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I should provide some background info- I was approved for SSDI last year. I am permanently disabled but am up for review in 3 years. My disability attorney says this is likely because I'm "young" and "educated" and so SSDI likes to keep a close eye on recipients like me. I know it's important to continue to go to the doc once you get approved. No issues there as my health has gotten worse since I got approved! I am at the docs more now than ever.
Anyways, my concerns are that me relocating out of state will "look bad" somehow in the eyes of SSDI. I am considering relocating to Houston because they have hospitals there that specialize in my rare conditions. Obviously I'd continue going to the doctors once I move there. However, I am worried that the new doctors won't be an advocate for me. My doctors here where I live now all told me that I am severely disabled and understand the scope of what I am dealing with and how it impacts my daily life. However I was reading some comments from people in Facebook groups that talk about doctors not taking them seriously. And those doctors are the "experts"! One girl said her doctor said "you're too young to go on disability, I am not going to write anything to support that notion!" sadly there are still people that think you must literally be a paraplegic or be on your death bed in order to get SSDI.
My concern is that if I stay here, where the docs don't really know how to manage my care or help me that I will just slowly get worse (which is what has happened over the years!). Moving to Houston will hopefully give me a chance to feel better or at least have a better quality of life. My diseases are progressive so I know there is no cure. So do I stay here with sub-par care but guaranteed disability? Or relocate where I may get better care but potentially risk losing SSDI?
Has anyone here relocated out of state while on SSDI? What was your experience? Did you notify SSDI to tell them who your new doctors were??
I should probably add that we are planning on moving to TX with solely my SSDI income just so I can start to see the docs right away and hopefully get some better care. Then once we are in TX my hubby will look for work. If we wait for him to find a job it could be a looong wait. My fear is we move out there with just my SSDI and then SSDI sees I've moved and for some reason shuts off my benefits.
I have relocated 6 times since I was first approved (Army family), and 8 have never had an issue. It may be because I am stuck in a wheelchair and blind or because my Docs have always been part of the Military system ( or both).
I have also never been reviewed (I was 29 when I started SSDI). I would think that if the Docs in the area that you wish to relocate are indeed specialists in your diseases that they would know what disabilities would be associated with them and would be supportive as far as SSDI would be concerned.
Good luck with your decision, I wish you the best.
I have relocated 6 times since I was first approved (Army family), and 8 have never had an issue. It may be because I am stuck in a wheelchair and blind or because my Docs have always been part of the Military system ( or both).
I have also never been reviewed (I was 29 when I started SSDI). I would think that if the Docs in the area that you wish to relocate are indeed specialists in your diseases that they would know what disabilities would be associated with them and would be supportive as far as SSDI would be concerned.
Good luck with your decision, I wish you the best.
Thank you for your insight. So sorry to hear about your conditions. Wish you the best as well!
Perhaps your current doctors could recommended a doctor in TX that would offer the same diagnosis of your disability ?
They have referred me to the specialists.. My concern is that from what my disability attorney told me is that it's really luck of the draw as far as what your docs say. For example one of the doctors I see now feels that with my condition, even while on meds, I cannot work. She gets it. Her colleague (a doctor I have never seen but have heard awful things about) feels that even on meds that patients with my conditions could find "something" to do. He has a really negative connotation of SSDI (which is ridiculous because I paid into it for years! I didn't CHOOSE to be disabled). So if I wound up with a doc like him, who is very well versed in the condition, he feels like patients should just "suck it up" I just pray that any new doctor I get is understanding of the physical limitations.
Originally Posted by Newenglander0000;38453822I am considering relocating to Houston because[b
they have hospitals there that specialize in my rare conditions. [/b]
...
My concern is that if I stay here, where the docs don't really know how to manage my care or help me that I will just slowly get worse (which is what has happened over the years!).
Conflicting information. The whole reason you want to go to Houston is because they have hospitals that specialize in your conditions. And yet - you don't think their doctors know how to manage your care, and that they won't believe that you're disabled.
Why not communicate with the hospital omnibudsman offices in Houston and see if you can arrange a teleconference to discuss your concerns, before making any decision one way or another?
Conflicting information. The whole reason you want to go to Houston is because they have hospitals that specialize in your conditions. And yet - you don't think their doctors know how to manage your care, and that they won't believe that you're disabled.
Why not communicate with the hospital omnibudsman offices in Houston and see if you can arrange a teleconference to discuss your concerns, before making any decision one way or another?
Houston has the specialists. They will know what new meds to put me on and how to come up with a long term plan for me (which is why I am wanting to relocate there). I was saying that the doctors HERE where I am now are not doing a good job at managing my care. As in, they don't follow up with my other doctors, they don't work as a team, they don't even call one another to see if my medications will affect my other conditions. Those things have absolutely nothing to do with a doctor's opinion of whether or not I am able to work. Like I said in my other comments, some doctors- even the "experts"- think you can do "menial work" and associate young age and being on disability as a bad thing. I once had a doctor tell me it didn't matter that I was fainting 10x a day, that I should find a way to go to work. Sure doc, I'll just show up, faint and lay on the floor and not do my job. Ugh. Completely ignorant. Sadly, he was a great doctor when it came to managing my health. He retired though 3 years ago.
Just because a doctor is a specialist and can treat you does not necessarily mean he or she will be willing to deal with the paperwork and bureaucracy of SSDI. Many outright refuse to do so. Keep this in mind.
Just because a doctor is a specialist and can treat you does not necessarily mean he or she will be willing to deal with the paperwork and bureaucracy of SSDI. Many outright refuse to do so. Keep this in mind.
I thought that legally they couldn't refuse to complete SSDI paperwork?
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I just pray that any new doctor I get is understanding of the physical limitations.
