Social Security Disability - enrollment procedure?

[DeniseM]

Has anyone ever enrolled a dependent for Social Security Disability? This is for my 23 year old son who has autism.

I'm just wondering what the process is - I don't imagine it's easy...

 

[carl2591]

the ladys that lives in my rental house is having a ongoing battle with SSD..she has MS and not able to work.

you might get in touch with a SSD attorney and make sure you know all the ropes.

good luck :whoopie:

 

[stevelb]

An application must be filed with Social Security. You may be able to do this online, see http://www.ssa.gov/applyfordisability/

However, I doubt that it can be done online in this particular situation. Hence a trip to a local Social Security office will be needed in order to file the application.

 

[JudyH]

I have a cousin who works at SS in the disability enrollment department. She has told me several times that if I had any clients (I am a social worker) who needed to enroll, to have them start with a disability lawyer from the beginning, because they routinely turn down the initial applications for a variety of reasons/excuses. She said that the attornies know how to word the applications and have a higher chance of approval.

I have a young man now that I am working with and his guardian has been going thru the process since Nov 10, and he is still not enrolled. He didn't take my adviced about the lawyer.

 

[Pat H]

My 20 yr old nephew also has Aspergers. My sister made an appointment with the local SS office and did the paperwork there.

 

[Numismatist]

I have worked in a Primary Care office and can attest it is no easy process and can take years to complete.

Get a good doctor, a good lawyer, be prepared to document and track absolutely every interaction with anyone in the process and don't give up.

Seek people (like this forum is for timeshares, there are some for disability) who have been through it for guidance.

The system seems setup to discourage, delay, and disappoint; therefore, only those who persist get through.

It's like that.

 

[MRSFUSSY]

there is a

company that does all this for you but they take a chunk of the 1st check. Maybe someone can chirp in on this..


Knowledgeable chirpers take over please!

 

[vacationhopeful]

It seems that the lawyers get this up to 2 or 3 appeals before winning. When you win, the retroactive benefits are paid to the original filing date. Years of back payment. I believe most of the legal firms get 30% + some costs of the gross.

So, 48 months at $1200 times 30% equals $17,200 of the $57,600 --- for an example.

 

[glypnirsgirl]

It seems that the lawyers get this up to 2 or 3 appeals before winning. When you win, the retroactive benefits are paid to the original filing date. Years of back payment. I believe most of the legal firms get 30% + some costs of the gross.

So, 48 months at $1200 times 30% equals $17,200 of the $57,600 --- for an example.

Denise - this is accurate for here in Fort Worth. I do not know about California. Here, disability attorneys will not start representing anyone until they have been turned down twice. Which has always seemed stupid to me, but those people that have well-documented cases don't have to worry about the lawyers taking a big chunk.

I certainly think that you should call a lawyer that specializes in SSD before starting.

I think that it is a good thing that you are applying for him now. I wish that I had started Jordan on this path some time ago.

Best wishes for a positive outcome.

elaine

 

[timeos2]

I had to unfortunately apply due to my cancer & treatment complications. I did it on the web, had one request to appear at the local office, which turned out to be less than 1/2 mile from my house - who knew? - and absolutely ZERO feedback as to when/if I'd know the outcome. Then one day a very large number suddenly appeared in my bank account - within a few days it was labeled as SS payment. Then I got official notice in the mail that I had a number of months of back payment (the large lump) as well as scheduled future payments. Total time from application to payment about 8 months.

Easy except for the total lack of feedback. I had no idea if I'd done things right or not. WARNING: I was forced into Medicare due to the acceptance of SS. It greatly degraded my formerly outstanding medical coverage with a plan that costs a fortune! It almost eats up what I gained by getting SS - its THAT bad! And there are no options. I had to take that coverage even though it was far less coverage than my ex-employer was obligated to pay. They must be happy but I'm not. Typical of a government run program vs private industry. But the process of obtaining SS was not hard to accomplish.

 

[Conan]

WARNING: I was forced into Medicare due to the acceptance of SS. It greatly degraded my formerly outstanding medical coverage with a plan that costs a fortune! It almost eats up what I gained by getting SS - its THAT bad! And there are no options. I had to take that coverage even though it was far less coverage than my ex-employer was obligated to pay. They must be happy but I'm not. Typical of a government run program vs private industry. But the process of obtaining SS was not hard to accomplish.

Isn't there a way to keep your employer insurance as primary and Medicare as secondary? That's how it works for people who keep working beyond age 65. They sign up for Medicare Part A only, and secondary to their private plan. When they later quit work they add Part B without penalty.

Maybe it's different with SS Disability?

