How Many Stage 4 Girls are getting SS disability..
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I heard that yesterday to. That makes me very happy because I get death benefits on my children from my husband as well as my disability.
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When should we see this raise in the checks?
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I went to www.ssa.gov and it says it is for 2009 benefits. I didn't see it specifically say for disability payments. It says social security and SSI. Hopefeully we are included in that. I hate paying attention to details so maybe someone else can go read it. lol
Watson
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here is the link http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/colasummary.html if I read it correctly everyone gets the increase!!!0
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Yeah, that is good news because the rest of the money I have coming in is fixed and I wil never get a raise on that. I will have to live till 65 to get my retirement. I don't want to take it before unless I have to. LuAnn, I think you said somewhere before that you had your Parent Plus Loans forgiven. How long did that take? I sent in the initial paper work I would say over 3 weeks ago and haven't heard a word back. Is that normal? I'm sure they are not anxious to do it so probably drag their feet. Is that what you have found. Kathy
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I just had my student loans forgiven, someone else applied for their parents plus loan. I really can't remember how long it took once I mailed the paperwork in. I know mine was at least 3 months because my onc did not date the paperwork or write in the box what state he practices in....... But I was not being charged for the loan while they were processing the paperwork.
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I did get the raise last year on my SSD and it started with the check I got in January.
afaik, it should be for all SS and SSD recipients.
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Thanks for the reply LuAnn. I will continue to hope for some good news on the Parent Plus Loans. In the meantime, I will have to continue my payments.
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bumping this for the new ladies
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Bittersweet to see Shepgirl's name on this thread. I miss that girl. Damn cancer.
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If stage IV automatically qualifies, does that still apply if your cancer is considered stable?
My mets are to the bone, and my treatment is working, and to my understanding, it is keeping the cancer stabilized, but it is not a cure. I still have to put up with the pain though, and the fatigue, both mental and physical, from the treatment and side effects.
I just started the process of applying for SSD; I was diagnosed with the bone mets in April 2007; I worked as long as I could, but I recently had to quit, I just could not do it any more.
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Once a Stage IV, always a Stage IV. It doesn't matter if you get 100% better (which I hope!)
Watson
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Yes, it does apply even if you are stable, you should be fast tracked through the application process.
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mom2aCat, you just are considered disabled due to pain from cancer, fatigue from tx, depression from disease, let alone all the damage chemo causes to your body. So bottom line you enjoy your time off and enjoy your life!
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Thank you; I know I just started this process, but the waiting time is just making me nervous I guess. I can deal with waiting for the checks, if I at least know I'll be approved.
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I took my birth certificate in to the local office today, and also signed the cover letter for the medical release forms, which for some reason didn't print out for me when I printed the other forms online. The woman I talked to was very nice, and I think I did pretty well with the information I had already given on the online forms, she just had a few questions for me. I asked about the Compassionate Allowence, and found out that yes, my case is being processed as that. It's not a guarantee that I will get it, but I should have a decision by the end of December.
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momtoacat, You will get approved with no problem. I think some SS offices are busier than others and that is why it takes some so much longer than others to receive benefits. I had money deposited into my checking account 8 days after my appointment with them. That was the back money they owed me and then I started receiving the monthly deposits. One good thing, they are always there on the day expected. The bad thing, would be able to make more money than I receive if only I were still able to work. Hope you are well enough to enjoy your time not working. To me, it just feels like early retirement but I'm 59.
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Update: I was approved for SSDI beginning Feb 09. My plan is to try working but this is a safety net in case I can't. It took from 10-09-08 until 11-15-08 to apply AND get an answer...pretty fast I'd say.
Pat
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I have a friend who works for ss. He says that IF you are not approved with stage IV-- appeal!! If you do, be sure your docs are onboard with their documentation! There are lawyers that specialize in these appeals, but they take a lot of your $ when it comes in. My friend plans to retire soon (at 55) & become a consultant for ppl filling out the forms so the app is "correct" & it will expidite your approval--graeat idea!!!
