My wife is 55 years old and has EOAD. She took a disability retirement 3 years ago from her position as an Elementary School teacher. She currently grosses $3,200/month - roughly $2,500/month after taxes. This is currently our only income. We currently reside in Massachusetts.
A social worker told my daughter that I (her husband of 34 years) could collect SSDI due to the fact that I cannot work because I am my wife's full time caregiver. Is this true?
Sorry if a similar question is posted elsewhere on the forum - I looked but couldn't find one.
cfernald, welcome to Joan's site. Sorry to learn about your wife's EOAD and know how difficult this must be for you and her.
I am assuming that your wife's disability pension is a government pension (state of ma) and she does not qualify for SSDI as well as her school pension due to the government offset provision. Is my assumption correct?
I don't have a definitive answer to your question but I have never heard of a caregiving spouse who is healthy qualifying for SSDI because they cannot work due to their caregiving responsibilities. SSDI is for people who meet the social security requirements (paid into SS for 40 quarters or more) and can no longer work due to a serious medical condition. Not being able to work because you care for your wife full-time is not considered a qualifying condition for receiving SSDI.
Perhaps your daughter can get more information from the social worker as to why she thinks you'd be eligible for SSDI. Could it be a State of Massachusetts program?
Check out www.ssa.gov/dibplan/dqualify5.htm for more information on who qualifies for ssdi and the conditions which make someone eligible.
Welcome to my website. Before I moved to Florida 7 years ago, I lived in Massachusetts for 35 years. I worked in a variety of positions in the schools, always on a teacher's contract. I currently receive a pension from the Massachusetts Teacher's Retirement. When a teacher's pension is involved, Massachusetts law related to Social Security differs from many other states. I would strongly suggest that the first thing you do is consult a Certified Elder Law attorney. He/she will be totally familiar with all the laws and how they work. First consultation visit is usually free.
If you contact Social Security, I would strongly suggest that you GO THERE IN PERSON. The reason for that is - unfortunately, when you talk to someone on the phone, you will often get different people each time, and different answers each time. When you go in person, you will meet with someone who will give you their name and number, and you will be able to talk to that person each time. He/she will follow your case from beginning to end.
There may be a variety of programs for which you are eligible, but a Certified Elder Law Attorney should be your first call.
I don't know how familiar you are with my website, so I would like to give you a little background and some tips.
I started this website in 2007 because I couldn't find anyone who would talk about how I felt - I thought I was the only one feeling the way I did about what Alzheimer's Disease was doing to my marriage. I needed a place that dealt with my unique issues as a spouse of an Alzheimer patient. This site is now a place of comfort for spouses/partners who are trying to cope with the Alzheimer's/dementia of their husband/wife/partner. The issues we face in dealing with a spouse/partner with this disease are so different from the issues faced by children and grandchildren caregivers. We discuss all of those issues here - loss of intimacy; social contact; conversation; anger; resentment; stress; and pain of living with the stranger that Alzheimer's Disease has put in place of our beloved spouse/partner.
The message boards are only part of this website. Please be sure to log onto the home page - www.thealzheimerspouse.com - and read all of the resources on the left side. I recommend starting with "Newly Diagnosed/New Member" and "Understanding the Dementia Experience".
There are 4 sections for EOAD (early onset AD- now called YOUNG onset)members - two of which focus on the young teens whose parents have EOAD There is a great section on informative videos, and another excellent resource - Early Onset Dementia - A Practical Guide. You can go to the top of this page, click on "search", and type in EOAD, making sure the "topic" circle is filled in. All of the EOAD discussions will come up - there are about a dozen of them.
Do not miss the "previous blog" section. It is there you will find a huge array of topics with which you can relate. There is a "search" feature on the home page that allows you to look up different topics that may have been explored in a previous blog. Log onto the home page daily for new blogs; news updates; important information.
Thanks to both LFL and joang for the thorough and timely feedback. As per your advice, I will request details from the social worker mentioned above and will also contact a Certified Elder Law Attorney.
Looking forward to delving further into this very practical and informative website!
In California there is something called "In Home Supportive Services" (IHSS)
This is a program where a family member could possibly be paid to care for a family member. It is not something that every caregiver could qualify for BUT it is also a program that is wracked with fraud. Those people who steal from a good program always know how to get through the system when legitimate people are denied.
The information on CA's system is below: http://www.cdss.ca.gov/agedblinddisabled/pg1296.htm
There are 2 programs in Massachusetts you might want to look into but neither one offers monetary compensation for a family caregiver. They do offer various services if you meet the eligibility requirements. You might want to check out the following:
Massachusetts Family Caregiver Support at www.mass.gov/elders/caregiver-support/
Massachusetts Home Care Program at www.massresources.org/home-care-program.html
You could also contact the local Area Office on Aging and see what resources they can share with you as well.
The only thing I know of is that you can get paid for taking care of your wife but I don't think it is SSDI per say. I live in New Mexico though and I am finding out that they don't have a very good set up here for caregivers. It takes 2 years just to get approved for the paid caregiver.