Since my old boards are so disorganized, and even I can't find anything, I can't find the post from the reader who told me about applying for SS Disability for Sid. Hopefully she will read this. I called yesterday and got an appointment in a couple of weeks. ACCORDNG TO THE WOMAN I SPOKE WITH, SID IS ELIGIBLE FOR DISABILITY EVEN THOUGH HE HAS BEEN COLLECTING SS SINCE HIS FORCED RETIREMENT IN 04, AND EVEN THOUGH HE WILL TURN 65 ON DEC.1. My sad experience has been that whenever you call ANY agency, State, Federal, or Private, you will get a different answer from every person you talk to, so we shall see what happens when we meet face to face. joang
Good luck to you on disiability. We applied at the beggining of August and are waiting to hear if we are approved. This could take 120 days. Unfortunatly I know of one women with AD that has been turned down twice and is still waiting for a court date 3 1/2 years later. She did have a longterm disibiality policy through a former employer.
We applied using a law firm which specialized in SS and disability law. It cost a big chunk out of the first payment (which was a large sum, because they backdated,) but the claim was approved surprisingly fast.
From what I've read the disability has to have been over a year or is expected to last over a year.
Try to get a letter from Sid's doctors stating that he is unable to work and there is no chance that he will ever be able to work again. I hope you get to see someone who has some sense.
Trish, the woman you spoke of may have been turned down because of the long term disability policy. As Emily said SS payment goes back to when you first applied not when they finally approve it.
I also live in Florida and my husband was diagnosed before his 62nd birthday, he went on SS when he turned 62. I didn't apply for disability for about a year after that and we were very lucky. He was awarded SS disability on the first application retro to age 62. Hope you are as lucky.
Oh, Betty, I sure hope that is the case with Sid. The neuropsychology report was pretty bad - because he did so poorly on the memory tests, the Dr. recommended that he not be allowed to handle his own medicines or finanaces. He actually functions better than he tests, but no way can he work. Our appt. is the end of Sept. joang
Joang, I am the person who first told you to apply for the disability. I am glad to hear that you have an appointment. I also have experienced the fact that you can get different answers from different people but I am thinking that since the full retirement age has increased then possiblity not allowing you to file withing 6 months of turning 65 may also have changed. I will certainly be waiting to hear and I hope the news will be good for you. They will go back one year from when you apply and if they find he was disabled then Sid will get back pay for that amount of time. Please keep us updated, we will be waiting to hear. Jane
I have a question after reading all the posts on this subject that maybe you can answer. My husband, Paul began drawing Social Security when he turned age 65. He is now age 70. He was diagnosed in May 2006 with AD. I am age 63 and started drawing early SS Jan. 1, 2007. Are you suggesting that since my husband is disabled that he can get disability SS instead of regular SS? How could this possibly effect my SS? When I applied for my SS they compared me drawing mine or drawing from his. Mine was higher. It was also adjusted because I have Ohio Public Employees Retirement. You seem to know a lot about the subject and I appreciate whatever you might advise.
Jayne, I'm sure your husband is receiving more by drawing his SS than he would drawing disability SS. I don't think you can draw disability after age 65. I started drawing at 62 on my own earnings and they told me if something happens to my husband that I should contact them again and they would recheck and see if I'd get more on his.
Jayne, Since your husband has already turned 65 he is no longer eligable to apply for the disability part. If he had been diagnoised and disabled within 6 months of turning 65 and it had not been 5 years since he had last worked, then yes, he could have drawn disability even though he had started drawing regular social security at age 62. The reason it could have affected your benefit would have been because if his benefit was higher than yours you could have drawn some from his. The disability benefit would have made his higher as they would have considered that he retired at 65 rather than early retirement. Paul did not start drawing until he was already 65 so it would have made no difference in his amount. I hope I explained this well enough to understand.
Thank you very much for your explanations regarding disability SS and how it personally effects my husbnd Paul and me. I appreciate your knowledge. It saved me a trip to the SS office and answered my question very clearly. Thanks again and thanks Joan for this message board....it is a Godsend!
I think what was most helpful for us is that Hugh's (my husband) physicians were all on board. They were the ones who encouraged us at the first appointments to get the ball rolling on the ss application. I was surprised that they required a final review by their own psychologist, but after he talked to Hugh, I assume he was convinced that Hugh couldn't work because he was approved the first time and they backdated it to 6 months before he even stopped working. We didn't use an attorney and did the entire application on-line except for the last appointment.
