Social Security Questions and Answers

ibcmets · January 2012

Thriceblessed,

I'm stage IV from the start and my company put me on short term disability for 6 months, then LTD. I was required to apply for SSDI immediately when I was on LTD, they even had a company to help me apply. Since I made more on SSDI than LTD, they were not required to pay LTD. My company provided my medical insurance and I was switched to Medicare after 2 years on SSDI. They still cover me as secondary on my medical insurance.

I would be more concerned about having to go on Cobra as Cobra is expensive, so I would think about going on SSDI while disabled. There is a 5 months waiting period for payments to start. You would have to be off of work to get approved as this is disability.

I'm sure all companies do not work the same, but call your beneftis dept.

Terri

scuttlers · January 2012

Joyce, no one is even thinking that you are trying to work the system. I think it sucks big time that your job is doing this to you, especially after 38 years! I am just trying to be honest about the probabilities of being approved for SSDI. it could be possible, but in my humble opinion, it would be difficult.

Hope you are able to work it all out.

NMM · January 2012

Joyce,

You have several posts so I will try and answer all o fthem with one reply.

I would apply now. If you go back to work and then stop after a short attempt that is ok as long as you don't work for several months in a row.

You can apply at the same offic eyou get a SSA card. or just go to ssa.gov and enter your zip code and they will give you local office address.

I don't want to make it seem random, but no one knowswhat will or will not make some one disabled. Of course more advanced conditions are clearly fgoing to be better cases. But so many facots go into the analysis that someone with a certain age, educaiotn and work background with what many consider a minor problem could be found disabled. Especially if they have other pre exitsing problem that are also layered on.

So bottom line, apply.

Being 63 you are also eligible for your early SSA retirement as well.

If you are depressed, get treatment. It could help but at least it will support your SSA claim.

Sometimes the hardest thing I have to get my client's to accept is that they are indeed disabled.

It is kinda like a 12 step program. I don't know all the steps, but I do know the first step is always accpetece fo the problem.

Sometimes the hardest thing I have to get my client's to accept is that they are indeed disabled.
It is kind of like a 12 step program.

I don't know all the steps, but I do know the first step is always acceptance of the problem.

So the best thing to do is simply say to yourself"I am disabled and that is ok"

Once you wrap your mind around that it gets easier to move on. I think Chick, based on her posts, understands what I am talking about.

No one after a life time of measuring their production by the amount of hours they work a week, wants to admit that they are weak, need help, not as productive as before.

But accepting, at least for SSA purposes, that you have a medical problem that interferes with your ability to work, i.e., you are disabled, is the first step in moving on and focusing on what is the most important thing.

That is, getting better.

So say it till you yourself believe it, I am disabled and that is ok.

Another thing for everyone to understand is that often those who love you have already accepted your disability and are ok with it that is why they are loved ones. They are just waiting for you to be ok with it too.

Always remember, 1% of you alive are better than 100% of you dead.

Meaning that those who care for you will focus on what you have, not what you lost, and be grateful even if you are 1% of who you used to be.

So don't waste time worrying about your job, focus your energy on yourself.

I mean I love my job, but at the end of the day when the sands in my hourglass run out I know I am going to be thinking about how I wish I had more time with my kids and not that I could have worked some more.

So know, when you still have some energy left, worry about the things that are truly important, not those things we have been condittioned by life to think are important.

Steven

NMM · January 2012

A few have mentioned they follow along so I did not want this to get lost in the last post as it is advice that I find my client's appreciate.

Sometimes the hardest thing I have to get my client's to accept is that they are indeed disabled.

It is kinda like a 12 step program. I don't know all the steps, but I do know the first step is always acceptence of the problem.

Sometimes the hardest thing I have to get my clients to accept is that they are indeed disabled.
It is kind of like a 12 step program.

I don't know all the steps, but I do know the first step is always acceptance of the problem.

So the best thing to do is simply say to yourself"I am disabled and that is ok"

Once you wrap your mind around that it gets easier to move on. I think Chick, based on her posts, understands what I am talking about.

No one after a life time of measuring their production by the amount of hours they work a week, wants to admit that they are weak, need help, not as productive as before.

