BUMMER DAY WITH THE SSA

[Guest guest]

What a day Ken and I had, we both came home feeling – well “down” to

say the least.

We went in and applied for the Disability – the woman there said she

has never had an application that didn’t need her help before. She took Ken’s notebook. I had divided it into sections to correspond

with the application, put all our doctor reports, blood tests, other tests,

procedure notes and progress reports into their proper place. We made a chart with all his blood

tests since 1999 on it and high-lighted all the abnormals. Put in letter from doctor, an outline (written

by me) of his medical history and a letter (also from me) of how all this has

affected Ken. It was a pretty big

notebook. So anyway, she says she’ll

put a “rush” on it. We should know

in 4- 5 months. Mean while she

explains that it will take the 2 years of receiving SSD checks before he can

get Medicare – we already knew that thanks to all you. So she says she’ll also fill out a form

for SSI and Medicaid. I think this

was only a request for an appointment or phone call. In the mean time we should go to his county and fill out a

request for food stamps. She tells

us if Ken is approved for Disability he will start receiving his checks in 6

months. At which time the SSI and

Medicaid will stop. I say - WHAT? –

Medicaid will stop? She says yes

because Ken will be making too much on Disability to get Medicaid. So I say – you mean Ken won’t have any

insurance for 2 years – she say yes. ((At this point I started to cry – which upset Ken)) so we

said thank you and left. We go to his

county office for Food Stamp form – big mistake as we were both treated lower

than pond scum. (Mind you I’m the

big mouth who always supports the government and it’s services.) Still do but

not all the people who work there! We left there with form – both thrilled to death that

we would have to go back for a sit-down appointment with them as soon as we

mail in the form. ((Guess it would have been too much trouble for them to let

us fill it out while we were there - considering no one else was in the

office.)) So Ken is upset about

not having any insurance for 2 years – I’m upset because I just don’t believe that’s

true – it can’t be. Spent several

hours on-line today trying to figure out this wonderful system. Still nowheresville - so guess we’ll

have to drive to the nearest office and sit down with them to figure all this

out.

Sorry for the length of this….

Barb In Texas – where at least it’s in the 70’s today.

[Guest guest]

Barb,

Don’t lose heart…the “4 to 5 weeks”

is the company line. I know from personal experience that it can be done in

much less time, and I know of at least one case in Texas where the turnaround time was 2

days. The clock on the waiting period (it’s actually 5 calendar months,

but because of the way SSD is paid, it effectively winds up being 6 months)

starts ticking as of the date he is determined to have been disabled, not the

date of application. In other words, if they determine that he was disabled as

of the third week in December (when he lost his job), the waiting period clock

started in January, and he would receive his first SSD benefit check in June –

the exact date depends on what week of the month he was born in.

SSI starts immediately upon determination that he is

disabled, and carries with it Medicaid entitlement for which he

pays nothing except a very small co-pay for prescriptions. If he receives SSI,

he can’t legally make any additional income. Once SSD checks start, SSI

stops, and along with the related Medicaid. However, in Iowa (I’m pretty

sure it’s the same in Texas, but I’m waiting for a response from my

expert), he can be transferred from the SSI form of Medicaid to a program

called Medicaid for Employed Persons with Disability, which requires at least a

small amount of monthly earned income and a small monthly premium, on a sliding

scale. The transfer is transparent to any provider, and without any gap in

coverage. Under SSD, he can earn up to $800 a month without affecting his

disability status.

Steve

Rahn

L Tx 9/6 & 9/8 '85. (Wash. U-STL)

Waiting for Re- Tx (U of Iowa)

" Hostilis nos contactavisse; hostilis nos

est "

-----Original

Message-----

From: TJ & Barb Henshaw

Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 11:19 AM

To: 2 PSC GROUP

Subject: BUMMER DAY

WITH THE SSA

What a day Ken and I had, we both

came home feeling – well “down” to say the least.

We went in and applied for the

Disability – the woman there said she has never had an application that

didn’t need her help before.

She took Ken’s notebook.

I had divided it into sections to correspond with the application, put

all our doctor reports, blood tests, other tests, procedure notes and progress

reports into their proper place. We

made a chart with all his blood tests since 1999 on it and high-lighted all the

abnormals. Put in letter from

doctor, an outline (written by me) of his medical history and a letter (also

from me) of how all this has affected Ken.

It was a pretty big notebook.

So anyway, she says she’ll put a “rush” on it. We should know in 4- 5 months. Mean while she explains that it will

take the 2 years of receiving SSD checks before he can get Medicare – we

already knew that thanks to all you.

So she says she’ll also fill out a form for SSI and Medicaid. I think this was only a request for an

appointment or phone call. In the

mean time we should go to his county and fill out a request for food stamps. She tells us if Ken is approved for

Disability he will start receiving his checks in 6 months. At which time the SSI and Medicaid will

stop. I say - WHAT? –

Medicaid will stop? She says yes

because Ken will be making too much on Disability to get Medicaid. So I say – you mean Ken

won’t have any insurance for 2 years – she say yes. ((At this point I started to cry –

which upset Ken)) so we said thank you and left. We go to his county office for Food

Stamp form – big mistake as we were both treated lower than pond

scum. (Mind you I’m the big

mouth who always supports the government and it’s services.) Still do but

not all the people who work there!

We left there with form – both thrilled to death that we would

have to go back for a sit-down appointment with them as soon as we mail in the

form. ((Guess it would have been too much trouble for them to let us fill it

out while we were there - considering no one else was in the office.)) So Ken is upset about not having any

insurance for 2 years – I’m upset because I just don’t

believe that’s true – it can’t be. Spent several hours on-line today trying

to figure out this wonderful system.

Still nowheresville - so guess we’ll have to drive to the nearest

office and sit down with them to figure all this out.

Sorry for the length of

this….

Barb In Texas

– where at least it’s in the 70’s today.

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