This topic can be very confusing (what government program isn't?), but I hope my experience can help others in our situation. We had an appointment with SS next week, but yesterday a woman from their office called to tell me she was double booked, couldn't see us, and wanted to do the application for disability over the phone. One hour and 15 minutes later, here is what I learned.
Sid started collecting SS at age 62 at the lower rate. If he had waited until he was 65.10 mon., he could have collected at the higher rate. He wasn't able to work at 62 due to his neuropathy and AD. Unfortunately, they don't consider not being able to stand on your feet due to neuropathy, a disability. They figure you can do something sitting down. Sid had AD, but hadn't been properly diagnosed, so he couldn't apply under that.
The woman told me that anyone is ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR DISABILITY BEFORE THEIR FULL RETIREMENT AGE (65.10 for Sid; other ages for other people - depends on how long you've worked). You can apply for disability EVEN IF YOU HAVE BEEN COLLECTING SS AT THE LOWER RATE.
In Sid's case, disability payments would be $400 a month MORE than what he is collecting now. And it is RETROACTIVE to the time of disability. What that means is, IF HE IS APPROVED, they would send him a check for $400 x the months he has been disabled (they are setting it at Jan. 06). Then his monthly payment would be what he is getting now PLUS $400.
This is all dependent upon being approved, of course. She took all of the doctor, tests, and medication information over the phone. All we have to do is sign releases for the doctors to send SS Sid's medical informaton.
She said that the main office in Orlando would review the application, and then send us 30 pages to fill out - mostly repetitious stuff, but we have to do it. It could take 6 months to get an answer.
Joang, I am glad to see you are on your way to getting approved. I had mentioned before that it possibly had changed as far as the applying before age 65 since the regular retirement age had also changed. It does not surprise me that Sid had a little longer than age 65 to be considered full retirement age. That is what has saved you. You almost waited too late. Thank goodness for this website you provided otherwise I would never have had the opportunity to tell you to apply. I know talking to others like this helps us in so many ways, not only financially but also emotionally. Jane
Thanks for all of your information - I never would have applied if you hadn't told me about the rules. It's still not assured that he'll be approved, but I am hoping. (One of our friends has a son in his 30's, who has had TWO heart transplants AND severe diabetes, and he was DECLINED - it took 3 years for him to finally be approved! He's lucky he's still alive to collect it.)
I don't know whether this will be relevant for those of you in the U.S. Here in Canada when we file our income tax, besides the basic personal and age exemption, the person with AD can claim a disability exemption. We did not know this and missed out on a couple of years after diagnosis. The doctor fills out a form and once the person is deemed eligible this exemption is automatic for subsequent years.
Joang, he will be approved. Sid's age will play a large role in this, quite different from a person 30 years old. The rules are different once you are Sid's age.
I applied for Social Security Disability for my husband Wayne on August 25, 2006 in the Placerville, CA office and got approved on February 24, 2007. It was an extremely easy process. The people at the social security offices in Placerville, CA were wonderful. I filled out the application on line and then someone called me to talk to me more about it. I had to do it all because my husband's language is very compromised. It takes 6 months because they are so back logged. Wayne did have to see the social security doctor because Kaiser did not provide them with enough records. I went back to Kaiser and obtained a copy of the neuropsych records and sent them to social security. Sometimes you have to follow up with social security to see if they received all of the records and if they haven't you can just get them and fax them. Yes, your loved ones are all eligible. In most AD cases you will have to be your loved ones payee. Social Security won't issue the money direct to the AD patient especially if they have moderate dementia. My husband started collecting at a little bit under age 60. If it wasn't for that extra money, I wouldn't have been able to take my 4 month leave of absence this summer. We travelled and had a lot of fun.
Everyone is giving such good advice that I would not have thought of. Thank you Polly, I will be sure to follow up with SS on a regular basis. The woman I spoke to gave me her name, number, and extension.
