Politics As Usual

i have a severly disabled 7 year old and would have been in the same boat if i had not contacted my us senator{mcain}social security seems to move at a much faster pace when you get a memeber of congress involved.all congreessional offices have a staffer whose job is to interact with social security so people use your resources and push them they do unederstand pressure from congress.

My husband, Douglas was in a automobile accident 13 years ago. His back was broke in three places, along with broken ribs, a punctured lung, broken collar bone, shoulder blade and severe concussion. He was in a coma and when he came out of the coma surgery was performed to place steel rods in his back and fuse part of his spine. He applied for Social Security Disability shortly after the accident and was denied. He has attempted to work since the accident. Four years ago, he could no longer work at all. He has developed arthritis, curvature of the spine and bone spurs, and is in constant pain and his back goes into spasms on a daily basis. He applied for SS Disability again and was denied. We are now on what I understand is our final appeal. It has been four years and if we don't win this appeal, he will have to wait until he is 55 to apply again. By that time, since he has no income,and his income since the accident has been very low approximately $6,000 or less per year, his SS Disability payments might be around $100 a month. If we win the current appeal the payments will be a little over $700 per month. It seems as though the SS Disability system is geared, not to help people, but to simply deny help to those who need it the most.

I had a friend who had congestive heart failure. She and her family fought for over a year and a half for disability benefits. It wasn't until her sister got our senator & reps involved did she get her benefits. However, she was finally okayed for a heart transplant on a Monday & she died Thurs. If a person had paid in to social security and I know there are lots who try to defraud the system, let the people have the benefits until it is proven they really don't qualify?

Perhaps these people would not have to wait so long if the system were not clogged with malingerers. I practice personal injury law and am absolutely stunned at the number of personal injury claimants who are already on social security disability. THeir disabilities range from depression (most frequent), fibromyalgia, chronic (unspecified) pain syndrome, obesity and obesity-related conditions, atrial fibrillation and, to my dismay, alcoholism and drug addiction. Hard-working taxpayers, many of whom work despite pain, depression and the like, are asked to foot the bill for others who are unwilling to work if they are in less than perfect health. Worse, doctors sign off on their patients' "total disability" without a care as to its impact on the taxpayers. Don't blame the government for the delay; blame the hordes of undeserving claimants and their complicit doctors.

I applied for and received my social security disability award for full benefits within 3 months. I have no idea how I got so lucky and was prepared to go for a long time w no income, I had cashed in the 401k etc. The system makes no sense when it can be so unfair.

It is horrifying to think this is happening regularly and with absolute impunity. Yet, can we be honestly shocked or surprised when government begins to mirror (almost exactly) our profit-driven free market system; where corporations--large and small--operate without accountability, regulation or any sense of humanity? Where bonuses and incentives are calculated and provided on the basis of a number or percentage of denied claims? Somewhere along the way we forgot:
"We The People..."

In response to the person above that practices personal injury. I agree with what you are stating. I know so many people that get ss and ssi for reasons that are rediculous and can easily be faked. When on the other hand you have people that have in your face, physical disabilities and cant get anything. I have been legally blind since birth and I drew ssi from the age of 2 until a couple yrs ago, when a woman at the social security office talked me into filing for ss and drawing off of my father instead. She stated that I would get alot more money and medical benefits. After signing a paper, I realized what a mistake it was. I lost my ssi and my medical coverage that I had all of my life and after realizing that it wasnt the right decision, I called several times to try and change it back but, they were very rude. One man even said to me as I was crying my eyes out over the phone about my medical insurance. Well, you can apply for medicare in a couple of yrs, but, guess that wont help you now will it?? I have been so furious with those people ever since. I want so badly to not be dependant upon the goverment for anything, but, when you cant drive and dont have alot of help, its kind of hard to do. I am also raising a 9 yr old daughter alone. That has adhd, bipolar, and a severe mood disorder and have tried 4 times! not including appeals, to get disability on her and have been denied everytime. I even had 3 doctors teachers, etc.. stating that she was very much disabled but, they didnt seem to think so. I myself have had it with people getting ss and ssi that do not deserve it. That is why the peeple that so desperately need it cant get it! it makes no since! something needs to be done!

