How Many Stage 4 Girls are getting SS disability..
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I tried to search the ssdi pages and couldn't find if they increased the amount of money that was allowed to be made while on ssdi
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Ok I just talk with SS about their trial return to work. They said if less than one year has gone by since approval that they would reopen the case and probably denied the claim, also the amount is only 700.00 gross month to earn. I will be getting my first check this month. So it has not been 12 months. My employer has kept me on health ins all this time for both me and dh. I have too much income for medi-cal and won't be elig for medicaid for some time. I am trying to get in an talk to my boss about this. I was planning on going back to work in two weeks for 16 hrs a week. I not sure but I think Cobra would run about 2000. per month. Does anyone have any ideas?
I was originally dx in May 2006 but was denied ssdi. Do you think I could appeal to have the date on onset changed?
Thanks for listening
Denise
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Denise- that is something different than earning $ while on SSDI.
Luann- I need to check it out this coming week as I plan to work 2 days a week in 2009.I thought I read somewhere that it is going up to $980.00 a month.
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Can I ask what you ladies did as far as health insurance goes while you await the 2 yrs for Medicaid to kick in? I can't imagine paying COBRA for 2 years..I could not afford that NO WAY and think I will never be able to do SSD for that reason alone. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks a lot
K-
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K, I'm covered on my husband's ins. plan at work. I am very thankful to have it because I know COBRA wouldn't have been affordable. Forgot to mentiion that I was covered under my ins at work for 1 year after stopping work(1 year medical leave). I just had to continue paying my portion of the premium. Maybe this is a possibility for you.
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I paid COBRA. Then I paid a private "no break in coverage" policy. My Kaiser policy is now second only to my mortgage in my expenses. I know it's no solution, but I'll eat beans every night before I'd let my ins. expire.
They get no bargain though - I got diagnosed thee weeks after I signed up.
Lisa
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Well I was able to get in and see my boss. When I explain what was happening with SSDI she said I should go on COBRA and I totally agree. No telling where this nasty cancer will show up next. I should be able to manage the cost as it is about half of what I thought it was going to be.
Has anyone been able to get SSDI to change the date of approval changed? In 2006 when I was first dx they denied my claim. So when mets happen in June 2007 I reapplied and was approved. I would sure like to have them change the date and go reto.
Denise
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you can try to change the date and see what happens, worst that will happen is they will deny and say it is of a certain date.
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Denise, I haven't read all the way back in the thread, but if you are still working, you are not considered disabled. They won't backdate the approval to a date when you were still working, or still "able" to work.
Pinehouse has a blog, and she's done a great overview of SSDI.
http://pinehouse.wordpress.com/ There's a link there somewhere, I was just reading it a week or so ago and thought what a good job of putting all the info in one location with concise language.
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Hi, I'm new to this site and could use a little advice. You could say my husband and I are self-employed as we own our own company. We have no employees except ourselves. I was diagnosed in February 2008 with Stg IV bc/bone mets. Business has been pretty slow the past few years, with winter always slower than the spring/summer. It's a struggle just to keep the bills paid especially our health insurance. Of course now we cannot afford to be without it.
My question is do you think I should still try to apply for SSDI as I'm still able to work where I'm at, however we get very few paychecks. We live in a very small community where not many people are hiring and I cannot do the things I once was able to do.
Thank you.
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As long as you have your SSDI quarters paid in I would jump and run for my money before things get too rough. Although I'm not sure if this presidential change is going to change for the better to help increase your earnings but that is a big gamble. Before you become too much of a burden on your premiums I would consider myself unemployed and volunteer for my husbands company.
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I concur with LuAnn. As long as you've done the time (put in the required quarters) you deserve to have the benefit. Remember, there is a six-month waiting period (well, five, but benefits are paid a month behind) so you are already beyond Spring should you file today.
You might also want to consider drawing the ~$900 monthly that SSDI allows you to take without penalty whatsoever. It could help with the taxes in the busier months.
Additionally, you have the enviable position of being kept on the company policy, no matter how few your hours. And when Medicare kicks in (after two years) it will be Primary payor, and your private policy will pay for everything it won't. SWEEEET!BTW - Stage IV is an automatic approval, even an expedited one.You don't need to show evidence you can't work, or work like you used to. You go to your appointment - No, you set up your appointment with the words "I have been diagnosed Stage IV cancer." They'll pay attention to that. All the evidence my case worker needed was essentially my oncologist's name. Well, and a few MRI's.
