Social Security Disability

[RetiredGySgt]

The backlog is getting bigger and longer. Most people are turned down on first application and have to appeal and most of them have to hire someone to help with the appeal.

What ever my doctors wrote for me in 99 got me approved on the first try so I was one of the lucky ones. And of course to boot my disability is one of the harder ones to normally prove.

I guess all those hospital visits for 4 years helped show I had a problem.

Social Security clogged with disability claims

 

[Annie]

Gunny posted this a bit ago:

http://www.usmessageboard.com/healt...-security-clogged-with-disability-claims.html

 

[editec]

I'm not surprised the backlog is growing.

We're getting older as people and so more of us are disabled.

You want a real hoot try getting OFF SSD once you're on it.

Nobody wants to hire anyone who might become a burden on their organizations HEALTH CARE GROUP RATES.

I cannot blame these potential employers for not hiring somebody who had a long term illness.

But damn! that means that a greater and greater number of people on SSD would get off if they could, cannot get off it.

Here we see one of the problems with our current HC delivery system.

I've been trying to find a job suited to my "skill sets" for years.

I think having created an internationally known website site (with no money folks...seriously. with NO MONEY) should be evidence that I must have SOME business skills in this field, right?

AFter all, I've beaten a similar well heeled (thanks to the NSF grant which YOU guys paid for) organization which started out with $4.4 million dollars and STILL I get no respect.

And you know...I cannot blame any for profit publishing organization for shying away from hiring me.

My health history is too scary for most employers.

Now multiply me by millions of people in similar situations and this society is losing not only our abilities in the work force, but the billions it costs to keep us living in near poverty, too.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Last review I had the doctor recommended I be placed on Permanent disability. That was quite a while back, no reviews since his.

 

[AllieBaba]

I'm not surprised the backlog is growing.

We're getting older as people and so more of us are disabled.

You want a real hoot try getting OFF SSD once you're on it.

Nobody wants to hire anyone who might become a burden on their organizations HEALTH CARE GROUP RATES.

I cannot blame these potential employers for not hiring somebody who had a long term illness.

But damn! that means that a greater and greater number of people on SSD would get off if they could, cannot get off it.

Here we see one of the problems with our current HC delivery system.

I've been trying to find a job suited to my "skill sets" for years.

I think having created an internationally known website site (with no money folks...seriously. with NO MONEY) should be evidence that I must have SOME business skills in this field, right?

AFter all, I've beaten a similar well heeled (thanks to the NSF grant which YOU guys paid for) organization which started out with $4.4 million dollars and STILL I get no respect.

And you know...I cannot blame any for profit publishing organization for shying away from hiring me.

My health history is too scary for most employers.

Now multiply me by millions of people in similar situations and this society is losing not only our abilities in the work force, but the billions it costs to keep us living in near poverty, too.

We have a program called EPD which is for disabled people who are working. The amount you can make and retain your plus medical is hugely increased, plus there are funds to help with costs incurred by working. For example, transportation (if you need special transportation, or even public transportation) and special equipment. Additionally, there are ways to move resources in this program so they aren't counted against you, so you can actually have a RETIREMENT fund.

It's a great program. I don't know if it's a state one or federal.

 

[editec]

Do you FEEL permanently disabled?

If not then keep trying is my advise.

You're obviously as miserable sitting on your ass not contributing to your maximum potential as I am.

 

[slackjawed]

