I Hope you can Help!!

[Mommee]

My advice is to move to NY state.

But seriously why don't you qualify for SSI? If you're disabled and cannot work why wouldn't you qualify for this? It's a federal program. Then would medicaid come with this? My friend's qualified for SSI after being disabled at 18yo from a car accident. He receives SSI and medicaid. Also a bunch of my in-laws including children receive SSI for what I'll never understand, but they get some doc to label them with (insert some vague disability) and walla monthy checks.

I don't understand this because I have in-laws who have never worked a day in their lives, who don't even speak English who qualify for SSI. SSI isn't social security. Also if you get denied you should reapply, and reapply until you are approved.

Because SSI has income limits. If her husband is working, she's likely not eligible.

 

[bumbershoot]

That SSI paper they send to tell how much you qualify for Reads SSI at age 67 $0.00 at age 72 $0.00 Disabity $0.00 Medicare $0.00

Then it sounds like no one has been paying Medicare tax from the paycheck.

Even when I was making something like 15K a year, my SS statement said that I would be getting something. Something is wrong from the payroll, I believe.

Someone at the state health care said if I could qualify on my own income[not Dh's income] then i might be able to get on healthcare, but I could not make income more than $40.00 a month to qualify.

I think that you are putting too much stock in a very odd statement from someone at the state health care office. I think you need to start from the beginning, utilizing people who truly know the law, your state, and EVERYTHING about your finances and condition (which means you would have to explain it, without emotion, from the beginning to now). I think there has been a series of dreadful misunderstandings and/or mis-explanations. I know how hard it is to really listen and hear when health and money are on the line (I've been helping my MIL after she had a series of strokes, and her defenses about money and her health, along with language problems and memory loss from the strokes (she forgot she started to like me, for instance...talk about a big hurdle to get over!), are making it hard to explain it all and be heard), and I KNOW how hard it is to really figure things out. It's hard enough for me to understand, and wasn't the one hospitalized, and I speak the language the doctors/nurses/case managers/etc speak!

It's just that what the state person said doesn't really make much sense.

Yes HE did!! That doesn't help me. But I haven't worked since 1986 so did not.

This cannot possibly be true (that you don't qualify b/c you have been a homemaker...I believe that you've been a homemaker! yay for homemakers!). My MIL had ONE paying job in America in her life. She worked her butt off in Korea (at the USO mainly), but once she moved here she had just the one, temporary, job, in the 80s while her husband was away. Less than a year. But she would have absolutely qualified for disability if she had needed it, and she currently gets the widow SS money. Even though she *maybe* made 10K, in America, in her entire time here (over 40 years now).

Arizona. Wher nothing make a lick of sense!!

While it is true that AZ is odd, I am not certain that they are absolutely insane. I think you need to find someone who will help you from the very beginning.

Knowing your state is the first step!

As for those who are wondering why I do not qualify for SSI Disability, it is because I was a Stay-at-Home Mother for most of my adult life. I tried to apply and was denied because I do not have enough past work experience...

Well, one denial doesn't mean much when applying for govt stuff.

When it looked like MIL was on the serious decline and we were looking at homes for her, we realized quickly that she made too much for immediate approval into Medicaid, but EVERYONE we spoke with told us that one denial meant absolutely nothing, apart from "keep on trying".

(just to tell enough of the story to make people unconfused, along with widow's SS she also has the widow portion of FIL's Union pension, and while the combo doesn't *feel* like enough to her (though it is half of what DH makes monthly, without *her* ever having to work! we're trying to help her see that it is a decent amount of money), it's way too much to easily qualify for Medicaid to cover a nursing home but a *fraction* of what a nursing home would cost out of pocket)

So you need to find someone who KNOWS what you are looking for, KNOWS their stuff, and KNOWS how to help you.

Shagley - Thank-you I will call after the holidays to see what can be done!!

Yay! Something that will help you! But don't wait, call tomorrow. Heck, call today; people are admitted every day to hospitals, and they might just have a financial person there even on a Sunday. Nothing is hurt by trying.

A large part of hospital budgets are charities to help people pay for their care. Especially if you went to a Catholic hospital. Big charities.

Because SSI has income limits. If her husband is working, she's likely not eligible.