But accepting, at least for SSA purposes, that you have a medical problem that interferes with your ability to work, i.e., you are disabled, is the first step in moving on and focusing on what is the most important thing.

That is, getting better.

So say it till you yourself believe it, I am disabled and that is ok.

Another thing for everyone to understand is that often those who love you have already accepted your disability and are ok with it that is why they are loved ones. They are just waiting for you to be ok with it too.

Always remember, 1% of you alive is better than 100% of you dead.

Meaning that those who care for you will focus on what you have, not what you lost, and be grateful even if you are 1% of who you used to be.

So don't waste time worrying about your job, focus your energy on yourself.

I mean I love my job, but at the end of the day when the sands in my hourglass run out I know I am going to be thinking about how I wish I had more time with my kids and not that I could have worked some more.

So when you still have some energy left, worry about the things that are truly important, not those things we have been conditioned by life to think are important.

Steven

NMM · January 2012

Inmate:

What Chick said.

Bottom line if not sure about SSI vs. DIB check with your local office.

Steven

NMM · January 2012

Scut:

Re: Family friend...he shoudl really appeal or try again.

Steven

NMM · January 2012

3xblessed

If applying for SSA benefits is part of the LTD contract then you are obligated to apply for it as soon as the plan says so. Which is usualy right away or when you ask for LTD benefits knowing you are not going back to work.

They of course can't force you to apply, but then again they can also stop paying you cuz you did not apply.

As far as benefits for delaying application, in the context of LTD plan you really don't have the choice if you want LTD benefits.

Steven

Chickadee · January 2012

Joyce, is that $2-300 month the figure off your SS yearly benefit estimate for SSDI should you qualify?

Absolutely not prying but really praying that the number is wrong. Or even that the employer may have done something fraudulent like not make their payments.

rakulynda · January 2012

I'm glad to have found this thread and have a question. I'm on SSDI and a family member is considering gifting me $10,000. Will this effect my SSDI payments? I am asking this question to many different forums and hopefully will receive the same answer from all sources! Thanks in advance for your help.

Lynda

NMM · January 2012

Raku

If you are on Title II DIB then no. SSI Title XVI yes.

Steven

NMM · January 2012

If I may take a liberty with the thread...

Wife got an email with a link on

Yttrium-90 Radioembolization

not sure where to post to start a new thread to see if anyone has info. did a search and only got 3 results.

Ideas?

marial · January 2012

I was just recently "laid off" from my job while being out on LTD. My medical benefits are gojng to end at the end if the month. My employer said this will not affect me getting my LtD, but my LTD carrier said that they will begin taking out SSDI from my LTD checks and I can get it back if I apply and get denied..does that make sense?

Chickadee · January 2012

NMM, I think I'd start in the stage IV forum. Someone may have heard of it.

37antiques · January 2012

http://www.radiologytoday.net/archive/rt0910p20.shtml

From October 2010 - seems to require someone experienced as it is quite precise. There seems to be a lot of prerequisites involved, but if you can find someone who can do it and your wife meets the criteria it sounds very promising.

scuttlers · January 2012

My LTD required that I apply for SSDI also. It is in the book for the LTD. (read through the book, it has important information). I do not see how they can deduct BEFORE you are approved and before you start receiving the SSDI payments. First, there is a waiting period for the SSDI payments. (I received full payments from the work disability until the SSDI payments started.). And second, how would they know how much you are going to be paid through the SSDI? It is absolutely spelled out in the handbook that SSDI must be applied for. And the sooner you apply, the better.

I filed FMLA at work, and completed all applications in the same week STD, LTD, SSDI, and Accelerated Benefits from Life. This gave me 12 weeks to make sure all was approved BEFORE I became unemployed! Very important, as once you are not an employee, you do not qualify for the benefits. Do not rely on your HR department to know this. Mine tried to tell me that I HAD to be DONE with work and then apply. The Insurance company told me that if I had done this, I would have no longer been covered under the plans!

Hope this helps!

NMM · January 2012

Scutt:

Very good points. Yes I have seen that happen to people. Assume bad injury on June 1...person sucks it up and keeps working until 9/15...when let's say the company does a mass lay off. On 9/20 person applies.

