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Post by ironhold on Dec 14, 2013 2:56:29 GMT
I gotta be honest, this the first time I've heard of someone still working and trying to get disability. I think that has screwed you good. A former co-worker of mine was on disability, as he had a medical condition that made it virtually impossible for him to maintain a "normal" job. At the time, he was working perhaps 10 hours a week. The government demanded a rather extensive paper trail from both him and the boss, indicating how long he worked and how much money he made from working; as part of it, they were both constantly faxing the government, and he actually had to fax every last paycheck to them as proof of his numbers. In exchange, he got a somewhat reduced amount on his disability check. When it got to the point that he could no longer work (he came down with another medical condition that made his first one even worse), he made a comment about the boss writing a letter to the government indicating that he could no longer work even his current schedule (which by that time had been cut down to 6 hours, give or take). At that point, he was supposed to have been able to get full disability. *** As it is, this is an issue that I'm trying to pay attention to. I have a bad heart due to a birth defect, and I sustained several injuries to my joints; these injuries never healed right, and so I'm almost always in some degree of pain. I even have difficulty doing my movie reviews and columns; the cramped seats in the theater aggravate my bad hip if I sit in them for too long (120 minutes is my rough limit), and the nerve & tendon damage in one of my hands sometimes leads to spasms and / or loss of muscle control to the point that I can't type for a period. If I don't succeed at getting syndicated or can't find a paying job in line with my education, I may have to break down and begin the process of filing. |
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Post by the light works on Dec 14, 2013 3:31:17 GMT
she still grooms one dog a month, when she doesn't have to call in sick; and she bought one of the local car washes, which is almost making money, and she is assisting the landlords for the complex the car wash is in, which adds up to a few hours a month, and not real critical about scheduling. - and mostly consists of forwarding their mail, depositing the rent checks, and assigning other people (and by other people I mean me) to do upkeep chores. we've already determined that she doesn't make anywhere near enough to count. They are going to look at it like this, "you're still able to work and are working, so you obviously are able to keep working and won't get disability". She is going to have to stop working and probably get a doctor to sign off on her being unable to work. The bad thing is you have 3 years record of her working while trying to get disability. A also, she owns a business, so under the self employed part of the link I provided is probably enough to disqualify her. I gotta be honest, this the first time I've heard of someone still working and trying to get disability. I think that has screwed you good. she's had all the signatures for 3 years. the lawyer says there shouldn't be any problem with what little she is able to do. |
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Post by User Unavailable on Dec 14, 2013 4:01:03 GMT
They are going to look at it like this, "you're still able to work and are working, so you obviously are able to keep working and won't get disability". She is going to have to stop working and probably get a doctor to sign off on her being unable to work. The bad thing is you have 3 years record of her working while trying to get disability. A also, she owns a business, so under the self employed part of the link I provided is probably enough to disqualify her. I gotta be honest, this the first time I've heard of someone still working and trying to get disability. I think that has screwed you good. she's had all the signatures for 3 years. the lawyer says there shouldn't be any problem with what little she is able to do. Having all the signatures for 3 years, obviously isn't cutting it, if she if is still working. I know she was probably trying to do the "right thing" and keep working and have an income until getting disability, but SS ain't going to look at it like that. If you are still working, why should they give you disability?... Is the way they are going to look at it. Anyway, I hope it works out for you and your wife. |
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Post by the light works on Dec 14, 2013 4:53:36 GMT
she's had all the signatures for 3 years. the lawyer says there shouldn't be any problem with what little she is able to do. Having all the signatures for 3 years, obviously isn't cutting it, if she if is still working. I know she was probably trying to do the "right thing" and keep working and have an income until getting disability, but SS ain't going to look at it like that. If you are still working, why should they give you disability?... Is the way they are going to look at it. Anyway, I hope it works out for you and your wife. well, not since we have only just got to the stage where someone looks at anything longer than it takes to copy and paste her name and address onto the form rejection letter. and yes, the fact that she IS trying to be more than just a useless drain on the world and gets that sort of treatment does leave me feeling a bit bitter at times. |
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Post by silverdragon on Dec 14, 2013 8:52:38 GMT
I would be entitled to disability....
