ssdi review
 

I was approved for SSDI benefit in 2011 for chronic depression. I am currently 59 years old and working for the last seven months under TWP .I have been visiting different Doctors on regular basis for different ailments since my approval date. However, I only saw my psychiatrist only twice last year. My question is does it matter what kind of Doctor I see while I remain disable or do I need continue to see my psychiatrist whose speciality is directly related to my disability for the purpose of potential CDR?

I'm no expert, but if you are considered disabled due to depression - I would think it would be necessary to stay under the care of your psychiatrist. If you are able to function ok without care, it might be taken to mean you are improving.

I thought being on TWP meant you won't have a CDR...

A Trial Work Period does not make you exempt from a CDR. Enrolling in the Ticket To Work Program would exempt you from a medical CDR, but not one that is already scheduled.

What is a Trial Work Period? How does that differ from just working?

As for seeing the same doctor? I have not seen a doctor in 10 years. I manage OK on my own. Got a great wife now. They help with my day-to-day life. Working? Impossible. Not even part time.

Not taking meds, nor seeing a doctor will not effect me, will it?

Go to www.socialsecurity.gov and search for work incentives, the Red Book or the trial work period. Plenty of information there. But if you are not working and don't intend to return to work, the trial work period does not apply to you.

Not taking meds nor seeing a doctor means that there are no medical treating sources that can confirm that there is even anything wrong with you and if SSA does a review, you run a really really good chance of being ceased.

If you manage OK on your own, how is it impossible for you to work and other than your own statements or your wife's statements, where is the proof? Your opinion will never, ever be sufficient for Social Security. Never. So if SSA asks for proof that you are still disabled, you will not be able to provide anything from a medical treating source and that is required. SSA would then send you for a one time snapshot appointment with a strange doctor to see if you have any diagnosable conditions and figure out in that one exam just how bad it is. Or isn't.

If you are married and living with your wife and are on SSI in addition to SSDI, her income needs to be reported to SSI. Or you may end up owing money back. You should go in person to your local office to sort this stuff out.

Not getting medical treatment is a really bad, really foolish idea for a person who says they are too medically disabled to hold a job. Bad choice. But yours to make. And you did ask for opinions.

It is impossible for me to work, because I am disabled. That should be obvious.

If I will get taken off my benefits immediately for not receiving treatment, how come that has never happened yet in over 10 years? That also has never come up during my reviews.

How do we find out what my wife's income is? How do we GET her income? Everyone tells us this, but never tells us how to get it.

I have been to the local office scores of times. Sorted nothing out.

What you think is obvious, what I think is obvious has zero to do with what SSA considers obvious, which is pretty much nothing is obvious and everything has to be proved. If you haven't seen a doctor in 10 years, you are self-diagnosing and that never works during a Continuing Disability Review. You have been lucky that a CDR was not done. That luck may not last forever.

I thought you said you had just started receiving benefits but perhaps I misunderstood because you talk about reviews in the last 10 years. Were you getting SSI only and then SSA discovered that you should have been getting SSDI? So it could be that SSA figured out that you were insured for SSDI and only recently took the SSDI application and only recently entitled you and then used then adopted the disability decision on the SSI claim and not have had to again prove disability. That is also called a legal term collateral estoppel (may have spelled that wrong).

I was referring to reporting the income that your wife already receives since it could affect your SSI benefits. It is also possible that she doesn't make enough from her jobs or whatever she uses to support herself.

If she wants to file a claim for spousal benefits on SSDI and you want to file for the ten children the two of you have and , she needs to make an appointment and bring everyone's birth certificates, proof of who has custody and the marriage certificate. If these are stepchildren to you, you have to prove that you supported them in the past. You may not be able to prove that. Also, not all SSDI cases result in a family maximum that is over the amount paid to you. Sometimes children and spouses get zero. In those stacks of letters you have received, perhaps there is a denial letter for spousal or children benefits.

SSDI is not a welfare program so there are no provisions for what you need or want to support your 12 person family. If there is not enough income from the parents, then the choice is other welfare benefits like TANF.

If you have been to the SSA office scores of times, the likelihood is that everything has been sorted out correctly but you don't like the results or don't understand them.

No. I got everything the same day. SSDI and SSI. No clue about all the other things you were talking about.

Where does my wife work? How do we get her money?

SSDI does not have spousal benefits. It is just the opposite. It is spousal deduction. Which makes no sense.

We have 3 kids. Not 10. And no number of children give you "spousal benefits".

Why should we receive a denial letter for something we never filed for? Or for something that does not exist?

If you are on either SSDI or SSI, you automatically are disqualified from from programs like TANF.

What is it I do not understand? Or do not like? I came here for help. It seems you are the one who needs assistance...

There are potential family benefits for SSI/SSDI recipients with children. http://www.ssa.gov/dibplan/dfamily.htm#fmax

And those that receive SSI often automatically qualify for many welfare programs (it varies by state) like SNAP.