I am in a situation like editec. I had a job with a large company that provided health insurance. They are self-insured. In the same month I got a service award from the president of the company and a diagnosis of a tumor in my pancreas. By the end of the month I was terminated for 'insubordination', without an explanation of the reason. The only order I refused was that when I was the one to skip a visit to an endocrinologist. I had waited almost 2 months and couldn't see a reason to skip it, even though the boss wanted me to. Despite being told that health records were confidential and not seen by anyone at the company, the two executives at my exit interview knew more about my health than I had told anyone.
I applied twice to SS and have been denied once without a reason. In addition, the company, when contacted for a reference, mentions nothing about my years of service, company awards, ect. Instead they have told potential employers that they would not rehire me due to me being insubordinate and 'excessive employee maintainence costs'. In addition, they have told potential employers that I am classified as disabled, which, if true would seem to indicate that I am elegible for benefits. I was also denied COBRA (even though I would not have been able to afford it) by the company delaying notifying me about it for 8 months, long after eligibility time. I reported them, but was told there is NO money for enforcement for enforcing COBRA laws.
I had a heart attack last month and had to spend time in a hospital, with no insurance. The hospital and doctors have all sent me to collections. The state says they have a program to co0ver me but in order to get that coverage I have to sue SS and assign them a chunk of the settlement if I win.
On top of everything else, the child support people (court)in NY, where my children live, will not accept my petition to modify my support payments. Obviosly I have not been able to pay them dues to health issues. the day before I had the HA, I attended a hearing by phone with them. The outcome was that the feminazi judge said thwe state was in a budget crunch and could not reduce any payments at this time. !?! She issued a warrant to arrest me. Yep, she sent (AZ)sherrifs deputies from my state to arrest me, they found me in a hospital bed and simply would not do it. When I was released, the sherrif himself came, helped me carry stuff, and told me they would not act on the warrant until I was released by my doctor. He urged me to take it to court again and could not believe the judge in NY told me that in court. I got him a transcript, he framed it and has it hanging in his office. The judge in NY issued another warrant for me, and issued a complaint with the AZ attorney general against the sherriff.
The lawyer that is helping me (pro-bono) with the disability claim tells me it takes most people from 2 to 3 years to "win" SS benefits, some die first.
So i was f**ked over by an international corp, with tacit aproval from the government. The government benefits that I worked for and paid into for over 30 years are not available to me, a policy of the government. Even though I can clearly demonstrate a severe change in circumstance, I am denied the right to due process, because the government says they can't afford to make a change downward.
My government loved me when I was healthy and able to pay all their taxes, as well as child support. Now that I have virtually no income, and health issues, my government hates me. The government policies appear to want to cause me to be sued for medical and other bills, denies me the benefits that I was promised to induce me to pay for them for years withholding the money from my paychecks for years. And most importantly, my government has classified me as a criminal without the benefit of due process.
Count me in the number that hates our current government without regard to political party.
I wish I was healthier, I could easily become another Eric Rudolph.........

 

[AllieBaba]

Ouch.

 

[editec]

I'm not surprised the backlog is growing.

We're getting older as people and so more of us are disabled.

You want a real hoot try getting OFF SSD once you're on it.

Nobody wants to hire anyone who might become a burden on their organizations HEALTH CARE GROUP RATES.

I cannot blame these potential employers for not hiring somebody who had a long term illness.

But damn! that means that a greater and greater number of people on SSD would get off if they could, cannot get off it.

Here we see one of the problems with our current HC delivery system.

I've been trying to find a job suited to my "skill sets" for years.

I think having created an internationally known website site (with no money folks...seriously. with NO MONEY) should be evidence that I must have SOME business skills in this field, right?

AFter all, I've beaten a similar well heeled (thanks to the NSF grant which YOU guys paid for) organization which started out with $4.4 million dollars and STILL I get no respect.

And you know...I cannot blame any for profit publishing organization for shying away from hiring me.

My health history is too scary for most employers.

Now multiply me by millions of people in similar situations and this society is losing not only our abilities in the work force, but the billions it costs to keep us living in near poverty, too.

We have a program called EPD which is for disabled people who are working. The amount you can make and retain your plus medical is hugely increased, plus there are funds to help with costs incurred by working. For example, transportation (if you need special transportation, or even public transportation) and special equipment. Additionally, there are ways to move resources in this program so they aren't counted against you, so you can actually have a RETIREMENT fund.

It's a great program. I don't know if it's a state one or federal.

Yes, I'm enrolled in that. The wait time for assistance -- if you're a priority claimant! -- hereabouts is 9 months before you can talk to a coucilor.

All I know is I picked a truly bad time to get well enough to go back to paying work.

 

[AllieBaba]

Holy cow!
It's not that long here...and no counselor involved...SPD workers are responsible for it.

 

[editec]

Holy cow!
It's not that long here...and no counselor involved...SPD workers are responsible for it.

I'm in Maine.

No state in the union has lost a greater percentage of industrial jobs (and the managment jobs that went along with them) than Maine.

And this place was never economically very healthy to begin with, either.

The Maine Dept of Labor oversees the program here, and I am waiting for a Voc Rehab coucselor to assist me in finding a path back into appropriate employment or training leading to same.

I don't really have much hope because really I'm only suitable, now, for top management positions, but hey, it's worth a shot.

I'm hardly alone in this fruitless search for suitable employment.

Half the people I know (with advanced degrees) who are currently working and who don't have my problems, are ALSO looking for employment or better employment and coming up with nothing.

A suitable job shows up and hundreds of people, all of them highly qualified, are vying for those position.

Anyone who thinks that the problem in American is a lack of educated people, or people lacking skills, has focused their perspective in a few limited technical areas where there are, in fact a shortage of skilled workers.

But those fields are dwarfed by the fields (alos requiring enormous education and experience) which are overwhelmed with highly educated people suitable for the few positions avaialable.

 

[AllieBaba]

Being ill makes a huge difference in what you can actually do. I'm lucky in that I'm able to do anything and have no disabilities, so if I lose my job, I can go to work anywhere that will hire me. I've done almost everything, I have experience in almost every field.