But I have this unfortunate problem that every now and again I put in a days work.
And its that simple.
I could get the disability, with the chronic degenerative parts of the arthritics and the rest that are happening in my back, but all those forms the arguments and the paranoia that someone will be watching me, its just not worth it.... fear that I couldnt even go into my garden and pick up a spade without it being used against me?...
Now you know two people.
So when I am able, I go do a days work.
I am lucky that at my level, one days work is a weeks wages worth.
Yet the benefit scrounging economic migrant can sign up to EVERYTHING with immediate effect....
Now ask again why I hate immigrants.
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Post by The Urban Mythbuster on Dec 16, 2013 13:55:01 GMT
They are going to look at it like this, "you're still able to work and are working, so you obviously are able to keep working and won't get disability". She is going to have to stop working and probably get a doctor to sign off on her being unable to work. The bad thing is you have 3 years record of her working while trying to get disability. A also, she owns a business, so under the self employed part of the link I provided is probably enough to disqualify her. I gotta be honest, this the first time I've heard of someone still working and trying to get disability. I think that has screwed you good. The rules for disability are quite archaic and inflexible. The point of disability is to provide an income when you are unable to earn a sufficient income due to chronic injury/illness. Disability comes from a government program that you've spent your entire working life paying into. She's not performing any job or duty that contradicts what the doctors are saying. She's not making an excessive amount of money from the car wash. The program should, at minimum, pay her enough to get her to minimum wage status. |
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Post by the light works on Dec 16, 2013 15:13:05 GMT
They are going to look at it like this, "you're still able to work and are working, so you obviously are able to keep working and won't get disability". She is going to have to stop working and probably get a doctor to sign off on her being unable to work. The bad thing is you have 3 years record of her working while trying to get disability. A also, she owns a business, so under the self employed part of the link I provided is probably enough to disqualify her. I gotta be honest, this the first time I've heard of someone still working and trying to get disability. I think that has screwed you good. The rules for disability are quite archaic and inflexible. The point of disability is to provide an income when you are unable to earn a sufficient income due to chronic injury/illness. Disability comes from a government program that you've spent your entire working life paying into. She's not performing any job or duty that contradicts what the doctors are saying. She's not making an excessive amount of money from the car wash. The program should, at minimum, pay her enough to get her to minimum wage status. I would rather she hadn't bought the car wash, but since I am her husband, I have no say in the matter. I just have to figure out what luxuries I can do without to compensate. |
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Post by The Urban Mythbuster on Dec 16, 2013 15:41:14 GMT
I would rather she hadn't bought the car wash, but since I am her husband, I have no say in the matter. I just have to figure out what luxuries I can do without to compensate. A husband's job is to support every decision his wife makes. A wife's job is to support every decision she makes for her husband.  |
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Post by the light works on Dec 16, 2013 15:50:29 GMT
I would rather she hadn't bought the car wash, but since I am her husband, I have no say in the matter. I just have to figure out what luxuries I can do without to compensate. A husband's job is to support every decision his wife makes. A wife's job is to support every decision she makes for her husband. "your wife doesn't want to hear your opinion, she wants to hear her opinion in a deeper voice" (attributed to Bill Cosby, but may not originally be his) |
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Post by BlackWidowNor on Dec 21, 2013 9:24:35 GMT
I'd like to put my two cents in here...
I am on disability, yet I work. I work approximately 10 hours a week. I was working this schedule when I was approved for disability. The judge knew full well I was working those hours and I would continue to work those hours when my disability was approved until I could work no more.
At my hearing - there was a woman who's sole job was to tell the court exactly how many times I would most likely call off given my stated (and proven) disability.
