This posting is to add to the knowledge base of experience in applying for Social Security Disabilty.
DW is currently 59, symptoms started at age 55 (She stopped working at age 56) and an MCI diagnosis came at age 57. She probably qualify's for an AD diagnosis now, but I am not persuing it.
In March of this year I applied on-line at SSA.gov. Since we are not desperate for the income I choose to not use any type of lawyer or try to speed up the process. About a 1 to 1.5 months after the application we got a mailed form asking for all the exact dates, numbers and doctor information (and releases for medical records) I did not specifically warn or prepare the doctors that a records request was comming.
We were never asked to go the SSA office, but there was one telephone interview with an SSA eligibilty worker.
A month ago (6 months after applying on line) we were sent to an independent contract medical assessment center. To insure maxminum symptoms for the evaluation (and not risk any compensation on her part) I stopped her Aricept a week before the evaluation. The symptoms were quite acute that day - she returned to baseline when meds were restarted right after the evaluation.
Today 8 months after our first on-line application we were notified that we were approved. :-)
So if you are not in a hurry, being approved for SSDI for MCI/AD can happen on-line, without an office visit and without a lawyer. Good luck when you apply.
We are still waiting. I applied for DH in July, he had the appointment with the independent medical assessment 9/11/09. I called last Thursday and found out they had just received the report from the doctor. Evidently he had had some family problems, had been canceling appointments SSDI set up so she assumed that is what took it so long. She said it had gone to their doctors for evaluation the day before. Now we wait.
Curious - how far did they date back her disability? My hb had AD diagnosis in 11/08, then aMCI in Jan 09 from a different neurologist, then changed to probably AD in July 09. His early SS starts this month so either way we will have income. The SSDI would be nice since it is $300 more a month.
m-mman-- You did exactly what I did for myself in 1984 and for my DH in 1988. Only variation was in 1984, I had to call and request the forms and then take them back to the SS Office to turn them in. Was sent and signed releases for them to get info from any/all Dr.s and go to the Medical evaluation appointment they wanted (they paid for). Approval in 3rd month after application and started as soon as 6 mo. of not able to work satisfied. DH's was even easier, because application was taken over phone. Forms and releases sent, completed, and returned. Again approval within 3 and started after the 6 mo. not working. After being in contact with 4 others going through the process, the biggest keys I've found to the ease of getting through the process are: Meet or exceed all deadlines; and Provide all possible information, names, addresses, etc. as completely as possible from the get-go.
Carosi- I work for a burerauracy and understand the importance of paperwork and deadlines and appointments so I never missed one (but did have to reschedule once) so I do think that helped.
Charlotte - I think the "disabilty" begins when the application was approved(?) I dont think there wil be any back dating. (but we were never denied either which I think is when back dating an award happens) This is pure disabilty since she is way too young for any early retirement. If your situation is like mine, your checks may begin in the next few months. . . . hope for the best !
I was able to get SSDI for my DH last year and from start to finish it took only three weeks. They even processed the paperwork for my two minor children without me even asking for it. I didn't know about it.
The was I found out was a a lump sum payment into our bank account. Only days later did we get a letter in the mail. They backdate the benefits to the last day he worked and that had been a year prior. I too wasn't in a big hurry since at the time I only wanted to get the medicair qualification clock started. Now in hindsight, I"m glad we have the benefits since we weren't able to get any long-term care policy for my DH.
I have heard horror stories about getting approved but with some preperation and careful documentation it can be done and done quickly.
I took advice from here and other people - I sent copies of his whole medical records since he first went to the doctor for memory loss. The advice was so if some doctor never responded, they have that portion of the record. I have heard 6 months can be a norm, so I was prepared to wait. If their doctor, who said he was our SS appointed advocate, had gotten his report in a more timely manner, we would probably have an answer. I put his disability date as Jan 2009 - the month of aMCI diagnosis. But, time will tell what they decide.
As a career gov't employee who worked for the Social Security Admin. for 32 years, I have to tell you, some of it is "the luck of the draw". Yes, everyone applying should dot all i's and cross all t's when sending in the information. My advice is to continually follow up at least every couple of weeks, to make sure nothing has gone astray. My husband was approved in about 2 mos., but that was only because by following up, I did find that a clerical mistake had been made and then I submitted the medical reports myself. Remember Murphy's Law and be diligent about following the claim's progress and that all reports submitted by the doctors or yourself actually make it into the claims file!
I found that the more documentation you submit the faster the whole process must go. Back in 1998 when I applied for SSDI for my husband we hand delivered the paperwork because it filled a small binder......he was approved in about 2 months and then got the benefit from the last day he had worked which was the previous year. So, yes, they deposited a huge check in our bank account...nice surprise.
My husband was approved in 2 months. He stopped working in July 2008 and I filed after he was off of work for 5 months in December 2008. He was approved first week of February and he received payments backdated to December (the earliest he could be approved as they require a 5 month wait period). I filed the application online and took in any medical records of his I had and signed all the releases. He was never sent to a Social Security doctor, but I was interviewed over the phone by a Disability Officer for about 30 minutes. He was approved a week later.
It might have gone through quick because he had a diagnosis of FTD which is on the compassionate allowance list.
My DH has FTD as well. He was dx in April 2008 with severe memory loss and with FTD in Oct 2008. I applied for SSDI in Nov2008 and with persistent follow-up I discovered the ss agent had not yet input his application/documentation until late Januray 2009 (It was the holidays, I was busy, blah, blah, blah). Once his data was input, he received a determination letter in March 2009 saying he qualified as of april 2008 but had the 5 month elimination period starting in March 2009. Unfortunately I have been disabled by my doctors as well. I applied in July 2009 with an initial disability date of October 2008; I was approved in October 2009. Fortunately we did not need an attorney and we were both approved withn 60 days of application or submission of application.
My DW is 63, symptoms started at age 55, stopped working at age 59 and was diagnosed in March, 2006.
I also applied on line, April 2007 and was approved two months later. Right before she was approved we received a phone call asking a few more questions. Her disability was dated back 18 months and they paid disability payments for 12 months of that time.
Deb makes a very good point that people need to realize. Since FTD is on the compassionate allowances list, that provides an expedited approval process. I think there was a push to include EOAD on the list as well, not sure of the status of that effort.
Have not received paperwork, but when checking our bank account online I found they had deposited money in there. So he was approved for SSDI. If there is a five month wait period, that would set the disability date in March when he was diagnosed with sleep apnea. History: first AD diagnosis came in Nov 08; Jan 09 aMCI; July 09 AD. Whatever, glad it is approved - one less thing to deal with.
Was turned down twice for my Wife.. She last worked Dec. of 1998 She wanted to retire from accounting firm because her job requirements were too difficult ( little did we know the ALZ. had already started ) About 2000-2001 started to notice memory issues,tried to get her to seek medical help but she would hear non of it..2003 I brought it to our Doctors attention and he gave her the short memory test and agreed she had a memory issue going on but she still was in denile (note. this was in 2003 ) She was turned down twice because the first medical recording of a diability(2003) was 5 years and 4 months after she left the work force and you must have medical records of your diability within 5 years.. Pisses me off cause in June of this year (about the time of her first denile) Obama granted partners (married or not,gay or not) of federal employees full insurance benifits to include long turm care for Alzheimers ...I reapplied because of that decision and was denide the 2nd time........SUCKS