Turned Down and Filing for Reconsideration

[stumblnrose]

I suffered serious, rare burn injury from medication in 2007 and was in coma for 3 months. I have suffered eye damage, throat damage, suicidal tendencies and chronic fatigue. SS adjudicator said my eyes were in good enough shape for me to go back to being a web designer, which i did 8-10 years ago. My left eye is virtually blind and I am still weak and sleep 12 hours a day. My wife threw me out of home last December and compounded my depression. What I really want is SSI, SSDI for Sept 07 to Sept 08 at the very least. Adjudicator said I could have worked at least one day that year so I don't qualify. I am putting together my rebuttal but this is really grovelling for bucks. I don't want to go to litigation and pay a lawyer 5K out of the 15 due for one yr for me and daughter. I have caseworker helping me but would appreciate any insight from those who know the ropes. I feel like Obama's mother, I have to argue with insurance regularly and they owe me at least 5K for what I have paid out of pocket. I am trying to be upbeat but some days downtrodden is the best I can muster.

[Orrex]

1. Holy shit that's horrible!

I don't have any advice to offer, but you have my sympathy and best wishes.

Good luck to you--I hope that you find some relief soon!

[OutNow]

2. Three words - GET A LAWYER

If your vision is that bad you should qualify. But, you have to know the buzz words and key phrases that SSec uses. For this you need a lawyer that specializes in disability claims.

I have personal experience with this. The money you spend on legal representation will be minor compared to what you can lose including SSec and Medicare.

[stumblnrose]

4. Lawyers are really only good once your case goes to judge

That is what people are telling me. I can assemble all materials for reconsideration. The prob is thst if I am rejected again it puts any possibility of payment 2-3 yrs out with zero income for those years,

[OutNow]

6. Get a Lawyer Now

My suggestion - don't wait until your case winds its way to a hearing with a judge. A lawyer that is knowledgeable in disability claims can provide a lot of insight into how to fill out the questionnaire and related paperwork. As I learned, there are several ways to say the same thing - one way will get a rejection, while another way (complete with some key legal phrases) will sail right through and the claim will be accepted.

My first attempt was rejected. That's when I sought legal help. The next review it was accepted.

[stumblnrose]

8. yeah i lawyered up

and i am lawyered to the yin-yang:
Divorce
MedMal
SocSec

[dotymed]

15. I have been waiting

for 2 1/2 years. I have heart failure and 3 nerves pinched in
spine and neck. My lawyer said that he has had 4 people die
waiting for hearings. I have 5 stents and according to SS
website, I qualify for benefits just for the 3 cardiac
surgical interventions in 1 year. Previously, I was a Union
Carpenter. SS says I can find some type of job because I have
a 20 year old B.S. in English. I take 24 pills daily to
survive. I also take 4000 Mg's of Norco and 180 Mg's of
morphine daily for inoperable spine and cervical disc's. I
paid large sums of money into SS. 30% tax rate when working. I
can't get health care or anything, because SS says I can work.
I can hardly walk.

[wellstone dem]

3. I can't do this tonight, but pm me with as much detail as possible.

this is what I do all day--help people with SSI and social security issues

[Historic NY]

5. I just finished a 2nd hearing since 05. they threw out all the previous

stuff. I have a lawyer and it takes time. Strange since I got a disbility retirement & workmans comp. SS thought I should give it all up and go back to work. :crazy: It just goes on & on.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

7. This is standard operating procedure

You have to lawyer up. It's the way the system is set up. They deny EVERYBODY the first few times just to try to make you give up and go away. Get a lawyer. From what I hear, it takes at least two years to get a claim approved.

[Imagevision]

9. Me too - here's what I did and it worked

After I filed for disability the first time SSDI scheduled 2 doctors hired by my state to evaluate my condition and afterword's it took about 4-5 months before I was notified my claim was denied and I noticed at the very end of their letter it said at the bottom of the page if I disagreed with their findings that I could refile another claim which after I located a group called - DISABILITY ADVOCATES OF AMERICA, LLC (the link is below) I submitted another copy of the exact copy of the first one that very same day - but this time I had a representative's name to add to the report and I believe I received the second letter from SSDI about 6 months later (ugh-I know) that "after reviewing my case I qualified for disability benefits. Being denied on the first attempt seems to be standard procedure.