I have fibromyalgia and I am in pain every day (sometimes 2-3 sometimes 8-9 on the pain scale); I have degenerative arthritis in my knees, ankles, hips, hands and shoulders; I have rotatory cuff injuries to both shoulders; I have been diagnosed with major depression recurrent; I am an insulin dependent diabetic with all the good crap that goes with that...
With my stated (and proven) disabilities - I was expected to call off work approximately 10 times with the pain issues and 6 times with the depression in a month. She stated that there is NO employer (short of family) that will tolerate that kind of absenteeism. I was asked what I do for a living. I work at an electronic repair shop for a friend of the family. If it wasn't for the fact that my boss is essentially "family" and knows what issues I have and works around them - I would not be able to work. I used to fix tvs and computers - now I answer phones and shuffle paper work because I can't do the other work any more.
You CAN work on disability. Disability is for those who can not make enough money to meet a minimum standard of living (and we're talking poverty level here, nothing extravagant). They allow you to make X amount of money before they start taking money away - an anything over an above is taken away 1 dollar for every 2 you make. You can actually put your disability on hold for up to 18 months while you try to work full time just to see if you can make it. They have a few programs that allow you training and education opportunities to hopefully get you prepared to get off disability and be able to support yourself.
There are also two types of disability... SSD and SSI - SSD is Disability as everyone understands it... you work and pay into that system and IF you need it, it's there. SSI is Supplemental Security Income - This is what you get if you haven't worked enough credit hours to qualify for SSD (or, your SSD amount is lower than what you would receive on SSI). SSI is what people qualify for if they have never worked (for example, a child with severe developmental disabilities who, as an adult, would never be able to hold a job of any sort).
So, it depends on what you're trying to get as to what the conditions are that you must meet.
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Post by the light works on Dec 21, 2013 13:58:17 GMT
I'd like to put my two cents in here... I am on disability, yet I work. I work approximately 10 hours a week. I was working this schedule when I was approved for disability. The judge knew full well I was working those hours and I would continue to work those hours when my disability was approved until I could work no more. At my hearing - there was a woman who's sole job was to tell the court exactly how many times I would most likely call off given my stated (and proven) disability. I have fibromyalgia and I am in pain every day (sometimes 2-3 sometimes 8-9 on the pain scale); I have degenerative arthritis in my knees, ankles, hips, hands and shoulders; I have rotatory cuff injuries to both shoulders; I have been diagnosed with major depression recurrent; I am an insulin dependent diabetic with all the good crap that goes with that... With my stated (and proven) disabilities - I was expected to call off work approximately 10 times with the pain issues and 6 times with the depression in a month. She stated that there is NO employer (short of family) that will tolerate that kind of absenteeism. I was asked what I do for a living. I work at an electronic repair shop for a friend of the family. If it wasn't for the fact that my boss is essentially "family" and knows what issues I have and works around them - I would not be able to work. I used to fix tvs and computers - now I answer phones and shuffle paper work because I can't do the other work any more. You CAN work on disability. Disability is for those who can not make enough money to meet a minimum standard of living (and we're talking poverty level here, nothing extravagant). They allow you to make X amount of money before they start taking money away - an anything over an above is taken away 1 dollar for every 2 you make. You can actually put your disability on hold for up to 18 months while you try to work full time just to see if you can make it. They have a few programs that allow you training and education opportunities to hopefully get you prepared to get off disability and be able to support yourself. There are also two types of disability... SSD and SSI - SSD is Disability as everyone understands it... you work and pay into that system and IF you need it, it's there. SSI is Supplemental Security Income - This is what you get if you haven't worked enough credit hours to qualify for SSD (or, your SSD amount is lower than what you would receive on SSI). SSI is what people qualify for if they have never worked (for example, a child with severe developmental disabilities who, as an adult, would never be able to hold a job of any sort). So, it depends on what you're trying to get as to what the conditions are that you must meet. the official on the grooming is she grooms one dog, every two months. on a good round, she only has to reschedule once. we made it to the hearing, but since I used the trip to pick up some parts, so I didn't miss a COMPLETE workday, that exceeded her endurance for the day. unfortunately, we did the hearing first, because a snarky part of me wanted her to be in pain for the hearing. The lawyer said she did well; but that judge is new to her position, and he couldn't tell what decision she was going to make. (oh, and as for her employability, I won't hire her because on her training day she did more harm than good. not only did she not save me any money, she nearly lost me money in the most literal sense of the term.) |
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Post by the light works on Dec 21, 2013 14:05:53 GMT
I guess to take this back to laws, I would kind of like to see a law that put a rejection that was overturned on appeal onto the paper-pusher's record for their annual performance review.