But she has indicated he doesn't make much, or at least started off not making much. (editing to say 40K isn't a horrible amount...wasn't so long ago that DH was making that, after all, and I think Seattle has a higher COL than AZ, but I could be wrong)

In Our Married lives when we were both working We never made $25,000. Even after Dd was born and Dh was at the peak earning power, He never made $40,000, never ever.

OP, I don't think anyone was saying they didn't *want* you to qualify, but that your situation, as you have told us in bits and pieces, doesn't make *sense*. I think that to most of us, that means there has been a dreadful lack of communication from the powers that be, and you need to sort of reboot, to start from the beginning.

I bet you that there is someone on the Dis who works in AZ, in the offices you need, who could help you figure it all out. Now, maybe AZ is totally wackadoodle and you won't get help, BUT at least you'll know, 100%.

The $40 thing doesn't make a bit of sense to me. That isn't saying that YOU don't make sense, but that the person that said it to you doesn't make sense.

On the other hand, you say you pay $160 a month for private insurance, and THAT is what makes me wonder if you would qualify, since you do officially have insurance. On the other other hand, with MIL it hasn't made a difference that she has Medicare and pretty good AARP Supplemental Insurance. They still would have (or will, if things worsen) helped her work her way into Medicaid to cover things for her if necessary.




Although insurers left WA in droves, I will tell you that it's lovely here to know that pre-existing conditions must be covered. We can't buy Disney Cruise insurance, LOL, we have to go with a select and literal *few* travel insurance companies to make SURE they cover pre-existings, but at least it's all covered. If it's at all possible for your DH to find work up here, just for insurance's sake I recommend thinking of a move.

 

[robsmom]

I think the OP is correct that she does not qualify for SSI Disability but she might be eligible for SSI (a welfare type of program, not paid from social security trust fund).

Not Not everyone qualifies for SSI Disability. Someone mentioned relatives who have never worked. A young person who has nevered worked may qualify without working because they were disabled at 18 (such as a life-long disability). See qualifications below. At an older age, you need to have worked recently.

I think you can qualify for SSI without having a work history, but with her husband working she likely has too much income.

Disability requirements:

n addition to meeting our definition of disability, you must have worked long enough--and recently enough--under Social Security to qualify for disability benefits.

Social Security work credits are based on your total yearly wages or self-employment income. You can earn up to four credits each year.

The amount needed for a credit changes from year to year. In 2012, for example, you earn one credit for each $1,130 of wages or self-employment income. When you've earned $4,520, you've earned your four credits for the year.

The number of work credits you need to qualify for disability benefits depends on your age when you become disabled. Generally, you need 40 credits, 20 of which were earned in the last 10 years ending with the year you become disabled. However, younger workers may qualify with fewer credits.

IMPORTANT: Remember that whatever your age is, you must have earned the required number of work credits within a certain period ending with the time you become disabled. If you qualify now but you stop working under Social Security, you may not continue to meet the disability work requirement in the future.

SSI Requirements:

WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR SSI ?

Anyone who is:

aged (age 65 or older);
blind; or
disabled.
And, who:


has limited income; and

has limited resources; and

is a U.S. citizen or national, or in one of certain categories of aliens; and

In general, an alien who is subject to an active warrant for deportation or removal does not meet the citizenship/alien requirement.

is a resident of one of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, or the Northern Mariana Islands; and

is not absent from the country for a full calendar month or for 30 consecutive days or more; and

applies for any other cash benefits or payments for which he or she may be eligible, (for example, pensions, Social Security benefits); and

gives SSA permission to contact any financial institution and request any financial records about you; and

files an application; and

meets certain other requirements.

 

[tink2dw]

SSI (a welfare type of program,

Nope! You can't double dip. Meaning I can't get SSI (a welfare type of program, While my Dd goes to college using government grants.

 

[tink2dw]

ah hah!! anniemck!!!

AHCCCS program, Az state health care

Premiums

This program has a premium of up to $35.00 per month. ie the $40.00!!!

Solved!!! by anniemck

Thank-You!!!!! anniemck

 

[tink2dw]

Bumbershoot - I would love to move back home to the North West but my friend says the area is still hard hit by the recession. I would much rather see the waves of the Pacific Ocean than the sea of sand that is here, and the 118 temp of summer. But we have family here.

I sure do miss home

 

[Desert Dwellers]

Our states newspaper just went digital online, no more paper copies.

There is no state newspaper here, but the Arizona Republic delivers paper editions every morning. The East Valley Tribune also still delivers paper editions.