I have had a couple of guys who have always worked and became very, very ill and were for the first time unable to. Because of the nature of their illnesses, neither was eligible for disability, or more importantly, medical coverage. So while they're sick and accruing all these medical bills, they're unable to work...and at the same time not eligible for anything we have because of their AGE, and the acute nature of their illnesses.

 

[Indiana Oracle]

My heart goes out to anyone bodily impaired, no matter what the reason. I don't know about any of you, but I am of two minds on nationalized healthcare.

This thread shows the system broken on the private and public side. There are stories of intentional and unintentional structural abuses like these literally everywhere. And it is hard not to conclude that the only people who are happy with their healthcare are not using it much or at all.

The other side is that my research shows that nationalized systems in Canada and Europe become cash-strapped and react accordingly and do not address social abuses.

We need to really pay attention and make our voices heard as this unfolds. The current Congress would love nothing better than to dream something up and pass it behind the curtain. I have no faith or trust in that body of people whatsoever. To put it politely

 

[Old Rocks]

Holy cow!
It's not that long here...and no counselor involved...SPD workers are responsible for it.

Remember, you are in Oregon.

 

[Old Rocks]

I am in a situation like editec. I had a job with a large company that provided health insurance. They are self-insured. In the same month I got a service award from the president of the company and a diagnosis of a tumor in my pancreas. By the end of the month I was terminated for 'insubordination', without an explanation of the reason. The only order I refused was that when I was the one to skip a visit to an endocrinologist. I had waited almost 2 months and couldn't see a reason to skip it, even though the boss wanted me to. Despite being told that health records were confidential and not seen by anyone at the company, the two executives at my exit interview knew more about my health than I had told anyone.
I applied twice to SS and have been denied once without a reason. In addition, the company, when contacted for a reference, mentions nothing about my years of service, company awards, ect. Instead they have told potential employers that they would not rehire me due to me being insubordinate and 'excessive employee maintainence costs'. In addition, they have told potential employers that I am classified as disabled, which, if true would seem to indicate that I am elegible for benefits. I was also denied COBRA (even though I would not have been able to afford it) by the company delaying notifying me about it for 8 months, long after eligibility time. I reported them, but was told there is NO money for enforcement for enforcing COBRA laws.
I had a heart attack last month and had to spend time in a hospital, with no insurance. The hospital and doctors have all sent me to collections. The state says they have a program to co0ver me but in order to get that coverage I have to sue SS and assign them a chunk of the settlement if I win.
On top of everything else, the child support people (court)in NY, where my children live, will not accept my petition to modify my support payments. Obviosly I have not been able to pay them dues to health issues. the day before I had the HA, I attended a hearing by phone with them. The outcome was that the feminazi judge said thwe state was in a budget crunch and could not reduce any payments at this time. !?! She issued a warrant to arrest me. Yep, she sent (AZ)sherrifs deputies from my state to arrest me, they found me in a hospital bed and simply would not do it. When I was released, the sherrif himself came, helped me carry stuff, and told me they would not act on the warrant until I was released by my doctor. He urged me to take it to court again and could not believe the judge in NY told me that in court. I got him a transcript, he framed it and has it hanging in his office. The judge in NY issued another warrant for me, and issued a complaint with the AZ attorney general against the sherriff.
The lawyer that is helping me (pro-bono) with the disability claim tells me it takes most people from 2 to 3 years to "win" SS benefits, some die first.
So i was f**ked over by an international corp, with tacit aproval from the government. The government benefits that I worked for and paid into for over 30 years are not available to me, a policy of the government. Even though I can clearly demonstrate a severe change in circumstance, I am denied the right to due process, because the government says they can't afford to make a change downward.
My government loved me when I was healthy and able to pay all their taxes, as well as child support. Now that I have virtually no income, and health issues, my government hates me. The government policies appear to want to cause me to be sued for medical and other bills, denies me the benefits that I was promised to induce me to pay for them for years withholding the money from my paychecks for years. And most importantly, my government has classified me as a criminal without the benefit of due process.
Count me in the number that hates our current government without regard to political party.
I wish I was healthier, I could easily become another Eric Rudolph.........

This is so damned typical of so many stories I hear today. And something like a third of applicants die while waiting to have their cases heard when applying for disability SS.

As noted by others, the whole damned system is broken. The government is failing it's responsibility, the private sector only sees money in those who are healthy, and the hell with those that have any problems.

700,000 American families go bankrupt every year in the US because of medical bills. 75% of those actually have medical insurance. In no other industrial nation is this the case. Their health care systems may have problems, but you would be better off there than here with the problems that you have.

 

[DiveCon]

Holy cow!
It's not that long here...and no counselor involved...SPD workers are responsible for it.

I'm in Maine.

No state in the union has lost a greater percentage of industrial jobs (and the managment jobs that went along with them) than Maine.

And this place was never economically very healthy to begin with, either.