Sorry Charlie.

The avbove is a rough and simple description of a problem. Can the person still have a chance, sure but it is uphil battle.

As bad as SSA is...SSA is a teddy bear compared to LTD insurance companies.

Scutt is right, get all your paper work filled out before you leave work an/or get your applicaiton in before your employer "offically" temrinates you. Meaning you can be off work and still "employed" but once you get the final temrinaiton notice you can lose some rights.

Steven

NMM · January 2012

marial

I have seen some LTD plans offset in advance. Some do some don't. I also have seen where some plans offset in advance unless the person signs an explicit agreement to pay back if they get SS.

I would ask you LTD carrier if they have such a process.

Steven

Medigal · January 2012

Steven: I did a google on it and got an entire page of different articles on it. It seems to be a new treatment for people with liver cancer. If your wife has this, I would suggest posting a new thread in the Stage IV forums and ask them if any of them have tried this treatment or can give you additional info on it. Reading articles is one thing but nothing is better than hearing from people who actually tried the treatment. So sorry to hear your wife is at this point in her suffering with this disease. I do hope you get the info you need to help her. Best of luck to you both!

Medigal · January 2012

Steven: I have created a new thread for you on the Stage IV and Metastic Breast Cancer forum. It is labeled "Need Info on Yttrium-90 Radioembolization". If anyone on there has used this treatment or knows more about it, I know they will be glad to help you. You can give them additional information if you want and more details about what you need. I was just trying to set it up for you. May this treatment turn out to be something that can help your dear wife.

Note: One of the ladies sent me this link which she hopes may also help you in your quest to help your wife:

http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/775003?page=10#post_2695843

Medigal

NMM · January 2012

Thanks for the help onmy last question. I asked because we had an upcoming appointment.

Had a second opinion today with an onc at city of hope. No surprise when she said my wife has cancer...lol.

But onc did say that after two cycles of chemo instead of moving to third chemo of xeloda she thinks going hormone route is the way to go with faslodex Zolodex cocktail.

Says to push for a pet to see if xeloda is working and if not moveon to hormone drugs.

Wondering if anyone has any ideas about pushing our regular onc that way?

Onc also said she looked at films and estimated that wife has tumor in about sixty percent of liver.

Steven

Medigal · January 2012

Steven: No two ways about it. If I were you I would take the findings from the other Onc to her regular Onc and let he/she know that you want to try what the second Onc feels is the best path for your wife to take. In the condition your beloved wife is, this is no time for any doctor's "pride" to get in the way. You wouldn't be searching so desperately for help if you felt what her first Onc is doing is helping her more. No pushing should be needed, imo. They both should want to do what is best for your wife. Get No.1's opinion and unless he/she feels it can make your wife worse, I say you may as well try it. The best thing she has going for her now is "you" and I know you will make the right decision. Bless you both!

Chickadee · January 2012

Ask your wife's onc if she would benefit from the combo that has recently shown great promise......Evrolimus/Aromasin. It has also been combined with other AI's. I'm only a couple weeks into it so can't give you results. There is a trial at MD Anderson that still has openings according to another stage IV on here. You can check out our thread Afinitor/Aromasin in the stage IV forum.

NMM · January 2012

Medi: Thanks for the postive vibe and affirmative direction.

Chick: yeah..we started to do that last night...but got a little overwhelmed with the emotion of the second opinion...first time a Dr. has put a % on the tumor involvment in the liver.

we just get that feeling of being tied to the tracks with the 4:10 from yuma coming down and no Dudley Doright in sight...sigh...

anyway the second opinion onc said we shoudl consider the following as couses of hormonal treatment

1. Faslodex and Zoladex and femara

--------------------------or

2. Tamoxifen

----------------------
or

3 one of the three AI s (femara, aromasin, arimidex) + Zoladex

so I wll start researching those as well as your Evrolimus/arormasin mash up.

justagirl · January 2012

Steven,

Femara has proven results to shrink some tumors to 0%... I know of quite a few women here who take femara to arrest the progression of mets too.

