Social Security Disability

Kat,

One thing to mention is that at stage IV you most likely will be approved for SS disability.  My payout for SSDI was more than what I would get (70%) on LTD so I was never able to collect on LTD although I did qualify for it.

Terri

Great Info Nancy... Question for anyone on SSDI. I got my first check direct deposited last month on Feb.8th. I assumed that it would be direct deposited every month on the 8th. Today when I checked my account I didn't see my SSDI check deposited on my online balance. Hope to see it tomorrow. Ever happen to anyone? Am I wrong to expect it every month on the same date.

Terri,
I truly feel I screwed myself out of STD/LTD. I worked for one employer for 6 years, and then for another for 6 more years. The first employer bought the 2nd employer, and laid off most of all the people that had worked for them before. I got laid off in Oct 2008 (financial market meltdown).
In Jan 2007 I was dx with mets to my chest wall, after 8.5 yrs of NED. Original dx in 1998 was stage II. Now I was stage III, or so I thought, but my onc now calls it stage IV NED. In 2007, while working full time, I went through surgery, chemo, rad, and then on to arimidex for a year, then Femara, and then mets to lung in Oct 2009.
So now I was officially stage IV. I contacted my former employer, thinking I might still be able to get LTD, because it was still within 1 year that I had been laid off (I was collecting unemployment). Of course I got nowhere. I just wish I would have applied for LTD back in 2007, or even 2008 as I was going through all these treatments. But like the good worker bee I was, I kept on working until they laid me off.
I got approved for SSD right away starting Oct 2009, and started receiving benefits 5 months later. I'm eligible for Medicare starting April 1st this year. 
It still bothers me that I missed that opportunity to apply for LTD while I was still working. I had paid in to that insurance for 12 years, and lost it all the moment they laid me off. 
Sorry for the rant, but I just felt like venting.

Thanks to all of you for reading,
Helmie 

Thanks for the advice. I pulled out my paper work. I get it the 2nd Wednesday of the month. Last month it feel on the 8th. This month because of leap year for March it falls on the 14th. Oh well, I hope I don't bounce ant checks. I guess you live and learn...

I created a password and wrote it down to use later.

I applied for SSD over the phone on Tuesday and when I checked online today it says that it has been approved and they are sending me something in the mail. I am currently on STD until April and I have LTD. I'm wondering how that will work and if the SSD will cause my LTD to automatically approve me or if I will still need to go through the approval process for the LTD. Any info on this whole topic would be appreciated.

Hi, I have been on disability for the past 7 months. If I wanted to try and work again, I could not return to my old position as the stress level was way too high and my cognitive functioning has decreased. However, does anyone know how it works if you wanted to try and work, but could only handle a less paying job? Does your monthly income drop since the disability payments would end but you are not making as much money?

You also need to know that this could affect your eligibility long term. For example, when your review comes up (and they all eventually do), they will look very closely at whether they will continue with your SSDI, or not.

Lauriesh, were you able to continue working through a continuation determination?

it is indefinite. I Don't know how much of effect it has when you are up for renewal. On the renewal questionnaire, it asks if you have been working and how much you make a month. So, it is one of the factors they look at. I stopped working about 4 months before I got the renewal questionnaire, so I think it will help as I said I stopped working because my health got worse. The minimum time for renewal is 3 years, so you could work for awhile before you were up for renewal