MG & Disability
 

Are there many people who have been successful in being approved for disability due to MG?

I was approved, but it took 2 denials and my requesting an appointment with the disability court. I didn't actually have to go to court because once the judges assistant read my file, I was approved immediately. Fortunate for me because I had one month before my COBRA insurance ran out. Since I was approved for SS Disability, I was also approved for Medicare at the same time so didn't have any gap in insurance coverage. It usually takes quite a while to get approved, but it helps to have an attorney who works exclusively with SSDI to get you through the process. I was very fortunate that my company had a disability policy through work so I had disability payments while the SSDI process was ongoing. As part of the disability insurance, they provided a company to help me through the SSDI process. Of course, once I was approved and received my back disability payment, I had to reimburse the insurance company who had been paying me for the 2 years (approx.)

As I said earlier, it is a process, but it can be done.

I was approved immediately, on the first try.

How soon you are approved depends upon how obvious MG is and how badly you are doing. They also look at other factors, such as any other diseases or injuries you may have.

You need to be very thorough in the forms they send you to fill out. If a disease interferes with your ability to work 8 hours per day and on successive days, chances are you will be approved (if there is good documentation from doctors and on the forms).

Making sure you have a lot of medical documentation of how bad you are (neuro letter, proof of MG, breathing issues, etc.) will help. This IS a legal process, so you have to approach it that way. We need to "prove" we have MG and that it adversely effects us every day. I know, that sounds stupid. Of course MG does that. But don't forget that these are laymen who will be reviewing these forms and don't know anything about MG.

I went through two denials and then was approved in court during the hearing. They purposefully deny patients SSDI in the first two rounds. But, as 4eyes said, that doesn't happen with everyone.

I hope that if you apply, you will be thorough, get your doctors involved in documentation, and be approved quickly!

Annie