There is no charge whatsoever for DISABILITY ADVOCATES OF AMERICA, LLC representing you until after they win your claim then they take a fair percentage of back money owed to you from when you filed your first claim. bingo!
Visit their website to learn more and if you have a question send them an email or contact them by phone [phone] Toll-free. - good luck stumblnrose

http://disability-advocate.com/
email: [e-mail]

[DemBones DemBones]

10. Good luck. Some people have to go all the way to a

third filing and an appeal before a judge so only the persistent "win." (As if SSDI were the lottery!)

[hollowdweller]

11. Here's some advice for you

If the vision in your better eye is better than 20/200 with best correction and the visual fields in your better eye are normal your visual problems are probably not going to get it for you.

I'm not exactly sure what a burn injury from medication means exactly but about the only way you can be allowed on a burn injury is if the scar tissue is impairing your movement really significantly.

Not sure what throat damage is but basically if you can eat and are of normal nutritional status and don't have any severe restriction of your lung capacity the throat isn't going to get it for you.

You are going to have trouble getting it on chronic fatigue unless the restricions it has caused you are linked very directly by one of your treating physicians to your physical problem, and there is pretty good lay evidence showing it is really restricting your functioning.

There might be a chance on your depression if you got a long enough history of having it but it has to be REALLY bad and if you have never had any inpatient treatment for it it's going to be hard.

You don't say how old you are. That makes a difference.

IMO unless you have good hard evidence from your doctor that your problem is limiting your ability to move, bend, affecting your muscle strength, manipulative ability, gait, reflexes etc you are going to have a hard time getting it on initial or recon.

You have a way better chance on the step after recon. The ALJ. Depending on the judge they will allow people for nothing but subjective complaints sometimes w/o any hard medical findings that their complaints are actually due to any physical cause.

IMO don't let your claim drop. Take it all the way. I think we are getting ready to see a real tightening of the documentation requirements which will keep a lot of people off the rolls. DQB (the big QA in the sky) is already kicking cases back to the DDS's where DDS tried to allow people on a medical vocational basis and DQB is taking a HARD line on the transferability of skills.

In past times if the claimant was older and DDS could establish they could not do their old job, and there was not a less strenuous job in their industry they had skills for then we could allow them. Now they are really hitting DDS hard on med voc allowance really digging up jobs the claimant can still do and also saying that in certain age groups that we can even do work outside their occupation. Most people at the DDS's think this is sort of a way to thin the rolls without cutting anybody already on off there.

Also they SEEM to be doing a lot more technical denials at the DO's before the case makes it to DDS on people working or excess I and R.

Hope this helps.

[stumblnrose]

12. Your talk is tight but a little too professional for my laymanself

I am 55 What is DQB????

[happynewyear]

13. from disabilitysecrets.com re: DQ, etc.

:hi:

I hope the link below will help you get some answers to some of your questions.

Make sure you keep good note (I'd suggest a day at a glance diary made by At A Glance I believe it is). Write down what happens each day and make note of particularly bad times and if you go to a doctor, what happened and what medications you were prescribed.

http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/disability-quality-branch.html

I hope you have a lawyer lined up that is good and on your side. This is critical to the success of your case.

Best of luck & I hope this is over with for you very soon.

[1776Forever]

14. I thought you might like to see this request from the Stimulus package for disability

At least they are trying to do something about this:

http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/PressSummary01-15-09.pdf

Social Security Administration Disability Backlog and Claims Processing: $500 million to help the Social Security Administration process a steep rise in disability and retirement claims, getting people their benefits faster, and preventing existing backlogs from getting worse. Within this total, $40 million will help SSI upgrade health information technology.

.....

Also I am the Mom of a disabled young man who has Progressive MS and it took us 2 years to get his SSI through. What you need to do is write your Congressman and Senators and find out who works on this in their offices. Some are better then others. The rules for SSI Disability are here:

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/d&s1.htm

If you were in the service you should look into the VA for help. They are great here in Ohio - so it will depend again on what state you are in.

Good luck - hope this helps!