just can't stand it anymore!!!!!! VENT RANT

[Leajess99]

I am permanently disabled, so I spend a lot of time at home... every day on the morning television I see these commercials for welfare lawyers who will "fight" to get you accepted for disability benefits. It's always puzzled me. When I applied for SSI, I simply walked into the office with my application, had a very brief physical with a government doctor, sent over medical records from my current team of physicians and surgeons, and signed some papers. There was no fighting involved.

I tend to think that part of the problem is that if you have to "fight" to get accepted for disability you probably shouldn't be getting it. Somebody on SSI who has a personal trainer? Do you know how many years of my life or how much money I would pay just to be physically able to exercise? Grr. I'm sure there are exceptions to this, but they are exceptions. For me the hardest part of the approval process was that to qualify for the benefits I receive you need to have paid into the system for a certain number of fiscal quarters, and as I've been disabled since I was a child and have never been capable of holding a job outside the home, I had to scramble for the documentation of having held an online position for a couple of years and paid social security out of the $200 per month I made there.

I get about $475 each month combined from the feds and the state. I live at home with my parents and don't drive so no gas or rent to pay for, so it's enough for me. It's probably more than I need, honestly. I'm very lucky in that I automatically qualify for Medicaid but I have never needed to use it, as my father is Teamsters and my mother a public school teacher so our health insurance is excellent, and it's a good thing with how much my medical expenses cost! It scares me what would happen if I had to depend on Medicaid; half of my treatments would never be approved and I'd probably be completely bedridden instead of just stuck in the house.

Most of my spending money gets saved up so I can take myself and my sister to Disney once a year for my birthday. Yee ha!

I'm sorry but since you seem to not know a lot about Social Security disability and how it is figured than the highlighted in red is a stupid response. I am 100% disabled via the Veterans Admin but social security has decided that because of my age I can work. Their "doctor" who was supposed to evaluate me even stated that he could tell them nothing on me compared to what the VA sent them. I did not bother fighting but very much regret my mistake by not fighting. Not everyone who is truely disabled can just walk in and out with disability benefits and many do have to fight. Until you walk in their choes than please do NOT make such ignorant comments.

After finishing your post, I see that your easy way of getting SSI is based off of your childhood disability and not off one that developed as an adult, etc.

 

[Leajess99]

OK ... so what's your point? Plenty of people don't get married because by doing so they lose benefits they are eligible for as a single person. Plenty of OTHER people get married because they GAIN benefits eligible only to spouses. I don't see the problem as long as she reported the BF's income when she applied for her benefits.

Please comprehend this, it is very unlikely that she is reporting boyfriend's income as that takes away the likelihood that she would qualify for everything under the sun. You seem to want to be blind to the fact that a higher majority do NOT claim the income of their live in boyfriends as they know they will not qualify. I know several women this way and it does piss me off. No, I am not jealous of them becuase I personally would be too embarassed by the treatment some get for being on welfare and medicaid. I have turned people in for welfare fraud to include on lady I knew that was getting child support and alimony in excess of $5000 a month and still getting welfare assistance (not medicaid) because she was not claiming the money she was getting (child support is not required to go through the court system here unless the kids are getting medicaid). She was always using her $1000 a month in food stamps for others and for parties. I had enough and made the call. No clue what happened as I also distanced myself for her.

 

[PearlySwan]

okay my neighbor who has recently told me that she and her "husband" never got married 10 years ago because insurance is too expensive and she remains a "single Mom" so the state pays for healthcare for her and her THREE children, who gets all kinds of other state and fed help including food stamps, WIC, reduced electric, reduced heating oil, etc etc, who hasnt paid a mortgage payment since last summer because her "husband" got laid off (and now works under the table and collects $700 unemployment a week) and under the new government guidelines they can never be foreclosed on while he is unemployed, just had the true green lawn people here to do a treatment for their lush and lovely lawn.

I just really can't take it. I don't want to start a range war here, but we work SO HARD for what little we have, and are grateful for what we have, yet they are sucking the system dry and are using the money to pay for things we could never afford.

I just can't take it anymore!!!!!!!

