looked at totally and redone.
government starts the prejudice and the private insurers continue it.
We thought we were covered we bought private long term disability from the Bank of NY thinking there was an inflation rider only to be told that the increase only applied if you go back to work. They do not honor their policy. We bought a long term care policy through Johnson & Johnson through CNA and they will not pay out even though The Traumatic Brain Injury fund in NJ has deemed my husband disabled.
The United States Government needs to set an example that we as a nation do not tolerate the inhuman treatment of the ill and disabled. Thank you again.
My husband has been ill since he is 34 years old and people between the ages of 21 and 65 become the forgotten class. As Mrs. Washington in the then Senator Corzine''s office said to me in 2001 we should be ashamed of ourselves asking for help. She said children need help and the elderly. What happens to the children of families with illness and disability.
I have lost jobs because companies do not want to carry us because of insurance liability. It is time the United States steps up to the plate and does the right thing for the ill and diabled.
Social Security for the disabled is broken, as is the ADA under the EEOC, as is the tolerance for private insurance companies abuse towards the ill and disabled.
He had copies of all medical records. I filed for all appeals and now was told to hire someone for up to 25% of past due benefits or $5,300 whichever is less. I then requested my case be rescheduled. And on it goes. I have assistance but not a lawyer, and do not want one. All of us who were there for hearings were turned away. The site is backlogged already and I am sure this did not speed things up. It also gets me closer to the poor house. Thanks.
I live on less than $1200 a month. yes, that is more than some people draw and I am thankful for what I get. I draw widow ben. on my husband.
This entire sys. is so screwed up it will take years to fix it.
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