Today I went to see an attorney who deals only in SS. I told her that my wife with EOAD was denied. When my second son was born she became a stay at home mom to raise the boys while I worked. They denied her because she"did not work enough quarters to qualify for assistance". The attorney said that this was pretty much a cut and dry issue and not worth trying to appeal. Has anyone else heard of this or got any ideas? I was also told I don't qualify for medicade either until we use up our assets. I had my attorney redo our wills when she was diagnosed, did living will, POA, put assets in trust to protect them and my sons future needs. Now the caregiver I hired to help me so I can go to work is draining us. I was just hoping to get a little help to offset this expense,as I know her care will become even more intense as the AD progresses. I want to give her the best care I can, but I also have to think of the kids future needs too. This is just another way this dam AD has added to my stress level. At least my wife hasn't a clue about all this in her condition and I twill continue to do my best for her.
I was also told by an attorney (about 3 years ago) that I shouldn't bother trying for disability for Sid. As you can see by reading my comments above, she was wrong. I know that your case is very different, but you should make an appointment to see someone in your local social security office and talk directly to them.
I know you are giving her the best care possible. Would it be more economical to put her in daycare? I know that she is younger than most people that would go there.
Tony, In your situation I am afraid that the Attorney is correct. Your wife would have had to work enough quarters to qualify and not only that, she would have had to work some during the last 5 years before applying. It is a policy that is cut and dry as your Attorney so well put.
Hello again Joang, I am the one who told you to apply for the disability for Sid. I of course am wondering how it is going, have you heard anything yet.
I remember when we applied for my husband, his money was deposited to our bank account before we even got the offical notice from Social Security, so if you happen to receive a large deposit that might happen. Let me know when you hear and how it goes for you.
A large unexpected deposit? Wouldn't that be nice. No, haven't heard a thing. The woman I spoke to told me it would take months, but I am going to call her again just to remind her that we're still here.
Joang, it is getting near the time that you should hear something. If you get a denial in the mail, just turn around and appeal it right then. A lot of people get a denial the first time around. In our case, it went through without the denial and the money was in our bank account within 45 days of applying.
Keep us posted. I would not call the SS office yet. Give them time. You will get a notice in the mail within 90 days of applying. Just don't call, do all this by paper follow up. The notice will come from a different location than where you first applied.
I don't know much about medicaid. I looked into it alittle. In KY, I think I would be allowed to keep my house, 1 car, and around $4,000 in savings. I have no idea what access the state would have to my 401K. I want to say that I've read that they can't touch mine, but will take Robert's along with his pension.
Also, they can go back 5 years and grab any assets that you may move into other's names.
Is there any coverage at all through your health insurance for the in home care? I think ours will pay for a few hours a day for a limited number of days.
Leighanne, In most all states the amount a spouse at home is allowed to keep is one half the assets up to $104,000. In other words if you have $50,000 you as a spouse at home you are allowed to keep $25,000, if you have $300,000 you are only allowed to keep $104,000. That is the maximum. You are also allowed the home, it is wise to get it into your name only therefore after your husband is qualified for Medicaid you could sell it and his part would not go into his estate if he died and the Medicaid office could not place a lein on the home for his part. In addition to all the above, you are allowed the car. If for example you have $300,000, you keep $104,000 and then you are still allowed to put all but $2,000 of the remaining amount into an immediate annunity for yourself, therefore in reality you get to keep all but $2,000 of the $300,000 and of course if the amount you have is more than $3,000,000 you also do the same with it.
Leighanne, the Medicaid laws really do protect the spouse left at home. This is not the case when a child is applying for a parent. The rules are quite different. The above rules also are only applicable to when you are applying for long term care. So do not think that you will loose everything when and if the time comes to placing your husband, this is just not true.
Different States may apply the amount allowed differently but most all States do use the above rule Just do not forget the Annunity part, it will save the bulk of what you have in liquid assets.
Joang...I live in Orlando too! Actually, Lake Mary. I just feel DH will be on disability this year, but he has long-term disability insurance that we just started paying for. That will hurt us, won't it?
Medic 16 No the long term disability will not hurt you. What will happen is that once your husband is approved for the Social Security disability the long term insurance amount will decrease. The disability check will only be the difference in the Social Security and what you were drawing with long term before the Social Security became available. Example: Long Term check now is $1,000. Social Security will be $900.00, The long term will then be only $100.00 making the total amount he will be drawing from both checks $1,000. he will also qualify for Medicare Insurance 2 years after he was approved for Social Security Disability. Hope this makes sense.