^^^ I would have to agree with you that it is quite frustrating to see people get ahead by cheating the system. However, ask yourself the following question: would you want to be in your neighbor's shoes? Would you want to not be married to your husband? Would you want to depend on the generosity of the welfare system? True they are getting more money than they report to Uncle Sam, since the 'husband' is working for wages 'under the table,' BUT... What are they teaching their kids? What do their children learn from these parents? It's okay to cheat the system. There is no moral compass or ethics involved in that type of parenting. I'd rather have an unkempt lawn than children who learn those lessons from me. Wouldn't you agree?

 

[heatherleigh]

You would be shocked as to how common this is. Im a teacher and we see this kinda of thing alot. Currently we have a mom who is trying everything under the sun to get her child classified as disabled to keep collecting ssi. Our school nurse is finally about had it and getting very concerned for the safety and welfare of the child and has reported her. We have a mom who has 6 kids(by different men, all of them) She gives the kids to her mom but claims the kids on her SSI and welfare. Its really a sad situation. But in our town its kinda a norm. Not everyone here is like this of course. I have actually had a parent tell me the more kids they have the more money they get and they do not plan on stopping. I have parents tells us they are entitled to it and its their right. These are generally the same parents who will not come to a parent conference and we have to make a home visit. I think some states do not see this as much as others. These are not people who have lost jobs either. They have not had jobs in years or ever. Our town has jobs not easy ones mind you, but good paying jobs. You will work a 50 to 60 hour week but that is over time at double pay with hourly jobs starting at 15-20$ an hour. Our walmart can't even keep people employed because they fail the drug test.

You are not kidding- we lived there for a few years, and moved recently out of state. Did you know that over half of the state of NM gets some sort of gov't assistance? That's an alarming number. Sad state of affairs.

For the OP, there are lots of things that annoy me and irritate me, but it would be futile to consume myself with that. I hate child predators, and the fact most of them are out roaming freely. However, if I thought about it and stewed over it all day, it wouldn't get me anywhere.

Like another poster said, be happy that you can maintain your dignity and pride for not abusing systems. I also do not care much for all the social programs out there, but I vote which is something w/in my control. We don't know the entirety of your neighbor's situation, and she very well could be adhering to the law. It's sad, but not something I see changing soon (or maybe ever).

 

[deerhart]

I'm sorry but since you seem to not know a lot about Social Security disability and how it is figured than the highlighted in red is a stupid response. I am 100% disabled via the Veterans Admin but social security has decided that because of my age I can work. Their "doctor" who was supposed to evaluate me even stated that he could tell them nothing on me compared to what the VA sent them. I did not bother fighting but very much regret my mistake by not fighting. Not everyone who is truely disabled can just walk in and out with disability benefits and many do have to fight. Until you walk in their choes than please do NOT make such ignorant comments.

After finishing your post, I see that your easy way of getting SSI is based off of your childhood disability and not off one that developed as an adult, etc.

No that person knows NOTHING about how SSA works. I wonder if she listed, usually if you list its really really easy to get it off the bat.

Oh please if you have to fight for it you shouldn't be getting it??!?! That is a line of bull.

First off, the DDS workers who are making these decisions don't even have to have college degrees. Next, it is WAY WAY to much work for them to get an initial approval on a case that isn't absolutely 100% clear cut through QA. Heck, I have seen cases that were 100% clear cut and they still screwed it up (yes returning a person back to their previous employment of driving trucks despite an RFC saying they couldn't be around any hazards...)

Third, I would say that at least 50% of the time, DDS makes a decision without having received a vast majority of the medical records because the person's doctor's were not able to respond in the short 10 day time frames SSA requires you to respond in.

Don't even get me started. I have seen DDS' deny a person who had been in a coma for 6 months because their condition wasn't likely to last 12 months.. REALLY?? um so this person is just going to miraculously come out of the coma in the next 6 months and be able to work the next day?

When it was sent back, this SAME DDS person then denied the person for failing to fill out and return activities of daily living forms... um what part of COMA do you not understand!

Also, she's not getting SSI either if she scrambled to show that she had quarters of coverage. She's getting DIB benefits. With SSI, they would have deemed the things her parents are giving her (room and board, transportation etc) to her income unless she is paying them back each month. Also, she would not be able to save the money because the rules for SSI do not allow you to have much in way of assets each month. In fact, you only have 6 months to pay down any backpay you receive or else you get kicked off SSI!