Good luck - let us know how it goes!
Lisa
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Thank you LuAnnH and Lisa. Your response was just what I was praying to hear. I'll let you know how it turns out.
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Lisa, did it really take 6 months??? I thought i read here and other places that stage iv was fast tracked since there really isn't any doubt as to qualifying. (?) SHIT 6 months? I'm soooooo screwed then.
Culiques, I thought the 2 year wait was for mediCARE not medicaid.
I guess I have really read things wrong. My stomach has now dropped to my knees. Sigh
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Marsha- the approval can be done very quickly but you don't receive benefits until 6 months from when you last worked (ie if your last day working is Jan 1, your first check would be for June.) Having stage 4 is only automatic approval only IFYOU HAVE ENOUGH WORK CREDITS.
Good luck everyone.
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the hardest part of the application is checking the box that says disease will end in death. Then they give you a number to call for your app to be done over the phone or at an office. I elected for the phone interview and had my approval within a month. You then have a 5 month waiting period from your last day of work until your first check. Since they pay a month in arrears it is actually six months til your first check. Then once you get your first check it is two more years until you are entitled to medicare. If you are on cobra you must request an extension because of disability and you can remain on cobra until medicare kicks in.
Also, if you have life insurance with your employer you need to check with human resources or your insurance provider if your policy has a "waiver of premium" if they do, that will allow you to keep you life insurance at no cost to you. The cost of the policy is waived and you can maintain your life insurance that way.
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I think the whole health insurance issue is what stresses me the most. I am "trying" to work while going through treatment. But if I don't get chemo breaks, I don't know how long I can be productive on the job.
I just don't know HOW I would afford Cobra for me and my kids on SS disabilty.
I have 18 years with the federal gov't. There has to be something for me.
I will be paying my HR office a visit soon. By phone doesn't seem to work sometimes.
Thanks ladies!0 -
I have enough work credits. Are they going to ask me when my last day of work was? That's my fear for calling as I am still going to work every day....just not getting paid very often.
I didn't know about the waiver of premiums for our life insurance policies. I'll have to check into that and see if my policy has that option. I am learning so much from all of you.
God Bless you all.
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Your last day of work would be the based on your last pay check, any other time you put in the office was simply volunteer work if you ask me?????
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Paula, you need to be not working. Also another thing-if you have student loans or parent plus loans you can get a loan discharge on those. You would have to call the company the loan is with and get them to send you the forms. Applying for SSDI was a hard thing-admitting you are that sick that you are going to be unable to work, also the income is a lot less that you can make if you are able to work. Just one of the many things that happen as you deal with this illness. Good luck. Kathy
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Bumping---just had an experience with Medicare that might help anyone else in the dark...... our clinic sent us to collection on an old balance so I did some investigation. When you qualify for disability thru SS you have a waiting period b4 you can get medicare. As I understand it you no longer have a choice. After one year on dis you automatically pay for medicare. I checked into it & I have been paying since may '07 (it automatically comes our of my payment & since my payment is direct deposit & dh takes care of finances I didn't even know!) So now that old balance that was our share of tx not covered by our primary ins is being submitted to medicare------not sure what will happen but the 2 ppl I spoke to "in the Know" said it should pay a chunk of the balance. For once something may go our way-I'll let you know!
Be well & stay strong
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Saint, I have been on disability for over a year and they are not taking money from me yet nor have I gotten any info about Medicare. I thought it was a 2 year wait. Good for you it they are going to may your balance or at least some of it. Kathy
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Marsha - the last day you worked (under some circumstances, it had to be full time, PAIN certainly compromised your work schedule!) and the time your MD will say you had Stage IV makes all the difference. If a missed diagnosis resulted in the fracture of head of a femur (!!!) one could say we could back date the forns well beyond your freakin' hospitalization.
Paula - if you don't show full-time hours (or close to it) this can serve as your day of disability, whether or not it was four months ago. If your work was affected by your illness, excess absenteeism, etc they would consider this. The crucial thing was when your doc said your were St IV. I was working a part-time position and they found me disabled from the date my onc. said I was.
