Hello All,

I have been reading this thread for days trying to see if my husband's situation would be a smooth process for applying for social security disability insurance. I am hoping some of the experts here can help me or give me some guidance or words of wisdom.

A little back story....about 4 1/2 months ago my hubby age 60 had a hypoxic/anoxic brain injury that took all of his short term memory. After a hospitalization and numerous doctor visits with neurologists we found out he has sleep apnea. Due to the sleep apnea it appears he stopped breathing for too long one night and damaged his hippocampus. He has had neuropsych testing and the outcome was a diagnosis of dementia He is unable to recall anything that happens the previous day or weeks before and this goes back to at least 8+ years of lost memories, life events and everyday living. Obviously he is unable to return to work since he can not remember what happened yesterday and he is responsible for many employees.

He is now receiving state disability and through his company he has long term disability. However, the company that will pay his long term disability wants him to apply for social security disability so the company will not have to pay all of the long term disability. So here is why I am worried not that I do not already have enough on my plate dealing with dr. appts, paperwork, running everything to do with our family and household etc etc. but also trying to figure out the whole social security disability process.

Is anyone familiar with the diagnosis of dementia as one that would qualify for social security disability without a long drawn out process? I have read a lot about using an attorney or advocate but that is more money that would have to be spent we do not now have. I really appreciate if anyone knows about this diagnosis and the ongoing process? I wish I did not feel so pressured by the company to apply for SSDI and just go with the long term disability but they said we have to try and get SSDI

Thank you

Hello and welcome to the group! Here is a link that might help you.

http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/


As far as paying for an attorney or advocate, most if not all do not charge unless your case is approved. At which time they would take up to 25% of your lump sum. I wish I could help you with the issue of dementia but I haven't a clue about it. Good luck to you and your hubby!

I am not positive but I think there is a cap on the amount the attorney may receive if the claim for SSDI is approved and that cap is $6000. The attorney may also charge separately for "expenses" like costs to obtain medical records. These costs are usually below $200.

You may want to go to the SSA website and look up the listings in the blue book if you have not already done so. The paperwork for filing can be extensive and time consuming.

One thing is for sure, that the begin date of the short or long process is entirely in your husband's (and by extension your) hands. Putting it off because you hear that 2 out of 3 claims are denied at the initial level and some people have to go through extensive appeals does nothing to either shorten or lengthen the time it will take your husband's claim to be decided.

Many people who file for disability are just not really disabled according to the law. They think they are so they apply. There is nothing stopping anyone from filing a claim for any reason.

I do not agree that the paperwork for filing for SSDI is necessarily time consuming or extensive. A person can complete a barebones online application in less than an hour and a through and complete online application in maybe three to six hours, spread over how ever many days it takes. You can complete the online application in an afternoon. If was working continuously up until the date of the brain injury, that would be his date of onset of disability. SSDI would not pay benefits at all for the first five months and entitlement would begin in the sixth month payable on a Wednesday in the seventh month. Probably won't go quite as smoothly as that because it does take time for medical sources to respond and employees to put the case together. You will be also asked if he wants to apply for a low income disability program, SSI. His other income sources would probably make him ineligible for that, but if you can give information to your local office and they can tell you more.

However, having said that, I also think it is important to understand the process and be thorough and always respond to any request from SSA, even if you think you have already provided that information.

Here is a link to the listing of impairments
http://www.soc ialsecurity.gov/disab...ltListings.htm

It is not at all necessary for you to figure out which listing applies to your husband. Not at all. It is necessary for you to provide the names and addresses of all the treating sources who have the medical records and test results that can substantiate that he does meet or equal a listing. It is not necessary for you to provide the medical records. SSA will request them IF you give the names and addresses in the online disability report. You may want to be proactive in ensuring that the sources send all the records to SSA. That process can take a few weeks or even a few months. Both SSA and your husband's doctor's office has a lot of other work to do. But it almost always gets done if you provide the source info.

His condition may or may not be quite severe enough to meet a listing. Then SSA will apply sequential evaluation to see if at his advanced age (60) if he is capable of returning to his regular work or if there is an easier sedentary job that he can do.

My opinion which has zero weight and is of no importance, is that someone who can't remember yesterday can't work at any job at all.