The good news is you will receive "back pay"--from the time you were dx'd up to a year before your app. Unfortunately I applied 2 years after my dx so I "lost" one year. I was approved within the month & had the first check (the big one) in weeks.
The other good news is that you CAN work, but be sure to check the amount you can make in a year before they adjust your disability amount! (the $ is averaged-so you feasibly could make the year's allowance all in a short time & then wait for the next year to begin....)
Good luck!
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What I'm hoping for is to be able to return to work in Feb or March--after being off for 6 months--and working under the trial work period where you can earn as much as you can and still get full ssdi payments for up to nine months. This will help me pay off all my bills, keep my insurance which is all important, and put the rest into savings. After that and if God willing I'm able to....I will stay on the job and if not, I'll work only part time and earn only as much as they'll let you which in 09 will be I think 980.00 or 940.00 per month.
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I had never heard of that program where you can get full SSDI plus work as much as you want. I thought that defeated the purpose. But what do I know? lol
Watson
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I think you can still work with SSDI as long as your income doesn't go over a certain amount each month, from what I understand.
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It's called Trial Work Period. After that is used up then you can't earn over the 940 or 980 /month. There's alot of info on their site. here's a bit.
Social Security work incentives at a glance Trial work period - The trial work period allows you to test your ability to work for at least nine months. During your trial work period, you will receive your full Social Security benefits regardless of how much you are earning as long as you report your work activity and you continue to have a disabling impairment. In 2008, a trial work month is any month in which your total earnings are $670 or more, or, if you are self-employed, you earn more than $670 (after expenses) or spend more than 80 hours in your own business. The trial work period continues until you have worked nine months within a 60-month period. http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10095.html#part1
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I just had my appointment today and it was explained that the "trial work period" can commence only after a full year of SSDI. In the meantime, you can supplement cash flow only to about $900/mo. After fulfilling that time constraint, you may attempt to pull in anything for nine months. Of course, they will consider the work record after these 9 months, and re-evaluate. I am hoping and praying I'll be able to work some through this trail work period, myself - and pay some bills. Saving any would be a stretch. After one whole year on SSDI, I should be in the hole a minimum of $24K.
ULP!
Lisa
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kgrim,
About the PLUS loans - call them, and you will get an automatic deferral while they review the paperwork. That way you don't have to make any payments in the interim. That's what I did - they gave me a deferral that day, and paperwork came back a few weeks later. The loans are conditionally forgiven until your death, but you stop making payments. When you die, they are forgiven in total.
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Analemma, Thanks for the info. They didn't give me a deferral on the phone-sent the paper work to me to be filled out.. The onc. office didn't fill the paperwork out completely the first time so now I am waitng for them to fill out the paper work again. Maybe someday I will get this taken care of. I was hoping it would be before the holidays. I understand that if approved, they will repay the money I have paid since I became unable to work. That would be 15 months and would be great if that's true. I'm just afraid they will use that pre-existing clause. Although the paperwork does say if your condition became worse they would defer. I did work for 9 years after mets diag so hopefully they will see from that that my condition became worse that I am unable to work now. Sorry for rambling. Kathy
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See, all this confusion... That is why I want to contact a lawyer so I make the right decision. I find it hard to belive that there is not a resource for us ladies going through this to help us. I am going to make some calls in the next couple of months and will share any info I get.
Take care and be well
Linda
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Linda, just keep in mind if a lawyer helps you get the SSDI, I think they get 10% of any back money that you are owed. You may just want to have them help you with the work/ins. issues and handle the SS stuff yourself. I think all this info about life ins,health ins., student loans/pp loans, SSDI, etc should be readily available to us in one place but that doesn't seem to be the case. Hope things work out for you whatever you decide to do. Kathy
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As I posted (on another thread?) My friend who works for ss is planning to retire & start his own consulting business helping ppl like us fill out the forms correctly so the approval will be expedited AND to help us decide what choices to make regarding ins---I will talk to him in the next week & see if he has any suggestions....
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Ladies- just remember there is a difference between SSD and SSI- be sure you know which you are getting. In some cancer centers there are people who can help with the disability process. Check with your center or onc social worker. They do this all the time- excellant resource.
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