STEAM ROOM FOR ANGER

Lula73

Candy- there’s a thread here on BCO about SSD that tells you exactly how to apply without having to hire an attorney if you’re stage IV. Stage IV diagnosis gets you on the expedited automatic approval list. You just have to know how to file it properly. That thread will walk you through it.

Artista964

Here's the link to the best info and forum out there on ssdi and ssi. Check it out.

https://ssdfacts.com/forum/index.php

candy-678

Thank you ladies !!! 

I didn't realize there was a thread on here for this issue.  

I hope to be able to continue to work for a long time.  I am just wanting info for a Plan B for when things progress.  And I don't want to be caught off guard if the company one day says " We have to let you go, you missed too much work over the year. Or, you cannot continue to do the work we hired you for".  Progression and failing health will be hard enough without losing income and insurance without a plan in place.  

Scary, when I think about the future.  Loss of health, loss of job, loss of money.  I am a single household income.  

pajim

Candy, I'm so sorry your workplace isn't supportive. Grrrr. [I don't know how I'd do without mine. They are there being helpful every step of the way)

candy-678

Lula73-

I was just looking at BCO and where do you find the thread about SSD like you mentioned in your post?  I went to "All Topics" and see there is an area about financial, is this the one?  Looks like people post about several financial issues.  Do I start a new topic? 

Artista964

under financial... here's a good thread..

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/113/topics/850564

jaycee49

Candy, I applied for SSD online myself. No lawyer required. No way I'm giving 30% of anything that should be mine to a lawyer. It is not difficult. It just takes time and patience. I wrote up some advice about it for a friend's niece who was procrastinating. PM me your email address and I'll send it to you. The first thing you have to do is decide if that is what you want to do. Once you start the process, you are committed to it. If you fill out a bunch of the stuff online and then stop, you'l have to start over when you decide to do it again. They will save it while you are working on it but I assume for a limited amount of time. Plus, your answers may change over time. Your description of your condition now may be different from your description two years from now.

edwards750

Good advice Jaycee. Of course all those infomercials by lawyers insist you can’t get it done without a lawyer. Good for you. 30% is ridiculous.

Diane

Lita57

Ahh, the JOYS of dealing with Social Security.....

I received notification by mail today that they will start my Medicare Part A and Part B this month, and my monthly payment will be deducted/credited $134.00 each month to pay for it.

WTF ?!?!?

Why are they doing this? I'm NOT EVEN 60 YEARS OLD YET! To my knowledge, one is NOT even supposed to sign up for medicare until one is at least 65. So, I went on line, got the PDF fill-in APPEALS form and filled it out. I will now have to haul my rear over to the SS office first thing Tuesday morning and turn it in.

They better have a DAMN good explanation for this. I've only been on Social Security Disability, NOT regular Social Security Retirement. Is this some capricious thing? Are they trying to save money because they have paperwork that states I'm Stage IV Metastatic/Terminal and it's time to push me over to a smaller payment and gouge me for $134 each month because I should be dead already?

Geez!

L

Artista964

Lita,

This is how it is for all ss disability folks, even 30 year olds. Mc a is free. Mc b is 134 a mo premium for not only seniors but everyone on ss disability. Another bonus for us on disabilty.. you have up to 6 mo to get a supp if you want it. Once you get it, you can only go down in coverage, not up, until you are 65 and you get transferred to regular social security benefits.

So at age 52 I had to figure i have a long way till 65 assuming I'm still here. So I got the highest supp coverage to mc, aarp plan f. We on disability pay the same for part b but supps are higher premiums than seniors because disableds see docs and hospitals in general than them.

I haven't heard of stage 4 getting out of paying premiums. You can ask on the forum i linked here under mc and find out. The mods and people there know a ton.

Artista964

I filled out my form myself. If you are denied then you seek a lawyer, but not before. And it can take a year or 2 if you aren't one who can be rushed through to get before a judge. I laugh when the republicans say we need to tighten who gets ss disability. Only 20% get through on first try. I'd say it's tight enough!

Anonymous

candy-678, people can surely successfully obtain benefits without the use of an attorney. But the Social Security Administration may deny claims improperly. And, believe me, the people sitting behind these governmental desks can make mistakes.

