Another newspaper article.
 

This ran in Sunday's paper. I'm not sure if this is the best place to post it. I know that I went through hell to get SSDI. Denial after denial. Finally had to get an attorney to "win" what I earned after paying into the system since I was 17 years old. The article points out how truly broken the system is. In the best country on earth.

http://www.oregonlive.com/special/in...yments_ca.html

Thanks Steve.

When we had the prep session for the Public Policy Conference back in May, this was the kind of stuff that we were being told to pass on to the legislators. It's sad...and then once you get approved for SSDI, there's another 24 month wait for Medicare to kick in, if you are under 62.

Actually is 29 months, because you have to wait 5 months for that first check before you can apply for Medicare.

Yes Cheryl, thanks for your thanks. As I'm sure you already know, this is a continuing report in The Oregonian, part 2 ran today. So I won't post a link to the continuing story.

I will say that the state DDS bureau was a joke, at best. I believe that their sole purpose in life is to deny everyone to try and save the SSA some $. Those clowns even used medical records from a totally unrelated doctor visit as a basis for denial.

My attorney said that the biggest guns in our arsenal were the statements, opinions and prognosis provided by my neuro. So I would encourage everyone to make sure your docs are on board with you.

the sad part is that we already knew the system was broken, eh?

Does the NMSS help people with completing their application forms there? They spent most of 2 days with me when I applied for Canada Pension Plan, and I was approved within a few months.

It doesn't sound like our wait times are nearly as long, and decisions as harsh . . . but I really don't believe that I would have been approved so easily if the MSS hadn't helped me out. These government agencies are looking for very specific information/proof, and I would never have thought to bring up many of the points (even though they are obvious, in retrospect), if the MSS hadn't raised them as questions.

Cherie

No...I do not believe that they do.

We are working on that. In fact, during our training session last week, that was one of the areas that we discussed. Helping People with MS complete the forms for SSDI, financial assistance, etc. We have the funds to hire an assistant in the office to help with that service.

We are also looking for outside contract case managers to help with those services. They are available through other agencies and we are looking for a list of those agencies to help our office.

So, to answer your question Cherie, yes, but it depends on the assets of the local office.