The Maine Dept of Labor oversees the program here, and I am waiting for a Voc Rehab coucselor to assist me in finding a path back into appropriate employment or training leading to same.

I don't really have much hope because really I'm only suitable, now, for top management positions, but hey, it's worth a shot.

I'm hardly alone in this fruitless search for suitable employment.

Half the people I know (with advanced degrees) who are currently working and who don't have my problems, are ALSO looking for employment or better employment and coming up with nothing.

A suitable job shows up and hundreds of people, all of them highly qualified, are vying for those position.

Anyone who thinks that the problem in American is a lack of educated people, or people lacking skills, has focused their perspective in a few limited technical areas where there are, in fact a shortage of skilled workers.

But those fields are dwarfed by the fields (alos requiring enormous education and experience) which are overwhelmed with highly educated people suitable for the few positions avaialable.

and dont forget the enviroment(political) here is hostile towards business

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd's gettin' too old to work...

Are Aging Americans Too Old to Work?
September 14, 2018 - Each workday, Marty Harwell, 66, sets the alarm for 5:15 p.m., giving himself enough time to grab a shower and something to eat before clocking in for his 7 p.m. night shift as a pediatric nurse working in home health care.

The California man, who worked in the music industry for most of his adult life, fell back on nursing full time in order to guarantee a steady income for himself and his family. “I’ve had a couple of questions like, ‘When are you going to retire?’ somewhat facetiously from people who want my slot, who are younger,” Harwell says, “but otherwise I have not encountered any kind of age discrimination or pay loss.” Harwell is among the almost 1 in 5 Americans aged 65 and older who are still working or looking for work, according to the AARP, a nonprofit organization that advocates for older Americans. But while two-thirds of senior citizens say they plan to work well into their retirement years like Harwell is doing, only about 20 percent actually do.

There are a number of reasons for this under-employment, according to Teresa Ghilarducci, a labor economist who specializes in retirement security. “They have to find the best job under limited cir cumstances,” Ghilarducci says. “They’re usually stuck in place because they own a house or they have a lot of embedded family relations. So the one challenge is that they can’t move like young people can to find a good job.” The second challenge is age discrimination. “Especially against women and not just in terms of being hired, but also promotion, training and pay increases,” she says. “Ageism seems to affect women more than men. Meaning that perceptions of older women in terms of their ability to learn, their ability to get along with other people at work, are viewed as more negative than it is for an older man.”

Another roadblock is that certain jobs require more physical ability than some older people have. Also, they might not be as up to speed on computers as younger workers. And even if senior citizens are able to catch up, many employers might be reluctant to offer training to older workers due to concerns it won’t pay off because the older worker might not stay on the job as long as a younger co-worker. For some of those older Americans who are employed, the job is often more lucrative than ever. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that workers over 65 are not only making more money on average than ever before, but they’re also outpacing the average earnings growth of other age groups.

But Ghilarducci cautions that those rosy numbers can be misleading. “We find there’s a lot more inequality among the older age groups,” she says. “So there are some very highly paid people who are older who are getting big wage increases, but the average is being pulled up by just a few.” By 2030, one in every five residents will be older than age 65, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. More age-friendly employers in the not-for-profit sector, such as hospitals and government agencies, are preparing for the time when there are many more older people in the workforce. Workers 55 and older already make up one-third of home health and personal care aides. However, Ghilarducci finds that far fewer for-profit companies are creating workplaces that will attract older people.

As for Marty Harwell, he has no plans to retire. Most of his friends still work, at least part time, and he expects to do the same. “About three years ago I realized I wanted to come full circle back to my musical profession and then from there I realized, ‘Well, I don’t really want to retire per se,’” he says. “I am going to shift gears and do what makes me genuinely happy.” Harwell views working in music as a “joyful task” and expects returning to his passion will earn him enough money to keep him happy and satisfied during his so-called “Golden Years.”

Are Aging Americans Too Old to Work? – All About America

 

[Slyhunter]

My sister passes blood clouts out her vagina ever other week, has liver cirrhosis no gallbladder acid reflux, and an abundance of other problems and she can't get disability.
I am bi-polar, medicated via the VA, weigh close to 400 lbs, and I tell ya folks it ain't the food that did it. I can't walk more than 100 or so feet without passing out and I can't get disability. I'm paying bills by working on the telephone driving a vehicle that was brand new in 1992, automatic shot in it I have to manually shift it. No ac. No shit. Mother is retired making her 800 a month retirement. nephew works at circle K. It's random what is going to be shut off next. Start a gofundme page for me.

The world sucks. The Buddhist were right.

 

[Godboy]

Last review I had the doctor recommended I be placed on Permanent disability. That was quite a while back, no reviews since his.

Whats your disability? My back is all fucked up, but i can still work. Im not sure it will hold up 20 more years though.