I am VERY VERY VERY grateful that I have spent the last almost 7 years of my life assisting people with getting Social Security disability benefits. It has not been the primary focus of my practice for the last 2 years, but I have netherless enjoyed it and am very good at it. The biggest thing is that many people do NOT understand the SSA rules and laws, ESPECIALLY the doctors who are trying to help the patient. Docs have NO IDEA how one poorly worded statement (such as patient improving) without qualification can really ruin a person's chances.

 

[RN01]

I agree with the OP 100%. This makes me so mad too and I can't believe people are telling you to mind your own business when it's all of us working people who are paying for it. I see this all the time working in WIC. The worst I've seen was once I did a home visit on someone who had a medical card (this automatically qualifies them for WIC). They lived in this beautiful brand new brick home on 10 acres. Inside the home was brand new furniture, and not cheep walmart kinds either. The kitchen table by itself looked about $5000 or more. Another client had just inherited a million dollars from her father who passed away and she was in to get WIC. There's just something not right about it all...

 

[Took]

I agree with the OP 100%. This makes me so mad too and I can't believe people are telling you to mind your own business when it's all of us working people who are paying for it. I see this all the time working in WIC. The worst I've seen was once I did a home visit on someone who had a medical card (this automatically qualifies them for WIC). They lived in this beautiful brand new brick home on 10 acres. Inside the home was brand new furniture, and not cheep walmart kinds either. The kitchen table by itself looked about $5000 or more. Another client had just inherited a million dollars from her father who passed away and she was in to get WIC. There's just something not right about it all...

Just want to point out that in many ways we will "pay" for cheaters in one way or another. Many of them (and I've had one, a second cousin, in my own family---grrrr) are very good at getting what they want by hook or by crook. If we didn't put them in the welfare system, they'd just find some other illegal way to get our money (and we probably wouldn't have enough cops to catch most of them).
People who "cheat" or who are constitutionally lazy have always been around and have always taken from the hard-working types.

I agree that reporting them IS the right course (what the neighbor is doing is illegal) but so is remembering why you play by the rules.

Oh yeah, and the cousin in my family who 'cheated the system'--eventually caught, cut off from support, and nearly ended in jail.

 

[akayek31]

I agree with the OP 100%. This makes me so mad too and I can't believe people are telling you to mind your own business when it's all of us working people who are paying for it. I see this all the time working in WIC. The worst I've seen was once I did a home visit on someone who had a medical card (this automatically qualifies them for WIC). They lived in this beautiful brand new brick home on 10 acres. Inside the home was brand new furniture, and not cheep walmart kinds either. The kitchen table by itself looked about $5000 or more. Another client had just inherited a million dollars from her father who passed away and she was in to get WIC. There's just something not right about it all...

Wow times have changed in the last 13 years since my kids were born. I never had someone do a home visit for WIC or food stamps. I do home visits all the time as a juvenile probation officer as does DFACS if they have an investigation concerning child abuse. And here I though WIC was for babies.

 

[Evi]

First, if you report it, can you prove it? second, this is a fishy story, unless she lives in government housing (the projects) there is no government regulations that will prevent her mortgage from tossing her out if she hasn't paid. There are government programs that will help you readjust your mortgage. How do you think all these banks are foreclosing on people now?

Lastly, I think you need to lose the jealousy. there are always theives, crooks and people who use the system. As long as humans are in control, greed will come into the picture. Stop trying to keep up with the "Joneses". you are your own moral compass. If you are grateful for what you have, and you think they are abusing the system simply call the welfare fraud department (number is in every yellow pages or goggle "welfare fraud").

Why are you complaining here if you're not going to do any thing more productive? Have you contacted you local officals? State officals? Welfare control board in your state? If he's getting unemployment issurance while working under the table that's fraud, have you contacted your state attorney generals office?
I love people who complain about "the government" but won't take the time out to do more. You say you are mad but don't want to start a range war, well evidently you're not too mad.