 

[timeos2]

Isn't there a way to keep your employer insurance as primary and Medicare as secondary? That's how it works for people who keep working beyond age 65. They sign up for Medicare Part A only, and secondary to their private plan. When they later quit work they add Part B without penalty.

Maybe it's different with SS Disability?

Believe me I tried every way to Sunday to get that - absolutely no! Once you are on SS you MUST go to Medicare and any type of plan they had offered, which covered literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of treatment, surgery & virtually all prescriptions at my cost of less than $300 over 3 years reverts to secondary to Medicare which for prescriptions alone has cost me over $2500 in less than two full months since the switch. Heaven help me I need any more surgery, etc - it will probably take any savings and more! It is terrible & they warned me if I try to get third party coverage of any type then even what they cover now as secondary will be terminated! It is a no option set up - you take what they offer or be on your own. It has to have cut their costs by thousands but they claim they don't even know - it's just the way the program works.

It really is a nightmare that to get the benefits you worked all your life for you must give up other benefits that were supposed to be for life. All too typical of the way government "helps" when involved with things they have no clue about and shouldn't be involved with. Take your SS contributions, kill your other benefits - whats the problem? It just isn't right but there is no option. None. And no one to appeal to as that is the law.

 

[geoand]

Has anyone ever enrolled a dependent for Social Security Disability? This is for my 23 year old son who has autism.

I'm just wondering what the process is - I don't imagine it's easy...

Social Security Admin handles SS disability and Supplemental Security Income disability. Both application processes are similar. The benefits are completely different as well as the eligibility rules. One difference between SS D and SSI D is that is that for SS D one has to have worked long enough and paid SS taxes into the system or be a dependent child disabled prior to age 22. In the case of dependent child, the benefits would be based on the Wage Earner's record (Mother or Father who paid into the system and is either retired or disabled and receiving benefits or deceased). SSI D has no work requirement and amount of benefit is effected by the income and living arrangements.

All of this info is from my memory. Don't know how much has changed over the past 12 years.

Check out SSA.gov

 

[timeos2]

Believe me I tried every way to Sunday to get that - absolutely no! Once you are on SS you MUST go to Medicare and any type of plan they had offered, which covered literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of treatment, surgery & virtually all prescriptions at my cost of less than $300 over 3 years reverts to secondary to Medicare which for prescriptions alone has cost me over $2500 in less than two full months since the switch. Heaven help me I need any more surgery, etc - it will probably take any savings and more! It is terrible & they warned me if I try to get third party coverage of any type then even what they cover now as secondary will be terminated! It is a no option set up - you take what they offer or be on your own. It has to have cut their costs by thousands but they claim they don't even know - it's just the way the program works.

It really is a nightmare that to get the benefits you worked all your life for you must give up other benefits that were supposed to be for life. All too typical of the way government "helps" when involved with things they have no clue about and shouldn't be involved with. Take your SS contributions, kill your other benefits - whats the problem? It just isn't right but there is no option. None. And no one to appeal to as that is the law.

Oh, I forgot to mention that for the "privilege" of a greatly reduced set of benefits I have to pay $105/month PLUS all the massive deductibles & co-pays I already listed. My previous cost? ZERO. Nothing. Yet I'm not allowed to keep that hard earned benefit even though it was a lifetime benefit I MUST take Medicare and it's greatly reduced coverage at high cost. How does that make any sense? My net on SS becomes less than $500/month and could go lower if my health costs change upward again. To say I'm disgusted is putting it mildly. My whole career I heard about how great our health coverage was both when we worked & retired. And it was far beyond what I thought it was when I had to use it. Now it's gone & I'm stuck with lousy Medicare I could have got if I worked a lifetime for minimum wage. How is that fair? And I thought SS couldn't get to be anymore of a ripoff than it already is - I was wrong on that. It can & has gotten much worse than I imagined.

But it was easy to sign up for the royal shaft it has turned out to be.

 

[Twinkstarr]

Denise,

There was an article in Wall St Journal a few weeks ago about the increase in SSD filings and how long it takes to get approved. Years was the time frame mentioned.

 

[Pat H]

I talked to my sister. They took my nephew to the closest SS office and did the app there. SS will request documentation of the disability. Took my nephew about 8 months to get his approval. OTOH, my sister applied for disability due to uncontrollable high blood pressure and fibromyalgia. She went thru Binder & Binder. She was denied the first time and appealed. She then had to go to a hearing and did get approval. Took over a year.

 

[MuranoJo]

WARNING: I was forced into Medicare due to the acceptance of SS.

This wouldn't apply to someone who takes SS at 62 (not due to disability), yet has retiree med bennies?

I thought you were only forced onto Mediare at age 65 regardless of when you take SS, but obviously I have a lot to learn.