It's been over 3 months, and we've heard nothing about Sid's disability claim. If I can ever clean up all the baskets filled with papers on my desk, I will look for the letter we received months ago. The SS lady told me Sid would get a Medicaid denial first, even though we DIDN'T APPLY FOR MEDICAID. She said it was standard procedure. That's the paper we got. Since then, nothing.
Joang, hang in there, won't be long now. Your first response might be a denial, just fill out the form they send and appeal, you can do the first denial yourself. You also may just get a check in the bank and a letter saying Sid qualifies. At any rate, do not throw away a denial if one does come, many times it takes two tries. You can do it yourself. Don't get in a hurry to obtain an attorney. Just keep the claim open.
ARRGGHHH! Dealing with SS is NOT FUN. It has been 4 months since we applied for disability, so I called today. The man I spoke to told me that "apparently" my phone application had been done correctly, and my medical release forms had been signed. Then I made the fatal mistake of asking what the status of the claim was. "Can't tell you that", he said. He had the file open and was looking at it, but needed Sid's permission to tell me. Well, Sid wasn't home. I tried to explain to the guy that Sid could not process a lot of information, especially if given over the phone, and he would forget it as soon as he was told. He said that didn't matter. All he needed Sid to do was answer a few questions to verify his identity and then the SS guy could give me the information. So now I have to start calling all over again when Sid is home, and the guy assured me I would probably get a different agent in a different state, and I'd have to give all the information and explanations again. Now I have a headache.
Oh, and just to make things interesting, the SS agent told me I should apply to be Sid's representative payee. Sid isn't advanced enough for me to need to do that yet, but considering how long it takes SS to do anything, I'm wondering if I should apply now.
Thanks for letting me vent. But I still have a headache.
I went thru becoming Representative Payee, it wasn't too bad. When they get Sid on the phone they will ask his SS#, his mother's maiden name and such. Good Luck Gene couldn't anwser any questions.
When I finally got to speak to someone later on in the afternoon, I TOLD her that Sid had AD, and he couldn't follow complicated phone instructions. She said that was no problem - she would ask him the questions slowly, one at a time. Then she says - You cannot help him with the answers at all (I guess to make sure of verifying his identity). How stupid is that? Luckily, I was standing in front of him, and I was on the other phone listening while she was asking him the questions. He knew all the answers, but he drew a blank on his mother's first name, so I mouthed it for him.
The end result was soooo frustrating. She said that she couldn't find where the claim had been sent to the main office in Orlando. She said it was still in our local office, and she would send an e-mail to have them get in touch with us. I don't believe for one minute that it's still in the local office, so if I don't hear from them by tomorrow, we are going down there on Monday, parking ourselves in a chair, and not leaving until we see someone. It can take 6 hours to see someone, but I don't care. I'll pack a lunch.
(I tried calling the local office - I have the name and extension number of the original woman who took the application over the phone, but their phone system doesn't let you into extensions. It just hangs up on you when they're too busy to talk to you.)
I have to play that dumb telephone game all the time. Usually I am on the other extension and say something like: "Jeff and I are both on the phone. With his permission I will answer some of the questions. You can ask him if he agrees with the response." Sounds like SS is more of a stickler. I know one does not theoretically need an attorney to negotiate this process. Certainly you should not need one. But after reading this thread I'm just as glad we hired one at the outset and got it done.
We were approved right away back in 1997, but I don't think there was such a back log at that time....the lady who took the application automatically made me the Representative Payee..not a big deal...you might as well do it right away and not have another hassle at a later date.
I have learned to play a game with utilities, etc....Whenever you need to make a call to them to cancel service or whatever they want to talk to my husband since everything was put under his name. Instead of having to send all kinds of paperwork to have them be able to talk to me, I just have my son call, pretend he is his dad and give his permission for them to talk to me. Works every time.....I hate to be deceitful, but after all the crap I have put up with I make my life as simple as possible!
I don't blame you Sandi--I would do that too! By the time Jeff can't give his own approval, I'm sure I'll be able to do that with my son who is almost 16. For now, I'm working on making sure there's very little left that requires Jeff's approval.
Here's the latest update on our SS disability claim mess. I hope this helps someone else who is going through this nightmare. When I originally applied for SS disability for Sid, I was told by the woman at SS that we would get an immediate denial, to ignore it, and to NOT CALL HER AGAIN. I was to let the wheels move at their own pace. So I did what I was told - I didn't call. I waited FOUR months of hearing NOTHING except the denial letter, before I decided I was going to look into this.