I hope you are successful with your claim and you probably will be. But, if not, I'd rather fight than switch.

Micmel

Try an advocacy group... I don’t believe they charge 30% and they handle Everything, if you have disability through your company from work they usually pay for it. My group was called Allsup. They streamlined the entire process for me and knows exactly what they are looking for. To get you approved... they were fantastic. I would call them before ever trusting a lawyer with 30% of my money. Try them. They are amazing. Good luck. But start applying soon. There is a waiting period to where you can’t have any gainful employment on record for the past at least 6 mons to year. Look them up!!! They got me approved! I paid nothing. My old employer had to pay for it because I was employed with them at time of injury. And I also paid into the disability coverage when I was working. Look into every avenue. The problem usually turns outto be health coverage. Cobra is too expensive and that is part of the waiting period. When the insurance kicks in. But contact them immediately! ~M~

candy-678

Government crap !!!! 

Lita 57-  Sorry for your problems with SSD.  I hope you get it figured out, but I bet you will now be $134 poorer each month.

I hope I can continue to work, because I cannot afford to go on SSD.  Especially with having to find a way to pay for health insurance. 

jaycee49

Lita, I sort of remember when I applied for SSD that there was a way to opt out of getting Medicare automatically after two years. Most people on SSD WANT Medicare since they are not working. What you are supposed to do for two years, I have no idea. I was on DH's insurance at his work. You probably are, too. For people not in that position, it is a very deep black hole. Cobra is prohibitively expensive. When my Medicare came through after two years, I choose to take that since it was less expensive than my part of DH's work insurance. They encourage you to take Medicare saying that if you don't, they will charge you more for it later. This is what I remember from 14 years ago. My memory could certainly be defective.

mustlovepoodles

Both my DH and my DS23 are fully disabled. DH in 2007 and DS23 in 2013, when he turned 18. Both of them were automatically put on Medicaid 24 months after qualifying for SSI (DH) and SSDI (DS).

Artista964

like I said, all questions can be answered on the mc forum on the ss disability site linked. Sign up and get firm answers.

Lita57

Did some research online, and spoke to a couple of people at church this a.m. who know way more about SSI/SSDI than I do.

I still have to make a few phone calls, but I will do that on Wednesday. Tuesday is going to be nuts cuz everyone and their grandmother will be calling these offices after the Labor Day wknd.

Glad I DIDN'T do anything too hastily and full on cancel the coverage like i was gonna do. My situation is not the same as most people's out there: I have the benefit of DH's health insurance and altho I do have co-pymts, they're not outrageous. One woman said I "might" be able to use my Kaiser as the Part B supplemental, but she said to CALL the SS office to make sure.

But here's the deal: If I travel (on road trips) to a state that DOESN'T have Kaiser and something happens to me, what happens then? Well, I'll have to pay FULL PRICE for dr services, emergency overnight stay, etc., that Part A doesn't cover, if I don't have Supplemental B insurance. (Medicare Part A, as you know, is pretty much a joke...it doesn't pay for the expensive stuff, so you HAVE to have the supplemental plan.)

So I guess it's par for the course, sigh. We all have to pay for auto insurance, fire insurance, life insurance, etc. I'll miss it, but I guess another 134.00 per month isn't going to kill me. I'll just have to look for ways to tighten the belt. We hardly ever go out anymore (went to see Christopher Robin at the movies yesterday afternoon, but that's about it).

I'm still not going to do anything until I talk to some "professionals" about this. AARP supposedly has some decent plans that I'll have to check out.

Thanks for all your help,

L

MelissaDallas

Lita, by law all companies' Medicare supplements have the same exact same coverages, unless you do something like an advantage plan, which is basically an HMO. Only difference is price and customer service, and, I assume, what doctor's accept what companies..

JanetMara

hi Lita, a working individual will qualify for MEDICARE even if she/he is below 65 so long as he /she is disabled for 2 years.I don't know if you've been disabled for 2 years. So,that's probably the reason why you received a medicare coverage. There are also cases like ESRD-going for dialysis or BLACK LUNG DISEASE that makes them qualify for medicare even though they are below 65.