 

[glypnirsgirl]

Oh, I forgot to mention that for the "privilege" of a greatly reduced set of benefits I have to pay $105/month PLUS all the massive deductibles & co-pays I already listed. My previous cost? ZERO. Nothing. Yet I'm not allowed to keep that hard earned benefit even though it was a lifetime benefit I MUST take Medicare and it's greatly reduced coverage at high cost. How does that make any sense? My net on SS becomes less than $500/month and could go lower if my health costs change upward again. To say I'm disgusted is putting it mildly. My whole career I heard about how great our health coverage was both when we worked & retired. And it was far beyond what I thought it was when I had to use it. Now it's gone & I'm stuck with lousy Medicare I could have got if I worked a lifetime for minimum wage. How is that fair? And I thought SS couldn't get to be anymore of a ripoff than it already is - I was wrong on that. It can & has gotten much worse than I imagined.

But it was easy to sign up for the royal shaft it has turned out to be.

John - Was the policy of forcing you into medicare required by SSA or by your former employer?

elaine

 

[timeos2]

John - Was the policy of forcing you into medicare required by SSA or by your former employer?

elaine

According to the folks I talked to at the old employer, SS & the insurer it is a Federal requirement. They demand that Medicare be the primary coverage. The rule about no third party "back up" or supplemental coverage comes from the insurer not SS. It is a nightmare.

 

[bilfbr245]

According to the folks I talked to at the old employer, SS & the insurer it is a Federal requirement. They demand that Medicare be the primary coverage. The rule about no third party "back up" or supplemental coverage comes from the insurer not SS. It is a nightmare.

www.insuranceproviders.com/can-you-claim-private-health-insurance-and-dss-benefits/

Information on the about site indicates that one can continue to be covered by private health insurance while on SSDI. I looked into it a bit because it seemed odd that the federal government would mandate medicare, which means they pay, versus private insurance, which means that someone else pays. For many disabled people, this could add up to major money. Why would the federal government insist on taking this on?

 

[Big Matt]

My best friend had a stroke at age 45. He had significant paralysis on his left side with very little mobility of his left arm/hand to this day. He also has ongoing short term memory loss. He had statements from his doctors, but was denied. Finally after hiring an attorney he got all of his money. The Social Security person actually told him that they deny most claims the first time because very few people actually dispute it and many are fraudulent claims. Nice way to weed things out.....

 

[timeos2]

www.insuranceproviders.com/can-you-claim-private-health-insurance-and-dss-benefits/

Information on the about site indicates that one can continue to be covered by private health insurance while on SSDI. I looked into it a bit because it seemed odd that the federal government would mandate medicare, which means they pay, versus private insurance, which means that someone else pays. For many disabled people, this could add up to major money. Why would the federal government insist on taking this on?

Why indeed! But that is the law. Medicare first - any other as secondary. As usual it makes zero sense to the client and to the Federal Budget but thats how screwed up the system is. I was surprised as well as common sense (is there such a thing anymore?) says that the Gov't would let private insurers pay all they are willing THEN kick in Medicare. But it's the exact reverse. As I said, a nightmare.

 

[Conan]

Why indeed! But that is the law. Medicare first - any other as secondary. As usual it makes zero sense to the client and to the Federal Budget but thats how screwed up the system is. I was surprised as well as common sense (is there such a thing anymore?) says that the Gov't would let private insurers pay all they are willing THEN kick in Medicare. But it's the exact reverse. As I said, a nightmare.

Here's the rule on the govt official website. It looks like there's a possibility your small employer might be able to accommodate you if they care to.
http://www.ssa.gov/disabilityresearch/wi/medicare.htm#coordination

 

[Wonka]

According to the folks I talked to at the old employer, SS & the insurer it is a Federal requirement. They demand that Medicare be the primary coverage. The rule about no third party "back up" or supplemental coverage comes from the insurer not SS. It is a nightmare.

Please help me better understand your post. Once your SS Disability application was approved, you were required to enroll in Medicare and discontinue participation in the "free" primary plan offered by your employer? Correct?

In addition, your post appears to suggest that once accepted for SS Disability, a recipient may not enroll in "any" supplemental medical or drug program (i.e, AARP). Is that correct? If not, why didn't you enroll in AARP or another secondary medical & drug plan once accepted for SS Disability?

 

[pgnewarkboy]

According to the folks I talked to at the old employer, SS & the insurer it is a Federal requirement. They demand that Medicare be the primary coverage. The rule about no third party "back up" or supplemental coverage comes from the insurer not SS. It is a nightmare.

Sorr that you have difficulty. I am surprised that your primary insurance would not be secondary to Medicare. Something is wrong with this picture.