Sorry if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. YOU are the government. If you want things to change, get off your you know what, stop complaining on the dis and find out how to file a complaint.

I agree with above poster. You know maybe your neighbor is pulling your leg so to say to irk you. You just never know.

 

[sueh]

I know that none of you believe that unemployment pays that well, and I know there is a cap for what you can collect per week. BUT I have first hand experience of it here in MA. When I was laid off I was making
45K/year. I receieved $576.00 per WEEK in unemployment. My neighbor's husband was making double that amount of money, so He is probably getting something close to that amount

MA is the at the very top of the USA in what is paid out for unemployment benefits

I live in MA and my ex husband is unemployed and he takes home $703 a week from Unemployment.

 

[wdwobsessed]

I tend to think that part of the problem is that if you have to "fight" to get accepted for disability you probably shouldn't be getting it.

Yeah and my poor sister who has had mutiple strokes and is now wheelchair bound had to FIGHT for her Soc Sec Benes.

So sometimes yeah .. . you do have to FIGHT even if you deserve it ...

Probably due to the cheaters out there.

 

[ilovefh]

OP, I'm going to have to agree with you. It irritates me when I see people taking advantage of things like this. It is my hard earned tax money that pays for this!

I can understand being nervous about calling. I can say I was in a similar situation a few years ago and didn't call. It was the girlfriend of one of my high school friends. While he was the father to both children and they lived together, she did not report that he lived with her, and subsequently his income did not get reported. She flat out told me they planned their second child because she could make more money not working and being on welfare with two children than she could working and not being on welfare with one child. He was making very good money at the time working construction during the housing boom!

 

[txaggie94gigem]

welfare was created to help people get through tough times...just like this recession we are having now...it was never meant to have people live on it forever! as a nurse i see people all the time milking the systemand others using it properly. I get frustrated when i have someone tell me they cannot afford a car seat or diapers while they are talking nonstop on their iphone with their nails and hair perfectly done and then drive home in their lexus SUV...it happens ALOT!

i thinkthe OP should turn her in...that is the only way we can get the madness to stop! why should my tax dollars support someone who does not want to work? my hubby and i have to work 2 jobs to pay for what we have and do....why should others get the same things we work hard for by sitting around at home...too may people are on welfare that could be out working...and in my honest opinion I am all in favor of the idea that if you fail a drug test your welfare benefits are cut off!

 

[txaggie94gigem]

Yeah and my poor sister who has had mutiple strokes and is now wheelchair bound had to FIGHT for her Soc Sec Benes.

So sometimes yeah .. . you do have to FIGHT even if you deserve it ...

Probably due to the cheaters out there.

i definitely thik it is for the cheaters out there...so many people out there lie about their disability that the true people that need this cannot get it...at least not without applying again...

again, i know a family that has gotten their children that only have asthma declared as disabled...she did this by taking them several times every week to the er and hospital...even the hospital staff said they did no need to be there...her husband recently quit his job becuase they told us they would make more money with 2 disabled kids and neither one working than they would with him working... this is what is wrong in this country....there is nothing wrong with them...at least one should have to work!

 

[EMom]

She has received health benefits for 9 years as a single parent w/no income while living with the man she refers to as her husband who she is not married to so that she did not have to pay for a family plan through his insurance and could have free healthcare

This truly chaps me. Why should the state (meaning, the taxpayers) pay for her kids' health insurance when their FATHER had a job with health insurance and HE should have been paying for it until he was laid off? Essentially, the good-for-nothing mother is saying, "We don't want to spend their father's income on health insurance, but we'll gladly spend YOURS." So taxpayers fork over money for her kids to be insured so that she and her fake husband can spend "their" money on goodies.

No thanks! I want to spend my own money on goodies and not on insuring your freaking kids. YOU DO IT!

 

[enchantingodin]

This has me seriously considering getting a divorce. If this is what the system allows - then why shouldn't we (meaning my family) take advantage of it?

Seriously though - there will always be people who try to buck the system. Be it getting welfare or **gasp** pool hoping at Disney World. Because it's the system that's broken. I don't think it's our job to tell others how to live their lives. BUT I DO think it's our job to change the status quo. Basically I'm saying if the system was better then there would be less fraud out there. So report her. And vote to change welfare laws - that's about all you can do...

