I had a neighbor who had filed for her Disability and it was denied and she kept re-applying over and over for 3 1/2 years. If her son had not taken her into his home and they rented the house out, she would have lost her house and all she had. A friend is a Legal Aide lawyer and gave me the phone # of the Disability Lawyer here. In 3 months she had her Disabililty and they has to pay her retroactively to the first time she filed it. She got about $28,000. Of course she had to pay the Lawyer but it was well worth it.
Get a Disability Lawyer and keep on it. I have seen so many cases where this seems to be their Standard Operating Procedure.
Keep at it. Don’t give up. That is exactly what they hope you will do.
Oh I forgot to add that they sent a spy out with a camera to take pictures of her pulling weeds out of her flower beds. They claimed if she was able to pull weeds she could still work. So do not ride your horse for the time you are applying because they do send people out to spy on you. “If you can ride a horse you are not disabled”. And they will the produce pictures in court.
We have filed for my husband, chronic heart failure. He was turned down the first time so we got a lawyer.
Yesterday at his doctor visit we were told his heart would stop pumping and he would have a pump or a transplant. Could be six month, could be five years. We took that information to the lawyer on the way home.
Thankfully I have a good job, with insurance. It is a long process.
[QUOTE=sadlmakr;6461060]
They claimed if she was able to pull weeds she could still work. So do not ride your horse for the time you are applying because they do send people out to spy on you. “If you can ride a horse you are not disabled”. And they will the produce pictures in court.[/QUOTE]
It would seem to me that if you can pull weeds and ride a horse, you probably are not so disabled that you cannot work.
But I don’t know the details.
I feel strongly that there should be disability benefits for those who need them and equally strongly that there is a ton of fraud.
I wish they did this more.
I know of a couple of people who are certainly not disabled who manged to get disability. Tried to report them but was not able to (you have to have information that there is no way to get unless you know details of the persons original claim).
Yes. I see SO MANY able-bodies people on disability. I think everyone should have an annual “physical”/ evaluation, where current ability/disability is determined, and anyone considered ‘able to work’ is given job placement.
And you can report ANYONE on the Social Security Administration web site www.socialsecurity.gov giving only the information you have.
Where do I find information as far as who qualifies as disabled? My brother (56 y.o) has COPD badly enough that he can’t walk more than 40-50 feet without stopping to rest. He had a welding business, but it has died since his customers seem to be afraid he’ll die working on their projects. He’s closing hs shop, and hopes to survive on doing small jobs in his garage. He has always been self-employed and has paid his income tax, but I’m not sure if he ever paid into S.S. or not. He owns his house and has some $ that my Mom left him. Would he be able to get benefits before he runs out of savings? He doesn’t have a regular doctor, but has been to the doc-in-a-box a couple times in the last year for meds for the COPD.
Krestrel - The main question is - what keeps your brother from doing a sedentary job? His age is to his advantage - what is his highest level of education attained?
Regarding taxes: Did he pay FICA?
The lack of regular treatment is going to be a hurdle. There are regulations about lack of medical treatment due to good reason - but that defines “good reason” can vary.
[QUOTE=nightsong;6462249]
Yes. I see SO MANY able-bodies people on disability. I think everyone should have an annual “physical”/ evaluation, where current ability/disability is determined, and anyone considered ‘able to work’ is given job placement.
And you can report ANYONE on the Social Security Administration web site www.socialsecurity.gov giving only the information you have.[/QUOTE]
What you’re talking about is called a Continuing Disability Review (CDR). They review a person’s medicals to determine if the impairments have changed to a degree that specific types of work would be possible. The amount of time between each review depends on the person’s impairments and what the Judge suggested.
If a person is found to retain sedentary/light/etc capabilities, he/she is removed from the Disability Program.
Given the current political environment, a fair amount of people involved with SSD anticipate that CDRs will increase in frequency and the degree of scrutiny.
I’ve been on SSDI for several years and know of many on SSI, most working “under the table,” and I’ve never HEARD of such a review, or ANY reviews. They just keep on getting those checks…
Kestrel, there are many other sources of “disability.” Does he have any kind of insurance? Belong to a union? Look around.
Now i get the difference, up here you are allowed to work and make a certain amount in addition to what you are given. The government has also set up programs to give disabled people more job oppurtunities.
[QUOTE=Kestrel;6462262]
Where do I find information as far as who qualifies as disabled? My brother (56 y.o) has COPD badly enough that he can’t walk more than 40-50 feet without stopping to rest. He had a welding business, but it has died since his customers seem to be afraid he’ll die working on their projects. He’s closing hs shop, and hopes to survive on doing small jobs in his garage. He has always been self-employed and has paid his income tax, but I’m not sure if he ever paid into S.S. or not. He owns his house and has some $ that my Mom left him. Would he be able to get benefits before he runs out of savings? He doesn’t have a regular doctor, but has been to the doc-in-a-box a couple times in the last year for meds for the COPD.[/QUOTE]
If he was filing a sch C he was paying into Social Security by paying self employment tax on the profit
