Why would I get SSI instead of SSDI? What are the qualifications for the later? How did that process work? How is that determination assessed? What is SSDI exactly, and who made this decision for me? Define SSDI for me and the differences between the two programs. I really would like to understand what happened to me. thank you. ginnie

thanks again, this firm is highly recommended, just not having the experience that i expected, kind of wanted to get a perspective on how SS firms work before i started a expressing my concerns to them. i'm not stupid and of course my mind is racing over all the things that could go wrong. not to beat a dead horse but to say the least i made this a much more difficult case because i didn't do my research, everyone with pd knows they'll eventually be disabled, i didn't do the basic research that ssdi is an insurance policy and if you don't pay enough premiums in last 5 years doesn't matter, or at least it seems, how disabled you are. would have been very easy to submit my 1040 minus schedule D just to get my SSA taxes recorded.
anyway, have the confidence and guidance i need to talk to my law firm, seems i need to make every effort to verify my disability in 2012, ball is in my court. i am a little surprised they haven't emphasized i start that asap since my pd is progressing and it's going to be harder to get that info as time goes on. the other thing i think i need to do is get a much more detailed medical evaluation myself asap and not leave it to chance that SSA will order one. It takes awhile to get an appt with the better NEUROS. It may be a waste of time if i they ignore my current condition, that's the type of question the paralegal just doesn't really know how to answer and maybe i need to ask to speak to the attorney. would be nice to hear if they have won a case for someone like me in recent history.
thanks again!!

Hi Soccertese,

First of all, I am the last person that would step up to defend attys, due to some very bad experiences I have personally had with them on the few occasions I have had the need for their services.

THAT being said, sometimes our expectations and inadequate communications are a source of discord between client and atty.

Law firms that deal almost exclusively with disability cases have a set course of action and procedures that they follow. Is it what we expect? Probably not. Through much research and my own experience, I have learned these firms generally ALL operate in a similar manner.

Some do not take a disability case until your denial of initial application, others may take a case from the onset.

There is an initial interview process, at which time generally, a determination of any possible viability of claim is assessed. They do not want to accept a claim that has NO merit and can NOT be won for whatever reason that may be.

The next step is getting a fee agreement signed by you and accepted by SSA. They are not going to go further without that agreement. Once you have signed that agreement, in order to change to another firm, it is my belief that you would need a release from the agreement you signed, otherwise, you may be held contractually for payment to the first firm. I do not think you can just walk away and hire someone else. My thinking here is, the NEW firm would need a signed agreement from you that would again need to be approved by SSA, and then you have two agreements in front of SSA. Would SSA approve the 2nd one? I don't know but I think they would want a release on the first one before approving a second one. Again, this is my opinion, I do not know the regs on this.

Sticking with the same firm to continue the step process of attys.

After an appeal is filed, assuming the initial application has been denied, the atty will gather information for your claim. This includes medical records, medical source statements from your treating physicians, and any other information the atty feels will be necessary for your claim. Your attorney will have access to your social security earnings record and your claim file.

When your hearing date nears and is close in time, your atty (having all infomation at hand, including the most recent) will review your entire record and lay out the strategy for the hearing and may meet with you in preparation for the hearing. Some may NOT meet with you before the hearing but some do.

As I mentioned in a prior post to your situation, you need to be proactive with your atty if you have expectations that are not being met. We all have preconceived ideas of what the atty is doing or should be doing and that may not be consistent with the manner and procedures they actually follow.

Keep in mind, since they do this day in and day out, for many years, they do have a "system" and procedures in place and follow them. We, as the client, do not know their "system" and have our own thoughts and expectations.

Ask questions, express yourself and your concerns, express your expectations. Neither of you, the atty or the client, are mind readers. There must be communication and a thorough understanding of the communication.

Be sure you understand the terminology that the atty uses. I had a lengthy discussion over the phone with my atty due to a mis-understanding on a term used.

As you have seen in the various posts to your threads, there is much confusion, especially when abbreviations and acronyms are used and are frequently used incorrectly.

This post has nothing to do with the rules and regulations concerning SSA and disability. I am only addressing working with a law firm.

If you change to another firm, I am afraid you will find it very similar. The big firms that deal exclusively with disability claims generally use the same procedures and systems that have been developed by them over the many years they have been in practice.

Research the financial aspects of changing firms before you take that step.

