Goverment disablility help?

[ticktock]

My mom has terminal cancer. She had chemo and is in remission but this type of cancer isn't curable and she will most likely die in the next 3-5 years. They will not give her another round of chemo, it won't help.

Anyway my question is this; She worked part time during her chemo treatments. She was extremely ill but her company worked with her and she was able to keep her insurance (though her premiums went up $400 a month because she couldn't even work 25 hours a week) so she didn't have to apply for Medicaid (my mom is very proud). At the time her social worker told her she would qualify for Disability in 6 months. Now they're telling her she doesn't qualify because she worked during her treatments and made too much money (she made enough to pay her insurance and for food and medicine).

Does anyone have a suggestion for a free advocacy program or lawyer? My mother is still sick. She can't keep working. She needs to be on disability and Medicaid for what is left of her life. It is killing me that I know people who've been on disability for years because of a bad back but when my mother is DIEING there is no help for her? When she's worked and paid taxes since she was 14 years old? I think my head is going to explode!!!! Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[james'mommy]

Don't take another person's word for it. Go ahead and apply for ssi. Her doctor will need to state that she is disabled and no longer able to work. She may get turned down the first time around. Most social security lawyers won't take the case the first time around,. The lawyers around here make you apply on your own and then they will take the case once you are denied. My dad was able to get Binder and Binder (they are nationwide) to take his case from the very begining. The process for the first time is very simple so there is no need to give the law firm the fee if she can be approved on the first go around.

 

[mom3sonstt]

Does your mom still work? I was working a temp job when I started dialysis and they were real good about working around my crazy schedule. But when that job ended I was unable to find another that would accommodate me. Long story, short, I heard I was eligible for social security disability due to the the dialysis and signed up. The gal who took my information was very helpful, and instead of putting my disability date as my first date of dialysis she actually listed it as the date my job ended (a few months after I started dialysis). There is a waiting period from the date you are considered disabled to the date the benefits start. I "can" work and still receive benefits - if I make too much they would reduce what I receive, but in my local area it's hard enough to find a job when you are available to work regularly, let alone when you need to be off frequently, so I haven't had luck finding anything. Good luck to your mom!

 

[jt'smom]

first let me say, i'm so sorry for your mom's cancer diagnosis! next let me tell you what i know about social security disability, from my own experience in getting approved for it. go to this website: http://www.ssa.gov/disability/. this is where you need to start... click on the section for the "blue book" of conditions that are approved and the requirements to meet them. this is ssdi's bible and what they stick to unless it is some unusual medical condition that can be documented. basically your mom will have to meet the standard of "unable to perform ANY meaningful work" or "be diagnosed with a terminal illness where she isn't expected to live over a year". if she is able to work AT ALL, then no matter what her personal doctor says, she won't be approved. get together every copy of every doctor visit, lab work, surgery, oncology report, pathology report, hospital stay, phyical/occupational therapy evaluations, neuropsych evals, EVERYTHING and have it ready to go with your initial application. the more you can have ready to go, the better you will be. she might have to be evaluated by social security doctors too, so be prepared. they will consider her disability date as the first day she stopped working and there is a 6 month waiting period for benefits. don't go to an attorney first, before she applies because they will take a significant chunk of the back payment, and she has just as good a chance getting approved on her own if she does all her homework and makes sure to have everything ready beforehand. also getting on social security disability DOES NOT immediately qualify you for medicaid. it is a totally separate thing that she would have to apply for. now once you have been on social security disability for 2 years, you are elegible for medicare, and you automatically receive part A, but you have a certain amount of time to take the part B and then they deduct the payment from your check every month, just like they do retired people.

it is a long and daunting process and you will definitely need to be her advocate, and the best piece of advice i can give you is to go with her on the initial visit to the local social security office to apply and start the process. be polite. don't start talking about "undeserving" people who get it already... it won't make you friends with the caseworker. i was very unusual, because it only took 6 weeks from application to approval for me, but it varies from state to state. one other thing, SSI is not social security disability. it is a separate program based on need, not disability and people get them confused all the time. pending on her financial situation she could qualify for SSI in addition to disability. they will automatically file an application for her for SSI when she applies for disability. good luck, and don't get disheartened by the whole thing. patience and organization is the key. and most of all i hope she is feeling better and able to enjoy her days

 

[WheeledTraveler]

I had trouble reading a couple of the previous posts (my brain) so not sure if I'm repeating.

One thing to note, is that "date of disability" is based on when she stops working enough to disqualify her. So if she cuts back on how much she works so that she's under the $980 a month she should be able to apply actually rather quickly. She may also have one of the cancers that qualifies her for a Compassionate Allowance that should expedite her actual application and approval. (See http://www.ssa.gov/compassionateallowances/ )

Good luck!