To the attorney--so what you're saying is that an awful lot of people who are not disabled have been approved for SSI and disability, but a lot of people who should qualify are not being approved?

Sounds to me like it IS the agency's fault. The Social Security Administration is accountable for the people they approve and the people they leave hanging. If we do not demand more of our public agencies, they will never get better. Time to raise the bar!

I guess my comment is a little late, but here goes. First, this program is so far out of sync that SSA IS powerless to fix it. Excellent review physicians used to guide State Agencies across the country, and their decisions were realistic--that was in the 60s!! Beginning with the 70s the Nixon Administration seriously undercut that excellent physician input. SAs allowed hundreds of thousands that were not disabled and the 'trust fund' hemorrhaged.

Two events took place in the 80s to fix the hemorrhage. First, Congress passed a law that mandated a lopsided review of the SAs' allowances and gave their denials a virtual free pass. Second, the Reagan Administration OMB/SSA revised the standards for determining what a person could or could not do. The result was a terribly unrealistic stringency that resulted in a public uproar.

Then Congress and the Courts tried to 'reform' the program. All they did was pile a fantastic amount of procedure and paperwork on the SAs that did absolutely nothing to improve the quality of the decisions. The only result was a slowing of processing time and the resignation of many decisionmakers that became sick of what happened to the program.

What you now have is the ghost of Reagan stringency that Congress continues to maintain by focusing the review on SA decisions to allow. Thus, the Reagan Administration and every Congress since 1980 has created an INSTITUTIONAL bias to deny claims. SSA is powerless to do anything about it. All they can do is tell the truth, but they like their jobs too much to do that.

Can someone explain to me why children should receive Social Security if they are disabled? I always thought the PARENTS took care of children. Why is the PARENT'S income increasing just because their child is disabled?

I hope we all remember that we are NOT doctors competent to judge the ailments of others to decide whether they deserve SSI/SSDI. That is a mean trap many can fall into and suddenly those with the invisible disabilities like bipolar, depression, fibro, lupus (not facial) and RA and many other ailments are suddenly judged by non-medical people. Don't forget your humanity. Because some disabilities are invisible, they can be equally as disabling. We need to focus on our own cases and remember that Social Security is not there to work hard to prove our cases for us, and WE must do everything and gather all medicals and RFCs to prove our cases beyond a doubt.

I have been waiting for my disability since June of 2006. It has supposedly been in the decision writer's office for three months now. I can't even walk to the mailbox most of the time and I am getting worse everyday while waiting for something I paid into the system for. I an being tortured by my own government forced to go without money or medical. I know a whole family who gets SSI. Both of the parents get a check and so do both teenage sons who are perfectly healthy and get into trouble all the time and don't go to school. The father lied and said he had alzheimers adn pretended like he did and the mental health center helped him and lo and behold he got it while I have worked hard my whole life and am still waiting. I am trying to scrape up enough money to buy bread or gas and I see him at the store stocking up on his cigarettes and buying x games or whatever while I am suffering. A man down the road who is a drug addict and a thief shot himself in the foot so he could get ssi. This is just not true, I must be dreaming.

In Feb. 1999 I applied for SSI due to
my kidneys failing due to diabitis and
high blood pressure. I lost my job in
Jan. of 1999 because of the various
complications from my illness. I was
denied two times and in June SSI wrote
me a letter stating the with my educat-
ional background and job experience I
should go find a job. A letter was sent
back in reply by my daughter. They
continued to deny my benefits. Finally
in October of 1999 I went on dialysis
and received my first check on Nov. 9th
1999. In 2003 I received a kidney and
tried to return to work. In 2005 when I
turned 65 Social Security did not know
how to switch my benefits to Social
Security Retirement and my check were
late every month, yet they still wanted
to check on how much money I expected to
make, but they could not send my bemefit
checks on time. I sometimes wonder what
the people employed by SSA get paid for
because they don't do a damm thing. And
I do know a lot of people receiving SSI
benefits who do not need it, from alcoh-
olics and drug additics to folks playing
crazy, but thats how messed-up the system is.

This situation is a national disgrace.

