Hi Jim,

I posted on this thread before and truly feel so bad that you and your wife are going through all this BS....I don't want to repeat but I was just approved withing the last 3 months, it took almost three years and did not have to go in front of a judge either. I had a attorney just as you do. When a problem or situation came up his office took care of it since he is the one who will get his payment direct from SS. The only thing I had to do was read the papers agree and sign. I don't understand why you have to do all this work. Outside of providing him with the proper papers he needs he should be fighting for your wife.....If don't mnd me asking what state do you live in? In our state, short term disability is through the state in almost 90% of the cases only some companies have private short term disability. The disability is taken right out of your paycheck from the day you begin to work....

In my experience with attorney's some are very, very good and some I wonder how they even passed the bar exam....Maybe leaning on your attorney might just get some speeder results....

Truly I wish you guys the best!!!

Gabbycakes

Gabbycakes, Her short term was paid by the employer at full wage by her company. The lawyer Suzy has is supposed to be one of the best in Northern VA. The issue maybe two fold with me doing some of the leg work. I am my wife's advocate and do many stressful things for her and the other is we are dealing with a private company not a government agency. Having the exployee and or spouse gather personal data from the private sector may be easier and quicker. I do like this lawyer except I did get taken aback when she seemed to agree with SS that this so called "short term disability pay" seemed high.

Hi Jim,

It must be a bear of a task to try and get through the red tape of an employer who employees 350,000 people. When I was able to work full time I was a business/software consultant and had a to deal with many difficult problems for clients with insurance companies, goverments agencies etc. That was some time ago. I know things are so different today. I do work PT. I have one very small business I consult for and even though it is small the problems are the same. What I try and do when I have to deal with something that I know is going to be insane, thats the only word I could thnk of, I attack it like they are going to attack me...It sounds like you have covered all your bases I wish I had some advise. The only thing I can think of is when I was going through the same process my case manager at the SS Office was really a great help. Again, I did not have a lot of issues it just took almost 3 years. I also live in a very small rural area so when you walk into the office, most days, there's only 5 people sitting there.

It is very kind of you to help you wife in this way. I have friends who suffer with other type of issues and the husbands are just mean... I am also lucky my husband has supported me from the beginning. I am not going to say it's wasn't stressfull at times but we made it.

Again, good luck and keep us all posted.

Got great news today. Our lawyer talked to the judge and the judge, after reviewing my wife's old files from her employer, realizes that her pay was short term disability pay, not onsite pay! So, apparently the hearing date will be rescheduled.

Woo Hoo !

That's great news JK !

Jim, congrats What great news, I know you Two have been fighting for too long, it's about time they finally listened to you, it shows that we just have to keep fighting until we at least get somewhere, I think that some Dr.s think they are god and their word is etched in stone, they are so wrong! I'm really happy for you, you got it across to them. Good luck on your next challenge.
Your friend Wendy

Jim -

That's great news, with a reset hearing you guys should be feeling the wind at your backs. Congrats!

Mike

Jim and Suzie~

This is such good news...you both deserve a break....congratulations!!!!

Hugz... Kathy

Welcome to the gates of hell known as SSI. Here you are 4 years into the process and still getting the run around. Well I'm sorry to say, you're far from done with it and one of the areas is regarding Medicare.

Even after you finally do get your SSI through, I think you'll find that your local state Medicaid program will be your only medical insurance solution for no less than the first 2 years. Only after being on disability for 2 years does a person qualify for Medicare and then you'll have the $110 payment for Part B coverage plus if you don't buy a supplement during the brief 7 month window (3 months before Medicare kicks in, the month Medicare kicks in and 3 months after it kicks in) you have no guarantee of ever being able to get any kind of Medicare supplemental from then on which you're going to need badly since Medicare is usually 80/20, meaning you'll still owe 20% of the bill. Actually after January the 1st, because of Medicare dropping down the amount they're paying the doctors, the supplement also kicks down meaning most patients now owe an additional 3rd bill for the difference the first two insurance plans didn't pay. In other words, once you're on Medicare you can plan on paying $110 for Part B, plus a supplement for around $150 plus Medicare Part D that costs around $35 a month with a $310 deductible (averaged out together that means most are now paying around $65 a month for Part D drug plan coverage). There's a lot of people who now have both Medicaid and Medicare together. If you want more info, contact either SHIP (a nationwide Medicare help organization that's simply wonderful) or me and I'll help you through this part of your challenges at hand.

The average person is paying around $300 just for their insurance and there's still things that Medicare won't pay for which you'll be left financially on the hook for. The fact that Medicare won't kick in till after you've been on full disability for 2 years is the other thing that hurts most people the most.

On a positive note, even without SSI, you might be able to qualify for Medicaid right now.

As far as why you were denied one more time, I'd like to think it's just another slight accident on their part, but I've become to cynical in my old age. The reason you've had so many roadblocks is not because your wife isn't disabled, it's because of there being so many people who've abused the system to death and now they've run out of money plain and simple.

I'm so sorry that you couldn't apply for SSD instead of SSI because it would have made a world of difference in both the amount your wife will eventually get plus there are so many restrictions regarding assets and total monthly income for those who are on SSI.

Best of luck. Contact me if you need more info on the insurance side of your problems. Bob.

Hi Jim.

I am sorry you are having such a rough time with your case. I just wanted to throw in my two cents here. You are doing the right thing by staying involved with your case, and not just expecting the lawyer to take care of it. In my experience (I won an 8 year fight for workers comp / disability) the more you know about your case the better. Some people can’t handle the stress and so they stay out of it. But if you can handle the stress, then it can only help you to be your own advocate, and your wife is very lucky to have you involved. Even the best lawyers (I had a good one) can make mistakes, be overworked, have conflicting priorities due to other cases, or just plain forget things. Staying involved and being a squeaky wheel is the best way to ensure the best results from the lawyer. Also, at least in my case (although I would imagine this is rare), by assisting the lawyer enough to make their job easier, they accepted a lower fee when the case was done. Best of luck with your case, and God Bless You.

Bernclay-