I had a lumpectomy, tumor invasive and aggressive but not lymph node involvement. 6 months later I found my other breast to be full of stage 0 breast cancer, which has the potential to morph 25 - 40% into full-blown BC and bilaterally. Since I had already had a lumpectomy in the other breast, and was on Femara, this was enough for me to want and did have a double mastectomy. Afterward, both the surgeon, plastic surgeon and my GP thought I wouldn't need to stay on Femara but my gentle, quiet talking woman oncologist said to stay on Femara was like insurance, even though I do have side effects which are a nuisance. Oncologist here in Australia, who writes papers and does studies on BC said Femara was well worth it's side effects, which would be minor if it would help arrest your wife's tumor in her liver.

Is there any possibility of surgically removing the tumor from her liver?

The best to both of you and your children. Steven, you help so many people here. You are a blessing in a maze of governmental confusion..

Chickadee · January 2012

Google the Bolero II trial. They halted the trial early because the results were so encouraging. Afinitor is the brand name, Evrolimus the generic.

rosie06ct · January 2012

Steven, thank you so much for posting and answering our questions....

I am stage iv and still working full time as a custodian at our local school. We have no disability plan and I carry the health insurance for hubby and me..

I am so scared as I read that if you go on ssd ,you have to wait 24 months until you can get medicare. That is so crazy! I am trying so hard to keep working but worry how long that will last. I am 54 .

radiant · January 2012

Hi Steven:

I have liver mets as well. I'm going to send you two other ideas via the privage message system, one I've tried and seems to be working and one I'm super interested in!

I am one of those people having a hard time being disabled. I've done all I can to keep myself going for the last 1.5 years - now, I really need another outlet. I have been approved for SS and my employers LTD. If I worked 10 hours a week, for 3 months (not sure how I'd do this, as I'd have to probably do it through ticket to work), is that going to screw me benefit wise? I can only go in 3 month increments as I have no idea if I will continue to be stable or need to go on a clinical trial soon, etc.

I used to have a national position that was a huge piece of my heart work. I used to be able to do alot of good for myself and others. It's a BIG bummer to just be managing bc full time. It's winter - and not the easiest time to volunteer. I have other outlets, but as I said, I want more.

thanks for your input?

Big Hugs,

Kim

tropicmom · January 2012

Hi, This might have been answered before, but I just don't think I can read through all the pages of Q/A. I do love that this is here.

I am stage IV but currently NED. I had a recurrence 2 years after first dx, and that sent me into a downward tizzy which I never experienced when we found mets in the liver. I am positive that the recurrance was due to stress in my job. My onc was so concerned she agreed that I should take some time and signed papers for prelimnary LTD through job. I have been on P-LTD for a year. Onc doesn't want to authorize that I'm disabled since I', NED and only on tamoxifen. I applied for LTD anyway, and waiting to see what will happen. Not too optimistic.

But my question is : I did apply for SSD on virtue of the Stage IV dx . I was pretty optimistic since I also had psychiatrist saying I had depression and anxiety.

I guess I don't know what my question is. Should I appeal? Should I appeal myself or go ahead and get an attorney to help? OOh, this is so frustrating. I actually am looking for a job and just forget all about all this cancer shit. Yeah, and this economy is just bursting with jobs and medical insurance! Oh yeah, and without the LTD, I now have now insurance to help pay for my tamoxifen, and anti anxiety meds, and every three month scans.

Thanks for reading my rant

insurancer · February 2012

Steven - Also wanted to thank you for all you for all your wisdom and assistance. Good luck today, I will be thinking of you and your wife and wishing you the best.Cheap Holiday Insurance

The STD (premium paid by me) is a 90 day plan, the LTD is a 2 year plan, but my company will not permit me to be absent for 2 years, that is what was driving my decision point in the next couple of weeks. I think they would agree to a 30 day extension of my ADA leave (new date of return to be 8/1/11) but nothing beyond that. I would either have to resign or be fired.

ladyleen4 · February 2012

Hi,

I'm wondering if I am able to apply for Social Security now that I've been diagnosed with bone metastasis? I have enough quarters, but haven't worked since 2000.

God bless you for taking the time to answer our queries, when you are having to also take care of your beautiful wife and family. Please give her gentle hugs for me.

Eileen (ladyleen4)

Social Security Questions and Answers

Comments

Categories