While going from working full time to joining the ranks of the permanently disabled was probably one of the hardest years of my life since there's so many different physical and emotional changes taking place all at once, I can say that when it comes down to getting the ball rolling as far as SSD, I think it call comes down to proper documentation from your doctors. From the day I first applied for disability at the Social Security Office to the day I received my first check was a total of 90 days. No glitches, no hassles, no problems. The reason is simple - my doctors had all my paperwork in perfect order.

As long as your doctors have documented each and every step of your injury, damage and prognosis along the way, there's no reason for Social Security to deny you, meanwhile we must be understanding about why the government has become more cautious than ever. If there were not so many people applying for disability over every conceivable health problem under the stars along with all the fraud that accompanies it, then they wouldn't have to be so darn careful about who they award SSD too. The dishonest individuals have made it ten times harder for the honestly disabled to get disability - it's not Social Securities fault.

Meanwhile, even after you do get your SSD approved, you still will have to wait an additional 2 years before Medicare will kick in, and once it does you will have the part B premiums plus whatever supplement you choose as new additional health care costs to contend with. There are LIS (low income subsidies) available that can help cover part or all of these costs but once again it's another hoop you just have to jump through. During this two year hold you'll need to just stick with whatever health care coverage you've got now.

Look at this as the ultimate irony. The worse the damage and the more medical documentation and proof/history you've got, the easier the entire process is. Here's hoping you find this a whole lot less painful than the way other things turned out. Bob.