 

[daddyof2]

I live in PA and our max foe collecting is like 550.00 perweek in 2009 when I was out of work I worked part time and collected a partial from unemployment
wasnt able to get heat assistance,food stamps (my collecting amount was 14.00 over) or help w/ other bills even though I was making half of what I was when I was working full time
its people like Op neighbor that made it harder on me that I couldnt get the help I needed even though this was my first time unemployed in my life

I also know of people who arnt even looking bec of all the extensions but it will bite them in the end you can only do what you can do

as far as reporting them I do my best to teach my kids the right thing and cheating isnt right so I would have no trouble calling in a tip

 

[Shreggor]

I think that there are definitely some families who need the assistance, the modification, the welfare, the medicaid. I was never one to vote to restrict those programs.

That being said, I have a friend who at the same time as applying for a modification and receiving a modification and receiving permanent disability (although she has a personal trainer and does everything), went shopping with me where I talked her out of purchasing not one but two Coach purses. Lost the war though, because then she went and bought a Gucci one.

The next week, I received a 10th anniversary gift from DH of a good sized piece of jewelry. What happened two weeks later for Valentines Day - she wanted and purchased a similar one. Now she wants to go look for a TAG. I don't get it. How do you qualify for these programs yet be able to purchase this high end stuff. I should mention she received a bkrptcy discharge two years ago.

I am very put off by this.

I think people need to just mind their own business until and unless you can prove that something criminal is going on.

If you're so put off by it, stop being her friend. And if it were my friend, I wouldn't take a friend who I knew was broke shopping at Coach. JMO.

How is she affording it while qualifying for programs? Because she is probably charging the big ticket items because she never learned her lesson after the bankrupcy. It happens a lot and it's very scary and sad. People will get so used to being on credit and then it gets out of control and they don't realize they are paying more for the items than they are worth. They wind up with a bankrupcy. Then the cycle begins again and they wind up stuck, because it's a lot harder to do a bankrupcy, or even a consolidation loan, the second time around.

If she is paying cash for them, which I doubt, than she is probably charging some other basic stuff that you don't see instead of paying cash. I'm sure she realizes her life is a mess, otherwise she wouldn't feel the need to compensate by buying ridiculous, overpriced crap to keep up with the Joneses.

How does she have a personal trainer? That trainer could be helping her with some sort of injury recovery, helping her with excercises to make the injury more bearable for her.

The OP neighbor's story sounds fishy. The government can not prevent a mortgage lender from foreclosing. They can help to get your rate readjusted. Some mortgage companies will offer hardship modifications but you have to prove hardship and it's very difficult. They don't just give hardship modifications to anyone on a private mortgage.

Someone very close to me recently tried to prove hardship. He owns a house with 2 people (grown adults he is related to). Those other 2 people are now unemployed and the mortgage is literally exactly the same as my friend's monthly income. They have no equity in the house. No one wants to rent it. IMO, they had no business buying the house and never should have been approved in the first place but that's neither here nor there.

Anyway, they gathered up all their info and sent it in. Bank of America denied them saying they could not prove hardship because one of the owners still had enough income to cover the payment as it stood. Um… sure. He can pay the mortgage but then he'll starve, stop paying utilities, stop paying insurance, stop paying his car etc. They will likely be foreclosed in the next year.

This illustrates the point that it is almost impossible to prove hardship and get a modification through a private lender.

 

[keishashadow]

fyi - modification program is meant to bailout homeowners not real estate investors.

Part of the whole mess is speculators presented themselves as homeowners vs investors to avoid paying the higher investment mortgage rates typically charged. Most were looking for the looser qualifications required/lower rates & then tried to flip homes when they saw their equity vanish.

Apparently, the banks are checking eligibility credentials for modifications to the point of asking for utility bills to verify the person applying is living in the home...as a Realtor i say it's about time.

 

[leahjade]

I'm afraid to respond to this thread because I get flagged for being political however to me it is a political thread. I just heard on the news today that 1 out of 8 people in the US in on food stamps. Until the other 7 out of 8 we Americans gets tired off paying for others who don't want to work, nothing will change.