First, let me say, I'm not some Pollyanna who believes that everyone who applies for disability has a legitimate claim. There are those who are trying to get a free ride in this world, but I'd like to think they're in the minority. Okay, so maybe I'm a wee bit of a Pollyanna. It's interesting to note that, nationwide, a whopping 70% of initial disability applications are denied.
Here are some things that I learned by applying for disability:
1. Many people have to apply several times and/or fight with the SSA before their disability is approved. There are a few 'automatic' approvals, such as if the applicant has a terminal illness. These cases are "fast tracked" and the person is almost immediately granted disability status. For example, yours truly. Within a couple of weeks of applying for disability, I received notification of approval of my disability claim due to my case being fast tracked. But that is the rarity. Most people have to wait months and months, in some cases, years, before their disability claim is decided upon.
2. If your disability claim is approved, you better have at least six months of financial support you can tap into, because all disability cases are subject to a five month waiting period before benefits begin. Erm...what? Yes, you read correctly. Applicants who are approved for Social Security disability lose the first five month of benefits. I suppose they want to make sure that the applicant is truly disabled and that they won't be able to go back to work in the intervening five months. There is a supplemental insurance but if you have any assets, you can forget about tapping into the supplemental insurance. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a sibling who is willing to let them come a crash in their house. I'm not certain what people with limited incomes do during the five-month waiting period.
3. After the qualifying disability, the applicant starts receiving Medicare insurance after 24 months of disability! As annoying as the five month waiting period is, this 'rule' is the most aggravating. People who have a disabling illness need health coverage more than anyone else. The 24-month waiting period for Medicare is insane. Most likely, I won't even see 24 months of disability. I would like to give huge thanks to Obama and the passing of the Affordable Care Act, which means that I can get medical coverage, but why do I have to pay out of pocket for my healthcare coverage, when I'm disabled? If this illness had happened before the ACA, I would have been screwed!
4. Dealing with the Federal Government's healthcare website was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I managed to log in, answer all the questions, and decide on my coverage in less than an hour. Of course, the same cannot be said about the health insurance company who is taking their sweet time to send me my insurance information!
2. If your disability claim is approved, you better have at least six months of financial support you can tap into, because all disability cases are subject to a five month waiting period before benefits begin. Erm...what? Yes, you read correctly. Applicants who are approved for Social Security disability lose the first five month of benefits. I suppose they want to make sure that the applicant is truly disabled and that they won't be able to go back to work in the intervening five months. There is a supplemental insurance but if you have any assets, you can forget about tapping into the supplemental insurance. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a sibling who is willing to let them come a crash in their house. I'm not certain what people with limited incomes do during the five-month waiting period.
3. After the qualifying disability, the applicant starts receiving Medicare insurance after 24 months of disability! As annoying as the five month waiting period is, this 'rule' is the most aggravating. People who have a disabling illness need health coverage more than anyone else. The 24-month waiting period for Medicare is insane. Most likely, I won't even see 24 months of disability. I would like to give huge thanks to Obama and the passing of the Affordable Care Act, which means that I can get medical coverage, but why do I have to pay out of pocket for my healthcare coverage, when I'm disabled? If this illness had happened before the ACA, I would have been screwed!
4. Dealing with the Federal Government's healthcare website was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I managed to log in, answer all the questions, and decide on my coverage in less than an hour. Of course, the same cannot be said about the health insurance company who is taking their sweet time to send me my insurance information!
All in all, I have been fairly lucky when it comes to dealing with the disability minefield. One of the upsides of having a terminal illness is that I only got hit with a little bit of shrapnel, but I can see why people might get annoyed and frustrated when they are attempting to get their disability approved. It seems to me that some of these rules are detrimental to the health and well-being of the individual applying for disability. At minimum, they need to eliminate the 24-month Medicare waiting period. Ah, well, I suppose it could be worse.
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