CA short term disability for temporary worker (insurance, lawyer)

[greenmax]

My mom is 62 years old and is having serious foot condition -its an infection that takes 2-3 months to heal (we talked to a friend doing nursing). She works as a substitute in school and has no medical insurance. Her work requires her to be on feet all day; which she is unable to do. Can she file for Short term disability in California?

As she doesn't have insurance , we are scared to go to any doctor as the doc might charge high fee and not sign on the disability form. Nobody in the family has ever used Short term disability and we want guidance. All I know what I read on the EDD website.

1) Can she get short term disability without seeing a doctor?
2) How can we ensure that the doctor will sign for disability when we visit him?

Please advice the best way possible to get this. I am not trying to use the system . My mom would need the money when she is unable to work.

[dburbs1975]

No. Social security disability does not cover medical issues that last for shorter than it takes to file and get approved - two years generally, or six months for catastrophic issues. A physician would need to fill out the paperwork, and there would have to be a paper trail regarding the condition. She may be able to file for medicaid or welfare, though.

as for question #2, you can never be sure. doctors who are known to sign disability forms for money lose their medical licenses and go to jail.

buy your mother medical insurance. that is the place to start. if she has a serious infection, and is not cared for, she can lose the leg, and/or die. Do the right thing here.

[greenmax]

The question is for Short term disability and not social security disability.
And I definitely want to show my mom to Doc but want to make sure I can get the short term disability started as well . Else she will be financially very tight.

Please help.

[dburbs1975]

still, the answer is that it does not exist unless she is working and the company provides it. once she is sick or has a problem she will never qualify for a private insurance either.

the answer is that the programs available are social security or welfare. you can call the local department of health for more information. there are also lists of free or low cost clinics. Get her some medical care. Nurses are not trained to diagnose.

[marcopolo666]

How does she not have medical insurance? It is MANDATORY since March or April of this year.

[dburbs1975]

no, it is not mandatory. there is a tax one can pay to get out of buying the insurance.

[marcopolo666]

Sorry, to me "you must have insurance or you will pay a fine" means mandatory. Like "if you drive without a valid license, you will get a fine" or "you drive over the speed limit, you will get a fine", etc.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Yes, your mom can get state disability. I have had it in the past and have a friend who gets it while she works part-time, because she is unable to work full-time. It's based on prior work history, kind of like unemployment.

First, your county should have some type of insurance your mom would qualify for, and it will probably be free or very cheap. So, look at your county's health webpage and/or call them up and ask them what your mom would qualify for and how to apply. I've had county insurance in CA for many years and in many different counties, and it's always been very good healthcare. I now have Medi-Cal, but I still use the county healthcare system here in Shasta County and I'm very happy with it here, too.

You can also contact this CA state number:

Help for the Uninsured

So, healthcare is not a big problem.

Next: Go ahead and apply for CA state disability. I found them very easy to work with. And, as I said, even if she's able to work less hours eventually, she can also draw partial CA state disability at the same time.

If you think her feet problems will be ongoing, I highly suggest she go ahead and also file for Social Security disability. She can file herself without a lawyer. The reason to go ahead and do this now, is to get the clock running in her favor. Even if they initially deny her, and she has to appeal and this goes on and on, her original filing date is important, as she could eventually get back pay all the way back to the initial application date (less what she got from state disability). It costs nothing to file, and she doesn't need an attorney.

When they deny her, which they almost always do initially, then she can get a Soc Sec disability lawyer, who won't charge her any money to appeal it for her. They won't take the case until she's been denied. The Soc Sec lawyer, by federal law, can't charge her more than a certain small percentage of her back pay, if she wins. They can't charge her any other fees. So, again, there's no risk to getting a SS disability lawyer when/if she's initially denied.

So, call the county and/or the state about healthcare, and have her apply for state disability. If it looks like it could be something that will affect her for the rest of her life, file for Soc Sec disability, too.

I have been through this myself. It doesn't sound like this is a workers comp claim, so I won't go into that.