Disability/SSI I know a fair few of y'all on here have this so.... does anyone have any input, advice, tips, etc on how to fucking survive waiting on this to pan out?
I...took a maybe ill-advised route of working a job that was bad for my health, but. One important thing: you can apply for food stamps before getting approved for disability/SSI, and they generally go through in a month or less.
the lawyer we've talked to has said that if either of us are working then they claim will never get approved since if you're working then you're clearly not disabled
partially the state was looking at my income for just me not both of us because I can't support my wife but if I had a husband it'd count for both of us, fucking douchecanoes
They're denying you part of the legal benefits of marriage because they personally don't see gay marriage as valid, and that sort of 'ignoring legal rights because of personal biases' BS is part of what the ACLU is for.
Also according to some quick research you can be working while filing, but you have to watch HOW much you make. there is a certain level for cut off, but gods it's like just a little over $1000 a month.
i wish i had more concrete advice but my filing situation was unique and it was a long time ago so i don't....really have anything i can offer but my support
It's likely that the law says that married individuals count as a single household, but some workers are saying 'well, I don't believe in gay marriage, so I'm going to treat them as though they're not married'.
For one thing, it's on the assumption that it's not expected to be the status quo, so there's less scrutiny and suspicion of being a 'welfare queen'. For another...if it takes you two years to get approved for a condition that was only expected to last 8 months, that's not...gonna fly...
They can get away with that with hospice patience because they can't exactly raise a stink if they die before getting approved (which...sadly, they do pull that), but temporary disability means the patient is expected to recover to a point of being able to do something if they're still in bureaucratic limbo by then.
A few things I learned going through my process. One is that food stamps are at the state level, and here art least, not based on disability directly. Where I am, the state helps with foodstamps and medical insurance so long as the following are true: I make less than X a month income, I have less than Y in the bank (they have never given me a clear cut
answer as to the values represented by X and Y, mind you) and I am one of the following: doing state mandated work in exchange for the food stamps, on disability, actively applying for disability.
So if I was working, I could still get foodstamps and medical aid if my income was low, so long as I am also going to whatever work they send me out to do for a certain number of hours a month to "earn" my foodstamps.
However, I started while in the appeals process for disability and was expedited through on foodstamps and never had to do the work. (given I found out later that the jobs they send people on tend to be on the dangerous side because they're jobs no one else wants.... yeah, I would not have been able to do that.)
On the disability side. That is Federal, HOWEVER, the paperwork is processed locally. I was YEARS fighting to try and get disability where I used to live. When I moved everything started happening fast. The state I am in processes disability differently than where I had been, and while the money is Federal, the decision and appeals is state based.
Oh, and lesson I learned the hard way, set up an ABLE account ASAP. (I still need to do that, not having done it cost me a few thousand dollars I needed for my dental work.)
Some forms of Disability like SSI do look at your finances. I was denied SSI because I live with one parent or the other and do not pay rent. They also look at your bank account potentially. Foodstamps in my state very much looks at your bank account.
I got my disability backpay and decided to be responsible and save a chunk of it for dental work. The State said that I had too much money to need support and cut off my medical insurance payments. So I had to rush and spend down the money from my savings to get back under the threshold. So I no longer have money for my teeth.
But a friend of mine did research after the fact and told me that an ABLE account is a placer you can legally deposit money that can't be counted against you for Disability or other government benefits, but that money can ONLY legally be used for medical expenses.
I thought ABLE money could be used for anything that helps move toward independence, including stuff like transportation or equipment that makes it easier to compensate for your disability.
E.S. Levi
: ABLE is a lot more restrictive than it seems. But it's basically, you can't use it for anything other than "I need this to live and only that."
So...it actually wouldn't help me get together a deposit on an apartment, since I technically have a roof over my head, even if it's run down and barely livable.
Qualified disability expenses are any expenses for the benefit of the account owner in maintaining or improving his or her health, independence, or quality of life.
These expenses include, but are not limited to, education, housing, transportation, employment, training and support, assistive technologies and related services, personal support services, or health and basic living expenses.
Apparently there's legislation in the works to change the maximum age to 46, because yeah, it's stupid to assume people will have their lives in order and not be staring down significant and unavoidable expenses by 26.
ok. so. I need to go dig up the info, but let me get you my disability lawyer's info. also, you can get your case expedited if you are facing financial issues, especially being homeless or potentially becoming homeless. the lawyer can help with that. they'll know how to get that going for you
there's a 99.9% chance you will be denied upon initial application. that's just how they do things. but, that's why you need a good lawyer. you need someone who knows the right things to say to get you approved.
and I got denied and then he told me to get more doctors visits in and reapply. and because I went that method I lost out on half of what I would have gotten if I had pressed on with that case. :\
yeah. I first applied in 2011, got denied in 2013, didn't reapply until 2014? and then got that shit expedited when I wound up homeless in 2015. so I only got like 2 years backpay minus the lawyer fees.
LEAST, yes
Qualified disability expenses are any expenses for the benefit of the account owner in maintaining or improving his or her health, independence, or quality of life.These expenses include, but are not limited to, education, housing, transportation, employment, training and support, assistive technologies and related services, personal support services, or health and basic living expenses.The onset ofsymptoms of the person’s disability must have occurred
before age 26.