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Post by BlackWidowNor on Dec 21, 2013 16:47:26 GMT
I'd like to see a law that states the judicial disability hearing judge MUST BE at LEAST an MD or DO.... If they don't deal with sick people, they have no reason to even be deciding disability cases. I was lucky - my judge was a MD. Probably didn't hurt that I was in a full blown fibro flare up and I didn't have pain meds (hehe)... yeah. I was in tears just sitting in that hard assed chair for two hours waiting for my hearing - and the plastic chair they had me sitting in was horrid. I ended up fidgeting for the entire hearing, distracted from the pain I was experiencing and well into a nice depressive episode as well... he probably would have given me a sh*t ton of money if he was able to LOL. As much as it was miserable - it was miserable at the right time for a change.
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Post by BlackWidowNor on Dec 21, 2013 16:55:40 GMT
and... light works.... it's not "snarky" to want the judge to see exactly what a person deals with on a regular basis. If someone seeing me in a total flare up helps SOMEONE - then let them see it in all it's horrid glory.
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Post by the light works on Dec 21, 2013 21:51:44 GMT
I'd like to see a law that states the judicial disability hearing judge MUST BE at LEAST an MD or DO.... If they don't deal with sick people, they have no reason to even be deciding disability cases. I was lucky - my judge was a MD. Probably didn't hurt that I was in a full blown fibro flare up and I didn't have pain meds (hehe)... yeah. I was in tears just sitting in that hard assed chair for two hours waiting for my hearing - and the plastic chair they had me sitting in was horrid. I ended up fidgeting for the entire hearing, distracted from the pain I was experiencing and well into a nice depressive episode as well... he probably would have given me a sh*t ton of money if he was able to LOL. As much as it was miserable - it was miserable at the right time for a change. that is a VERY worthy idea. it might even make it easier to weed out those who DO try to game the system. (making no claims about how many there are, but we know there are some out there.) |
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Post by OziRiS on Dec 21, 2013 22:39:53 GMT
I'd like to see a law that states the judicial disability hearing judge MUST BE at LEAST an MD or DO.... If they don't deal with sick people, they have no reason to even be deciding disability cases. I was lucky - my judge was a MD. Probably didn't hurt that I was in a full blown fibro flare up and I didn't have pain meds (hehe)... yeah. I was in tears just sitting in that hard assed chair for two hours waiting for my hearing - and the plastic chair they had me sitting in was horrid. I ended up fidgeting for the entire hearing, distracted from the pain I was experiencing and well into a nice depressive episode as well... he probably would have given me a sh*t ton of money if he was able to LOL. As much as it was miserable - it was miserable at the right time for a change. I second that one! For what it's worth, having a girlfriend with fibromyalgia (not to mention chronic daily headaches/migraines from a work related head injury), I can tell you that you're lucky the doctors where you live even consider it an actual disease. We have thousands in Denmark who are affected by this horrific condition every day who are just considered hypochondriacs by the entire system. The Danish Fibromyalgia Association made an assesment a couple of years back based on statistics, member accounts and questionaires filled out by MDs, showing that roughly 98% of the medical community in Denmark consider fibromyalgia a "trendy diagnosis", meaning they don't see it as an actual disease at all but rather a label you put on hypochondriacs to appease them. Not only do neither doctors nor the welfare system in this country take the disease seriously, they're actively attempting to keep sufferers away from the health care system. Under the guise of being "medical research", there's a government funded project that's been systematically teaching GPs and social workers all over the country how to "handle" fibromyalgia patients, keeping them away from diagnostic departments and treatment facilities by making not only the patients themselves, but their entire support systems (families, friends, other doctors, social workers and so on) believe that there's actually nothing physically wrong with them and that it's all psychosomatic. Last year it came to a point where a fibro patient came to her GP with chest pains, was given an anti-depressant and referred to a psychiatrist, only to be rushed to the hospital half a day later with a heart attack, which nearly killed her. These patients are being marginalized to a point where their lives are put at risk, all because some self-proclaimed expert refuses to acknowledge that WHO has classified this an actual physical disease and has been successful in convincing thousands of other doctors that it's bogus. I truly wish this "doctor" could experience a full blown fib-out (that's what my GF calls it) just for a few months, so he could appreciate what you guys actually go through and maybe change his perspective. |