I know two women who claimed disability for Fibromyalgia. After denials and appeals, both were approved. It took almost 4 years-but guess what? They received BACK PAYMENT to the DATE THEY FIRST APPLIED. After paying her lawyer-one received $37,ooo and now receives $750 a month.

What irks me-both these women are NOT disabled. They garden, clean house, play with their kids, go camping, hiking,etc. Are they in pain-yes, but so are MILLIONS of others who STILL have to work to survive.

It slays me that someone with SERIOUS health problems-like organ transplants-have to go through the waiting process and maybe die waiting , while people who should'nt be getting payments at all are clogging up the entire system.

I was denied for SSD Benefits last year. I filed an appeal and represented myself during the reconsideration process. It is my experience that a number of people who work for SSA do not even know their own laws regarding what is a disability and what isn't. I reminded them of SSA's own rules during the process regarding my disabilities: HIV related, depression. I won at the reconsideration level.

yes,

Lets give more monety to Iraq, while the people in The United States suffer.
Great job BUSH!!! You IDIOT!!!

The SSA is very bad on keeping records updated and all. 2 years "after" my son was approved for SSI Disability "without" a laywer. He recieved an official letter stating "approval" of his case. Which included the said amount of back pay for 2 years. AND the amount of the lawyer's cut!!! So, I "immediately" called and went down to the SSA office. Well, it took "me" about 4 months to get it all straighten out!!! But then a year later they sent a letter that he received an overpayment of $4300. So that took "me" about a month to get that straighten out. This is my experience with the SSA. And it proves that I have better records on my son than they do!!!

I work for one of the most successful Social Security Disability law firms in the nation. Stories like this just make me absolutely sick.

It amazes me how long it takes to get a hearing. We can put a man on the moon. We can fight wars in Iraq. But we can't adjudicate these claims in less than 2-3 years. Please.

Some should not be quick to judge unique illnesses like fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, depression, etc. In my experience, these can be more disabling than more common problems like back problems.

Judge the SSA. Do not judge the claimants.

It's a shame that people post negative comments about those winning or seeking approval for SSDI for depression and other 'hidden' disabilities. I know people who receive SSDI for major depression alone. Depression is a very dibilitating disability. Not ALL folks with hidden disabilities are malingerers.

I filed for SSDI in Aug 2005 and was denied twice based on what the SSA's contracted CHILD social worker's evaluation of me - who only saw me for 15-20 minutes. She works part time 3-4 days a week to supplement their income. How qualified was she to provide such important and critical details about my condition? Finally, after hiring an attorney for my hearing I got an On-the-Record (OTR) decision without a hearing. I am a (true) victim of depression, anxiety, insomnia and bipolar disorder for many, many years - not to mention a bulging disc in my cervical spine and arthritis in my lower spine. I continued to work despite my disabilities for many years until I got to the point of severe, chronic pain in my spine and dibilitating mental state (which goes along with pain victims, fibromalgia victims and the like). Depression IS real. Living a secluded lifestyle without the desire to be around anybody, do anything, take care of one's self, etc. is no walk in the park.

Yes, folks with bipolar disorder, depression, etc. with hidden disabilities are able to get out and work in the yard or whatever. That is called a 'good' day and feels like an award for suffering to some of us. Bipolar disorder doesn't mean a person is crazy. It means a chemical imbalance in the brain that can be treated with medications but it never goes away (for me at least). YOU try working a substantially gainful employment with these conditions and see how 'fake' it feels. Give me a break. Mental disabilities are the hardest to prove in the court of the SSA without proven records from a 'real' psychiatrist who knows you well and have been treating you for years. You don't just 'get approved' without a long drawn-out fight ... like any other disability that must be proven. I hope it never happens to you!

I don't know why my post that I placed on here twice has been deleted. I was going to follow up by saying we finally, after 3 years of waiting now have a hearing in front of a judge coming up really soon. For all others, please keep you chin up. Some of the things that I have done to get me through these trying times were to write my Congressman, and since it is an election year, I have written to several candidates. You have to be persistant! My congressman finally wrote us back with a request for us to allow the release of our claim information, which we did. I'm not sure if that is why we finally have a hearing or not but stand strong and keep moving forward. Good luck to all of you!