There were times my atty did not meet MY expectations but I took steps to address my needs.

In a big firm, you will be a "number" to them, but you are not looking for someone to be your pal, you want someone to be your advocate. That is what they do.

If you are receiving SSDI, by FED law, you are entitled to Medicare. It is your choice whether you want it or not. Why are you not getting this? Did you elect not to have it? Medicaid is for folks on SSI, welfare, etc.

balls in my court, squeaky wheel gets the grease and it's in my best interest to be proactive, ask questions, nothing to lose and if i can cut to the chase quicker they can only benefit.
plus if i have to prove i was disabled in 2012, i think they will get the $6000 max.

you might have both ssi and ssdi. it should be in your paperwork from ss

Ginnie,

As ELA mentioned, I believe your earlier posts discussed your potential eligibility for both programs. I'm going off memory of posts you made regarding this; I don't presume to know your whole work or financial history. I believe that you have commented that there were some issues with your work history......either not having enough recent quarters or having enough income due to the sporadic nature of your work as an artist. I thought that I heard you did qualify for some SSDI, but because the amount was low, based on your income you would also be eligible for some SSI. You said that there were issues with qualifying for the SSI because of your family trust that was set up to help you pay the taxes on your house. I thought you said you had trouble getting, or couldn't get Medicaid (which would go with SSI ) because of the family trust.

We've all been trying to define and explain the basic differences between the programs again in this thread. My explanation was this:

"SSDI involves having recent enough work quarters in and total disability. SSI is for low income people with total disability. SSI is the one with a $2000 asset cap for a single person."

If you have a specific question, we'll all try to answer it. I think you just have to trust us a little, that you simply reversed the acronyms. Another poster here and I were just discussing in pm's how frustrating it is to confuse something that we know that we know.....or used to know because of our pain and disability interfering with our memories.

If you are really confused about which program(s) you are on, as ELA recommended, check your paperwork. You can always call your local SSA office to ask them to explain based on your specifics. When you applied for either program, the SSA office would look up your work quarters, discuss if you were eligible for SSDI, start the application for you to prove total disability (necessary for either program), and discuss your financials to see if you would qualify for SSI.

Yes I did have quarters with work history disjointed. That is why I became an artist in my younger years, so I could work my chemo in and around my show schedule. I continued to do this all my life. The last ten years prior to my disability, was extremely disjointed as I had 9 surgeries, and did not work in between during my recovery. So I do have SSI. I called the Attorney to find out. I also have Medicaid, though it is worthless down here. No one will accept it. My doctors can charge the 20% but they do not, in stead offer me grace for that 20%.
Yes I have a cap of 2,000. The system isn't set up for success, or to better your circumstances. Ginnie

I respectfully and totally disagree with this statement, but I know that Ginnie believes this to be true based on her experience. I do not believe it to be true.

I think Hopeless gave you a fairly good synopsis of how many of the larger law firms work. They have a protocol and since lawyers really like talking to lawyers, they tend to do their best work and are most successful when presenting the case to another lawyer, the ALJ. So they play the numbers. Put in little effort at the beginning levels and wait for the hearing, if it gets that far. And since they are working for a percentage of retroactive benefits, it would always be in their financial best interest that this process last long enough for them to max out their fee. However, that doesn't mean that all attorneys 'drag their feet'. Attorneys also make money from volume of approvals.

You can 'fire' your current rep and hire another. Then when there are two attorneys, the both petition for their fee and split it.

IMO, your issue with insured status and the date last insured in the past should have been addressed by your attorney at the beginning, but if you are only dealing with the support staff, they might not have the expertise to identify this issue and recognize its importance to you.

SSDI requires a certain minimum number of credits in a certain time period and if you are not found disabled as of your date last insured, you are out of luck, no matter how ill or injured you are.

SSI is the low income program that pays benefits up to a flat amount of money to disabled individuals with limited amount of assets/resources. In effect, it is a welfare program designed to keep the disabled from being homeless and hungry. Ginnie is right that it is not designed as a program that helps you get ahead.

Now would be the time to start interviewing other representatives if you are going to jump ship, and personally, I would start with a local, smaller firm if you are looking for personalized service. And make sure they understand the issue about date last insured. Now perhaps if you tell your current rep that you are dissatisfied and seriously considering changing reps, you may get them to pay more attention to you, but I also don't think you should do that without a backup plan.