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Post by the light works on Dec 21, 2013 22:59:19 GMT
for those outside the circle; the way they describe Fibro in the one page cheat sheet for spouses; is that essentially, a person with Fibro's body forgets how to sleep. the result is essentially equivalent to NEVER getting enough sleep.
so imagine your worst time of working too many hours with not enough sleep - and then consider: that's a fibro sufferer's GOOD day.
interestingly, Fibro was originally considered a woman's disease; because about 10 times as many women are diagnosed with it as men. some doctors believe it is just significantly underdiagnosed in men.
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Post by the light works on Dec 21, 2013 23:00:49 GMT
I'd like to see a law that states the judicial disability hearing judge MUST BE at LEAST an MD or DO.... If they don't deal with sick people, they have no reason to even be deciding disability cases. I was lucky - my judge was a MD. Probably didn't hurt that I was in a full blown fibro flare up and I didn't have pain meds (hehe)... yeah. I was in tears just sitting in that hard assed chair for two hours waiting for my hearing - and the plastic chair they had me sitting in was horrid. I ended up fidgeting for the entire hearing, distracted from the pain I was experiencing and well into a nice depressive episode as well... he probably would have given me a sh*t ton of money if he was able to LOL. As much as it was miserable - it was miserable at the right time for a change. I second that one! For what it's worth, having a girlfriend with fibromyalgia (not to mention chronic daily headaches/migraines from a work related head injury), I can tell you that you're lucky the doctors where you live even consider it an actual disease. We have thousands in Denmark who are affected by this horrific condition every day who are just considered hypochondriacs by the entire system. The Danish Fibromyalgia Association made an assesment a couple of years back based on statistics, member accounts and questionaires filled out by MDs, showing that roughly 98% of the medical community in Denmark consider fibromyalgia a "trendy diagnosis", meaning they don't see it as an actual disease at all but rather a label you put on hypochondriacs to appease them. Not only do neither doctors nor the welfare system in this country take the disease seriously, they're actively attempting to keep sufferers away from the health care system. Under the guise of being "medical research", there's a government funded project that's been systematically teaching GPs and social workers all over the country how to "handle" fibromyalgia patients, keeping them away from diagnostic departments and treatment facilities by making not only the patients themselves, but their entire support systems (families, friends, other doctors, social workers and so on) believe that there's actually nothing physically wrong with them and that it's all psychosomatic. Last year it came to a point where a fibro patient came to her GP with chest pains, was given an anti-depressant and referred to a psychiatrist, only to be rushed to the hospital half a day later with a heart attack, which nearly killed her. These patients are being marginalized to a point where their lives are put at risk, all because some self-proclaimed expert refuses to acknowledge that WHO has classified this an actual physical disease and has been successful in convincing thousands of other doctors that it's bogus. I truly wish this "doctor" could experience a full blown fib-out (that's what my GF calls it) just for a few months, so he could appreciate what you guys actually go through and maybe change his perspective. in America, that doctor would probably be getting a malpractice suit filed against him for that. |
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Post by OziRiS on Dec 21, 2013 23:47:32 GMT
Yeah, even though Europeans often rip on Americans for your option to do that, in some cases it would be nice if we had it too.