My suggestion is to go to the website here
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pgm/disability.htm
and spend 30 minutes a day for how ever many days it takes to complete the online application and disability report - be sure to complete all four steps. Submit everything and his claim will be started.

Sure, there are likely to be more requests from SSA down the line. Your local office will want documents that prove the dates of the State Disability and documents that prove when it stops. They may ask you about the LTD.

If he hires a rep or an advocate at the beginning, you still have to provide that person with the same information you can provide to SSA directly. And in a large firm, it could be a $15 an hour staffer that completes the paperwork according to a formula set up by the lawyers. And do you really think a rep can even give correct answers to questions without going through you and your husband?

Lawyers are really mostly helpful if a case goes through the appeal process at the hearing level, IMO, especially in cases where the claimant is younger than your husband and has less severe problems. I would not go to a hearing without a rep of some sort.

Yes, it will take some of your precious time. But the result is eventually money and earlier Medicare coverage. Both add to your long term security.

One out of three applications are approved from the initial filing and the average processing time for initial applications that require disability decisions is less than six months. If you start today, there could be an answer and money by Christmas.

I don't see the point in putting it off. You can learn more as you go through the process. Read Social Security's web site. Read other people's posts but remember that it is the people that are denied who mostly post at sites like this looking for help. The people who are approved from the beginning are pretty silent about it.

I would like to hear the outcome and the timeframe if you decide to go through it.

I do not agree that the paperwork for filing for SSDI is necessarily time consuming or extensive

I am sorry to disagree with you on this point but in MY opinion, the paperwork IS extensive AND time consuming. At least it was for me. Maybe someone with familiarity with the process might disagree but I do believe that to many that file, they also find it time-consuming and extensive.

I do not mean any disrespect to you, I just happen to disagree with that point. Thanks to you for all the help you provide to readers here. I really do appreciate all of your comments, just not that one. What seems like extensive and time-consuming to one person may not be so to another.

Thank you ALL VERY much for your time to reply and help me (us) through this process. I guess I was just nervous that since I will be the one to do the filling out of application online (he now struggles to use a computer) that I would be overwhelmed with all the questions and answers. I know my husband will do whatever he can to help me but with his short term memory now gone it will be up to me to figure out the any answers to questions he may not know.

One thing I did do was to start a notebook in the very beginning with all doctor appts notes, copies of all records from doctors appts and state disability insurance paperwork. I am hoping that might help once we start the SSDI.

I really appreciate the link Shellback and I have bookmarked the website. Janke thank you for the guidance, support and information with your post. I will definitely keep you all posted as I have read some positive outcomes here on Neurotalk
Hopeless thank you for your posts and support. This website is nice place to come and feel welcome to ask questions or look for help.

One final thing Janke you are right, it is not necessary for me to worry about which listing applies to my husband and that is what scared me the most. I was probably overanalyzing the list of conditions and no where did it list dementia. I am confident that the neuropsych testing shows and states that exact thing.

With a new positive outlook I will not be so worried and "Just do it" ala Nike

All the best,
Wheeler

Filing a claim in order to prove that you meet the legal requirements of a program that will pay you a check and cover you under a health insurance program for possibly the rest of your life can be as simple as completing an online application (2 hours) and submitting one piece of paper that verifies you are a paraplegic and be approved in two weeks, or it can take months, years and reams of documents and legal arguments and treating records and consultative exams and hundreds of hours of applicant, attorney and SSA employee time.

But you are right that the term time consuming and extensive means different things to different people. Just like the phrase "I can't stand very long".

To keep things running smoothly during the process, I would tell you to get representation. They know all the ins and outs of the system. I had an assistant at an attorneys office who did a very good job of helping me. I wish you and your husband all the best. ginnie

I really meant no disrespect to you in any manner or form. I just know that it took me nearly 30 days to finalize my initial claim application. I was even perplexed as to "date of onset" as I have many conditions, most of which are not only chronic but progressive and finally reached proportions that prevented me from perfoming my job duties. Date of onset would have been easy if I had an accident or injury on a specific date. I do apologize if I offended you in any way, I was just stating the process from my own personal experience and point of view regarding the paperwork involved in the initial claim.