We actually did not have to wait long at all today - not a busy time of day or month I guess. We were well dressed, polite, and I was clear, concise, and had all of my documents in order. (I had repeatedly warned Sid not to lose his temper and cause a scene - he stayed calm, although it was an effort.) The woman who saw us was extremely nice, patient, and polite. Since I had the name of the woman who took the original claim, this new woman left us to go talk to the original one. I have no idea how I managed to stay calm when she came back with the news. She told us that nothing was done on the claim because they were waiting for us to sign and send back the documents that authorize them to get the medical records. I calmly (blood pressure rising!) explained that we did EXACTLY as we were told - Sid signed all of the documents; I put them in the envelope they provided; and we put them in the box in the SS office that they told us to put them in - 3 DAYS AFTER WE APPLIED- 4 months ago. I didn't even raise my voice (blood pressure rising!) I even kept calm when I asked her WHY, if they didn't get the documents, didn't they NOTIFY US of that fact????? She said that the original woman just figured we ran into some problems, and she was keeping the claim open for us. ?????????????????????? I didn't say it, but my brain was exploding with the thought - HOW ABOUT A PHONE CALL TO ASK ME????
Sooooo, today's woman had Sid resign all of the papers, and she said she would send it right up to Orlando for processing. I thanked her; she apologized for their "error", and home we went, shaking our heads in disbelief. I can only hope she will try to talk to someone in Orlando and expedite the process, because we behaved so civilly, as opposed to running amok trying to find woman #1 and screaming obscenities at her - which crossed my mind, believe me.
One more thing that may apply to some of you - instead of applying to be Sid's representative payee, so they would give me information, she had us both sign some other paper that authorizes them to give me information about his claim without having to go through him first. It's called an Appointment of Representative.
Looks like we're not the only ones dealing with SSD moving like molasses. We are in NY State and David applied last March and we got notification that they started processing his paperwork in November! He met with the SSD doctors in December and again we are waiting....
One thing that I did when going through this process was make a copy of every completed form and noting on them when I sent them in. That way, I would have proof. I tried to fax them in whenever possible or overnight them so that I would have a way to trace that they actually received them.
I hope things go smoother for you from now on.....
We were very fortunate that my husband was approved for SS disability right away. He was only 55 when approved, but since it had taken several years to get a diagnosis, by that time it was pretty obvious that he was disabled. I am representative payee for him. That means that every year I have to send a report telling how I spent the disability checks. (Another thing for us to do in all the spare time we have as caregivers.) I've done it for four years now, and two times the reports were "lost". Sound familiar? Anyway, now I just make two originals, so it's easy to refile when they say they didn't get the first report.
Has anybody had trouble with banks? My husband had an account in his own name, and even with my husband at the bank with me, and a signed power of attorney, the bank didn't want to give me any information. We sat right there in the bank officer's office while he called their legal department--who then told him exactly what I had been telling him! Now I can get any information I want, with or without my husband. I guess they were afraid I'd come back to the bank!
Despite objections from others who feel that my husband is capable of working we got approved for SSDI on Jan. 2nd. I found this out last week. Payments are to start Feb. or March and they will give us back payments in a lump sum shortly afterwards.
I am listed as “payee representative”. I have read about having to justify how the money is spent. Would I list expenses for 2007 for the back pay - or do I have to count it towards this year’s expenditure? Do they ask for receipts? Do I need to keep good records?
I probably will be sorry I asked this question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. How long was it between application and approval? If approved, our lump sum will be for close to 2 years worth.
We applied last August and was approved 5 months later. I submitted documentation from 3 doctors - one wrote a letter stating my husband could no longer work due to AD. I got a call last October from a case worker when she needed additional information. She was great to deal with.
Joang, don't give up, I know it seems that it has been a long time but really it has not as far a Social Security goes. Some people have had to wait as much as two years. Just be sure that in the event you get a denial so immediately fill out the paper work to appeal, you can do this yourself.
Sid will be approved, just keep it open. I really think he will be approved on the first try but he will be approved. Be sure to send in all paper work by certified mail, return receipt requested. You should be hearing very soon now.