Doctors here enjoy WAY too much power and both the legal ramifications for the doctor and the compensation for patients when a case ever does go that far are a joke.
We had a case here early last year where a teenage girl had been seriously injured during a car accident and wound up in a coma. After two months the attending neurologist at the hospital decided that her injuries were too severe for her to survive without the machines she was hooked up to and advised the family to shut them off and let her go peacefully. They did, but after two weeks the girl wasn't dead. After three weeks she started to open her eyes. Only the three weeks of oxygen depravation had left her severely brain damaged. She was completely unable to speak and had seriously reduced motor function in the entire left side of her body.
When a medical review board sat down to look over the girl's case, they found that the doctor who had advised the parents to shut everything off and let her die had ignored almost every standard medical procedure in place when making that assesment and acted entirely on her own gut instincts instead of established medical facts. In fact, the review board found that not only was the assesment to take the girl off ventilation and leave her to die grossly premature, it was also directly responsible for her brain damage, since they could find no evidence of such damage on MRIs and CTs prior to this decision being made (the last ones had been taken a few days before). No less than three neurologists stated independently of each other that they found nothing in the girl's medical file to suggest that full or near full recovery was impossible or even improbable and that neither of them would have made that call based on the information available.
The doctor who made the call was never formally charged with anything. She wasn't fired. She got reprimanded. There wasn't even any financial consequense for her or the hospital. The only reason she isn't working at that hospital anymore is that the media got wind of the story and wouldn't leave her alone. So she quit, took a six month hiatus and is currently employed at a different hospital - as an attending neurologist.
The girl's own ensurance paid out what would amount to about $150,000 in damages and that's all they ever got from anyone.
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Post by the light works on Dec 21, 2013 23:57:32 GMT
Yeah, even though Europeans often rip on Americans for your option to do that, in some cases it would be nice if we had it too. Doctors here enjoy WAY too much power and both the legal ramifications for the doctor and the compensation for patients when a case ever does go that far are a joke. We had a case here early last year where a teenage girl had been seriously injured during a car accident and wound up in a coma. After two months the attending neurologist at the hospital decided that her injuries were too severe for her to survive without the machines she was hooked up to and advised the family to shut them off and let her go peacefully. They did, but after two weeks the girl wasn't dead. After three weeks she started to open her eyes. Only the three weeks of oxygen depravation had left her severely brain damaged. She was completely unable to speak and had seriously reduced motor function in the entire left side of her body. When a medical review board sat down to look over the girl's case, they found that the doctor who had advised the parents to shut everything off and let her die had ignored almost every standard medical procedure in place when making that assesment and acted entirely on her own gut instincts instead of established medical facts. In fact, the review board found that not only was the assesment to take the girl off ventilation and leave her to die grossly premature, it was also directly responsible for her brain damage, since they could find no evidence of such damage on MRIs and CTs prior to this decision being made (the last ones had been taken a few days before). No less than three neurologists stated independently of each other that they found nothing in the girl's medical file to suggest that full or near full recovery was impossible or even improbable and that neither of them would have made that call based on the information available. The doctor who made the call was never formally charged with anything. She wasn't fired. She got reprimanded. There wasn't even any financial consequense for her or the hospital. The only reason she isn't working at that hospital anymore is that the media got wind of the story and wouldn't leave her alone. So she quit, took a six month hiatus and is currently employed at a different hospital - as an attending neurologist. The girl's own ensurance paid out what would amount to about $150,000 in damages and that's all they ever got from anyone. and the worst of the neoconservatives, during the last election were saying that we need to stop allowing malpractice suits and it will make out healthcare affordable for all. that and if a person cannot afford healthcare, they ought to just be left to die. (this from the same people who brought us "Deth Panulz") apparently over 75% of the population of America is highly allergic to middle ground. |
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