JanetMara

hi Lita, a working individual will qualify for MEDICARE even if she/he is below 65 so long as he /she is disabled for 2 years.I don't know if you've been disabled for 2 years. So,that's probably the reason why you received a medicare coverage. There are also cases like ESRD-going for dialysis or BLACK LUNG DISEASE that makes them qualify for medicare even though they are below 65.

Lita57

I've been on ssdi for 2 yrs now.

L

LoriCA

I started to fill out my SSDI application six months ago and stopped when I read that I would be automatically enrolled in Medicare at the two year mark because I'm not sure that's what I want. Can a person collect SSDI and not enroll in Medicare? Will be interested to hear what you learn Lita.

It would be great to cut our $20,000/year insurance premiums in half when I qualify for Medicare, especially since I'm not working now and the premiums are a huge cut into our budget, but I've heard and read a few things about Medicare coverage that is concerning and if true would cost me more out of pocket money in the long run. For example, if you're on Medicare you cannot accept any co-pay assistance funds from drug companies (there was a recent legal case in the news, it falls under federal anti-kickback laws), and my H&P costs $10,000 every 3 weeks with a 20% co-pay, which is covered by Genentech (the drug manufacturer) under their co-pay assistance program. There is no way I could pay $2,000 every 3 weeks out of pocket, how do people on Medicare do it??

I also wonder how difficult it is to get things approved. My current insurance company has been stellar as far as giving approvals often the same day. If my MO wants me to see another specialist or get a scan, I usually have approval and the appointment scheduled before I even leave my MOs office. I'm concerned about how going on Medicare might affect my quality of care with government bureaucracy obsessively worrying about keeping costs to a minimum. Yeah, I know that my insurance company could potentially do the same, but so far they've been outstanding about everything. All this worrying about the automatic Medicare enrollment has been keeping me from collecting the SSDI money I'm entitled to.

Lula73

candy678 - here’s a link for you that gives great detail on SSD and stage 4...

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topics/424992?page=1

KatyK

ok nothing to do with SSD. Just sad because my DH and I had our camping van all packed and heading to OR coast for a while and really looking forward to it when part way there we had to come home. I have a stupid tooth that acted up and saw dentists today and need a root canal! Ugh! A root canal instead of a nice vacation with DH. Life is not fair sometimes! I guess I’ll just deal with it!

Meow13

katyk, I blew the whole month of August on a molar root infection. It took 2 weeks to feel better from root canal. I am better and hope have fun at Seaside and cannon beach. It is suppose to rain but I think we will enjoy. I'd like to go horseback riding on the beach. Don't know if anyone is doing that in the area. I hope you feel better soon, the pressure pain was driving me crazy, Advil helped me more than opiods.

KatyK

Root canal scheduled for tomorrow morning. I’ll let you know how it goes. Not in pain now.

mistyeyes

Candy678- I had FMLA last year and signed up for it this year also because of new medicine with a side effect of horrible diarrhea. It is so they cannot use absences against you in evaluations. Your being absent more than 7 days in a year would be covered with FMLA.

Lita57

Misty...SO SORRY about your diarrhea!

I'm in the same "crappy" camp. I have had what my DD calls "blow outs," with the stuff rolling down my legs. NOT FUN! Be sure to keep lots of Imodium and Pepto on hand (whatever gets the job done). Lomotil is available, too, but it does have some side effects, so I'd rather use a Smith & Wesson rather than a bazooka to deal with it ). I wear Depends when it gets really bad. This last Gemzar cycle has been a bad one, sadly, but I REFUSE to be a prisoner of my house and chained to the commode.

Good luck to you!

L

candy-678

Quick update for all my friends that have posted in response to my FMLA/Human Resources/SSD questions---

I met with the Human Resources Department of my employer today.  She was very nice.  Her own mother died of MBC 15 years ago after battling it for 3 years ( liver and brain ).    I think she is one who can truly understand.  She has been with our company 3 years.  She was unsure about some of my questions, but seemed willing to get answers for me.   She did advise that I sign up for intermittent FMLA as soon as possible.  I came home and started the process.  She also directed me to a program our company offers ( I knew nothing about ) where I can speak to an attorney about my questions concerning SSD.  It will be a 30 minute consultation at no charge.  I started this process when I got home also.  I should hear from the attorney in the next couple of weeks.  

I will post any help/advise I receive so others can learn from this also.

Thanks to all on this site.  We truly have each others backs.