Social Security Disability question

[rodentraiser]

If you've applied, see about getting a lawyer. You pretty well need to have one.

I don't know what state you're in, but in my state of Washington, once you apply, you are eligible to get state disability until you are approved for federal disability. If you do get state disability, and it won't be much, you will have to pay that back along with the lawyer's fee if you get approved for federal disability.

It seems like everyone gets turned down the first time, so if you do, appeal. Keep appealing until your lawyer pulls the plug, because they like to jerk you around a couple times.

Depending on how many hours you have worked, you could be qualified for SSD or SSDI. SSI is a much lower amount. SSDI will be the amount you would have received if you had worked to full retirement age and will automatically switch over to Social Security at your full retirement age.

You have two disabilities, physical and mental (the depression). I was assigned to state disability for my depression, although it was my back then (and certainly is now) that was the main problem. I don't know if they'll apply for both reasons for you, but make sure you ask your lawyer which disability, if not both, that you're applying to be approved for. With me, I didn't know the disability was for depression and kept answering questions relating to my back. It was awkward in front of the judge.

When you go before the judge, you will be asked questions of what you did before and they will try to see if you can continue to do your old job.

People will tell you to look for work while your decision is pending, but I was told by numerous people who applied for SSI and SSDI to not look for work. If you do, you are proving you can work and support yourself. It really galled me because my back wasn't as bad then as it is now and I really did want to work, although I was looking for sit-down work. I was only getting $200 a month on state disability.

Also, make sure you have all your doctors' records and that they're recent. An xray from 10 years ago won't do you any good.

I don't know how long it will take you to get approved. In my case, it took 4 1/2 years, but I applied in 2013 when so many people were out of work and just applied to have money coming in. Everyone that applied then was thought to be scamming the system.

When you're approved, you are given the amount of money you will get from when you applied and you pay your state disability and lawyer's fees out of that, so it actually helps to take a while to be approved. I ended up with back pay of $43,000, but I had to pay back all of the state disability which was $10,800 and my lawyer's fee of 25%, which the judge then made a ruling on saying it was too high and lowered it to 15%.

That was still a good chunk of change, but living on $200 a month and food stamps for 4 1/2 years wasn't fun, so make sure you have some support in case you approval gets dragged out.

Again, I don't know if this is just Washington, but they also don't give you the entire back pay at once. Usually they split it onto 3 payments over a year. I got the full amount in 2 payments in 6 months, but as I was then getting the full SSDI for those 6 months as well, it worked out. Even though I was in low cost housing and my rent shot up to 30% of the SSDI, I was able to save some money waiting for the full amount to come in.

It's not a difficult process, but they don't make it easy, either. All you can do is keep trying.

[lenora]

Hang in there.
My opinion is based on my experience representing Social Security Claimants AND working for Social Security. The latter work included reviewing claim files, identifying issues, summarizing each claim and recommending a decision, when possible, to the Administrative Law Judge. Oh, and writing the Final Decision.
You may, of course, consider hiring an attorney. But be aware it is likely the attorney is not going to get your case moved more quickly through the system.
Select an attorney who will not only read the medical records but will also submit a memorandum or brief, if necessary, that cites the specific pages in the medical records that support each impairment alleged in your claim and how the impairment interferes with your ability to engage in "substantial gainful employment". MOST private attorneys do not do this. Don't pay an attorney that's just looking at the odds and trying to make a quick buck. Hint: This happens more often in the larger firms.

I rest my case.

[lenora]

^^^
I just lost 15 minutes of my life replying to a poster who has not posted since the end of December. lol

[azbound621]

Well I worked 5 out of the last 10. In law enforcement, social security sent me the function report to fill out. It was sent back in and I also hired an attorney to aid in the progress. I guess it depends on how fast they get the dictors files. I'm not hoping on getting it bit I'm trying to get an answer as soon as possible.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by lenora

^^^
I just lost 15 minutes of my life replying to a poster who has not posted since the end of December. lol

You just got your 15 minutes back!

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by Greenvalleyfan

Don't bet your house unless the person applying has worked 5 out of the last 10 yrs? It isn't handed out if a person hasn't been employed. SS disability is an insurance policy.

Correction. Here is a loophole. I just described my SIL situation. The last time my 57-year-old SIL worked, was at the ripe of (young) age of 18. "Who is eligible to receive Social Security survivors benefits and how do I apply? A surviving spouse, surviving divorced spouse, unmarried child, or dependent parent may be eligible for monthly survivor benefits based on the deceased worker's earnings." https://faq.ssa.gov/en-us/Topic/arti...9;s%20earnings.

[azbound621]

Thank you to everyone who has read my post and replied. It's not something I ever wanted to do in my lifetime. I worked for 40 years and retired. But I tried to work and developed chest pains so it was suggesting to me that I apply for social security disability.

[teeej]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

Correction. Here is a loophole. I just described my SIL situation. The last time my 57-year-old SIL worked, was at the ripe of (young) age of 18. "Who is eligible to receive Social Security survivors benefits and how do I apply? A surviving spouse, surviving divorced spouse, unmarried child, or dependent parent may be eligible for monthly survivor benefits based on the deceased worker's earnings." https://faq.ssa.gov/en-us/Topic/article/KA-02083#:~:text=Who%20is%20eligible%20to%20receive,a nd%20how%20do%20I%20apply%3F&text=A%20surviving%20 spouse%2C%20surviving%20divorced,on%20the%20deceas ed%20worker's%20earnings.

Those are survivor benefits. Completely different than SSDI.

[djplourd]

My wife was initially denied for SSDI after she was disability retired from federal service. She was required to apply as part of her disability retirement. As her conditions continued to worsen, she re-applied for SSDI several years later. Without a lawyer, she was approved but I think part of that is because she had turned 55.

[azbound621]

I was told I was towards the end of this process. I guess it depends on how fast they get the doctors files and exam them. I will be 60 in June.