Saint - are you or your husband of normal retirement age? I mean early retirement age - cause then they will deduct it. Not so for us who hope to see retirement age.
Lisa
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I was working as a Realtor. My last closing was Oct 23 (the day I got paid). I had stopped going into the office around the first of Oct due to the pain (showing property etc was just too much)
I did go to my part time job (less than $700 a month-just sitting answering a phone) the last day was Dec 16, three days before going into the hospital.
Funny, I got my social security notice 3 days after getting out of the hospital. You know the one that says if you were disabled today your benefits would be________.
My last years tax returns showed I was a Realtor. I only started that 20 hour week part time job in May 08 to bring in some extra cash since the real estate market is in the toilet. NOT an under the table job.
Advice on applying based on this? Also I wasn't asking about medicare in 2 years, but mediCAID which I think I qualify for. No health insurance and little pay for the last 4 weeks. How long does that take? Marsha
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Marsha, All I know about Medicaid is that it is based on income-probably on 2008. Best idea, I think would be to check with them on that. As far as SSDI I would go ahead and apply if you are unable to work They may well date it back to Oct or even further if you had missed work prior to that. I had missed work and then gone back for about 2 months and then was unable to work again. They dated mine back to when I was first off work(they called it a failed attempt to return to work or something like that) so they owed me I think 4 months already by the time I applied and was approved(I had money in the bank 8 days after my appt with the SS people) Good luck-getting approval will not be a problem. Kathy
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Kathy, let me make sure i understand. It takes 5 to 6 months to get your first check from the time you were considered Stage IV if it prevented me from working? So a doctor says Oct, work ended in Oct and I would be looking at 6 months from Oct instead of Dec when I had the "official" dx by breaking my femur? Obviously I had it longer if it was bad enough to break my femur.
Did I read that right? Marsha
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Hope I can remember all the responses here:
Neither of us is of retirement age. I applied for SSD 2 years AFTER my stage IV dx (at 52-do they consider that retirement age?). I was approved in a few short weeks & received my first checks (one a year in back pay) within a few weeks of that. I had been working part time & never taken time off....the ins I have with dis is medicare....many ppl have questioned me on this so I checked. When I was on dis about a year they sent us a letter stating what was available; when; & what was a choice & what wasn't. My dh fielded that one so I didn't know about any of it til recently (yes, I have a man who thinks I need to smile all the time so he tries to shelter me from the unpleasant) Apparently they can't take the $ for ins unless they inform you so you should get a letter at that point......
Marsha====femur break??? ME too!!! HUGS--it really sux! When did you break yours? Mine was 15 months ago..
Be well & stay strong
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Please help me understand this difference: This is from the pinhouse blog referenced above:
There is a 5 month "waiting period" counted from Disability Date. They will not pay benefit for the first 5 months of your disability. If your Disability Date is June 10th, your BENEFIT DATE is November. Your first payment will be FOR the month of November and you will not get the check until the 3rd week of December!!!! So, yes, you will not have any income from June to December. As an added benefit, you will be eligible for Medicare 24 months after Benefit Date. If your Benefit Date is November 2008, you will be eligible for Medicare starting November 2010.So, really your waiting period for Medicare is 24 months PLUS the 5 month waiting period???????? You have to cover 29 months of health insurance through COBRA or your spouse or out of pocket????? (CRY)
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I believe that is all true----I guess my Trip thru SSD was easier since I didn't apply until 2 years after stage IV dx (& I have chemobrain so I don't always remember things chronologically)! I haven't submitted anything to medicare until now as dh's ins covered most of the costs----we are now seeing how ppl's finances can be ruined by bc as our unpaid share mounts & we can't cover it! Quit tx? Send son to work instead of college? sell our house at a loss? SUX...but in my experience-an answer will come from the least expected corner!
NO doubt----My kids WILL get a degree!!! no matter what! Be well & stay strong
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Marsha, Yes, jI would say Oct then. If you missed work prior to that because of symptoms it could go further back as mine did. I found the man I dealt with at SS to be very helpful. I chose to go to their office for an appt rather than doing it over the phone or on the internet. That way he was able to ask me questions right on the spot and I was able to do the same. Save all lab work, scan results etc and take that with you. It will save time in the process. Kathy
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