We are preping to apply. Have some questions for those of you have been there done that.

My husband has demyelinating and axonal peripheral polyneuropathy and central pontine myelinolysis along with numerous other conditions including COPD, chronic pancreatitis, arthritis, short term memory problems... I , a mere layman, believe he meets the SS Blue book conditions described in 11.0 c and 11.14.

I also believe we are going to have the medical documentation and tests to back this up. Possibly we will have records to back up the dementia after his neuropsyc testing in october.

He is 55 y old and has worked as a policeman, jailor and building maintance man. He is now confinded to a wheelchair.

His neurologist is on board. his primary care doctor, I believe, will be on board after we have given physical therapy a couple more months. I am not giving up on my husband ever walking again or getting better. I am taking him to every doctor we are refered to and every therpay session sceduled. But I do live with him every day. I can see he is getting worse not better. He is falling more frequently when he pulls up on a counter to try and stand for a second to reach something or transfer to bed. And i believe his physical therapist sees him getting worse also over the last 4 1/2 months she has been treating him three times a week.

SO I have read I should submit copies of all his medical records with the initail application. I am working on gather those now.

1) Do I need to submit records that have nothing to do with his disability? Like corotid artery ultrasounds and cystascopes that are not related to the condition and were normal?

2) do physical therapy notes count as medical evidence? Because this will prove he is trying o walk and stand but can't and it getting worse.

3) how many of his doctors do I need to ask to fill out and RFC form? Does his urologist really need to fill one out when he is seeing him for benign enlarged prostrate?

4) is a physical therapist qualified to fill an RFC out? Or would I be waisting her time?

5) Is it customary to charge $1 a page for copies of his medical records? Because since loosing his income we are broke and relying partially on family to survive right now.

Thank you in advance. I am sure I will have more questions soon.

What is his date of onset of disability? What is the last day he was able to work? I don't want him to lose possible months of benefits while you are trying to put a case together and delay filing. SSA will request the records from the sources you list and will pay for them if necessary.

If you have limited income like you say and could meet the SSI income and resource rules, every month you delay is a month that he gets no money from SSI. Also, if his date of onset is more than 17 months ago, every month you delay is a month he will not get an SSDI payment.

However, it is also a good idea to be proactive and submit records in your possession, especially those that show that he meets the listing you say he does.

SSA will only need to determine RFC if he doesn't meet a listing, if they go to step 4 in the decision making process. If he is approved at step 3 (meet or equal a listing), RFC is not necessary.

My suggestion is to gather what you think is the most important evidence that shows he meets a listing and what you can afford to pay for. In the mean time, start the online disability application at socialsecurity.gov and be thorough. You can complete it over several days or weeks, but it is not considered a valid application until you submit it to SSA.

the amount of money you are charged depends on the state you live in. some states allow outrageous charges such as $3.00 a page and a retrieval fee of $20.
for the future, make a file for your husband and everytime he has a test, request a copy of the test results at the time the doctor reviews them with you either in person or by phone. you shouldnt be charged for these at that time. it will save you time and money in the future for disability reviews and any other entity that may need a copy of a particular medical record.

I believe his date of onset of disability is May 27th, 2012. I will ask his doctor what her opinion is on that. I get the impression from his primary doctor she wants us to give it 6 months to see if he gets any improvement before she will be supportive in saying he will be disabled a year from now. Why I don't know, but this is what I am reading in between the lines. Our next appointment with her is the end of October.

I was told to apply in person instead of online. That way the person who works for SS sees you. and can see you can't walk, have speech problems, can't pay attention, have constant tremors and muscle jerks and etc... Is it better to apply online in your opinion?

Would it be wrong to go ahead and ask the dcotors to fill out the RFC and take it with us to the appointment to file? Or would that be a NO NO?

We would not qualify for SSI. I work and I gross too much to get any help. Everything I look into is based on gross pay. They could care less that our healt insurance eats $600 dollars a month of that gross pay. Then we have to pay our uninsured medical bills and co-pays out of whats left. So my only plan now is to start liquidating assets. Problem is, we have very few of those LOL. But I am keeping my chin up because I know there are others that have it worse than me. I don't think we will loose our house as long as I can work. We may not have any furniture left in it by the time we are through this. The worst part is having to tell my 10 year old son NO at the grocery store when he wants soemthing extra, NO you can't take martial arts with your friend, No I can't take you to the fair, No we can't turn the air conditioner on to cool off. I think hearing No so much and seeing me sell our pop up camper and what little gold jewrely I had and now I am starting to go through Dad's tools to sell, is frightening him.

echos long ago- i can not believe 3 bucks a page. that's criminal. these are my husbands records. he has a legal right to see them! rediclous!

The person who takes your husband's claim does not make a decision about whether or not he is disabled. And although they make observations that the decisionmaker may read, it is the medical evidence that determines whether or not someone is disabled, not the observations of a claims rep. And the claims rep has a limited amount of time to complete the forms in the office before they have to take their next interview. So your husband may be rushed through the interview in the office, especially if he has many treating sources. The claims rep may or may not write everything down they way you want it written. You have to provide the information and I know a more throrough job can be done if you do it online. Then, if you also want the office to copy and submit the pages and pages of medical evidence that you have, that chore will also have to be done in the limited time you have for the in-office interview. And in some offices, the staff will sit you down at a self-help PC even when you come into the office to file in person. SSA wants you to submit it online.

I suggest filing online but then making an appointment in office for a brief submission of medical records. Since SSA will be requesting the records of the sources you provide on the disability report, you are not required to obtain records yourself.

It is true that SSI considers gross income in determining eligibility. That way the determination is consistent and people with high expenses (for whatever reason) don't qualify for more money than people with low expenses. As a public assistance program, the goal of SSI really just to keep the SSI recipient from homelessness and starvation. But you don't know for sure that the SSI claim would be denied and there is no harm in getting an official answer.

If the onset date is 5/12, the earliest date to even expect an SSDI check, after the 5 month waiting period (6/12-10/12) would be for 11/12 paid in 12/12. So he is not losing anything yet by not applying now.

1) Do I need to submit records that have nothing to do with his disability? Like corotid artery ultrasounds and cystascopes that are not related to the condition and were normal? YES Send alll medical records whether or not they relate to the primary issues. All submitted evidence is taken into consideeration. A combination of conditions can equate to a listed condition although it sounds like you have it covered from the blue book.

2) do physical therapy notes count as medical evidence? Yes

3) how many of his doctors do I need to ask to fill out and RFC form? Does his urologist really need to fill one out when he is seeing him for benign enlarged prostrate? No to urologist because he can't report disabiling conditions. Two - three RFC's will be more than adequate. Get them from doctors who can state what he can and can't do.

4) is a physical therapist qualified to fill an RFC out? Or would I be waisting her time? Yes a physical therapist is a medical source. It depends on what she would say. Give it to her and if the answers she writes aren't what you expect don't use it.
(You should collect all the evidence and submit it with the application. Do not apply on line, easy but not effective)

5) Is it customary to charge $1 a page for copies of his medical records? Because since loosing his income we are broke and relying partially on family to survive right now. It's at the doctor's office discretion. It seems a lot to me. Most offices, if they charge which most do not, is $.25/page.

*edit*

Trudi