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Has anyone else applied for social security disability? Someone told me that ovarian cancer patients are now approved for disability so I gave that info to a woman who has no insurance. ... but was wondering if anyone else has applied for it...and has anyone gotten disability from social security? Is is a big hassle?
Cancer Surgery Confusion Cervical cancer Ovarian cancer Chemotherapy Muscular dystrophy Sarcoma
Ovarian Cancer, I have heard ranks as one of the 50 reasons that SSD is immediately granted, I did have an OVCA sister here in Michigan who got hers in 3 weeks after applying and turning in all of her paperwork.
As far as Medicare, I am not sure because another friend (different illness) had to wait 2 years to get that.
I am betting though Medicare would start immediately.
abba I can only tell you what my experience was. I qualified for disability and then it took a year to get medicare.Basically you have a six months wait before you get the disability and then a year after you get the medicare. 2 years is a pretty close estimate as to when you finally get insurance.
ps I really like your name .
I was able to get Disability Social Security. It took a couple of months to get that. I believe you have to be on disabilty for two year before you can have medicare I don't now about medicate.
Social Security has a new list of conditions for which they expedite disability rulings. They are called compassionate allowances. Most women with ovca will qualify, unless they are perhaps stage 1. The rulings come very quickly, in weeks rather than the old months or years.
I applied and was told I definitely qualified medically, but I did not have enough recent work credits. That is part 2 of the two part qualification test. SO I am not eligible. For those who do qualify, you will automatically get Medicare after being on SSD for 2 years.
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances/
I have not applied as my husband is retired military and I prefer to stick with our Tricare insurance for now. But it is good to know since you never know what the future holds.
I think you can do both, momanderson. The disability would be a check every month, so actual income.
Hello Ladies,
I live in IL. I was self-employed when I was diagnosed with stage IIIC ovarian cancer.
I had to close my business due to the time it would take to recover from the radical debulking and due
to the fact that I couldn't be around a lot of people during chemo due to a compromised immune system.
I applied for SSI shortly after I got out of the hospital from the debulking. I was denied at first because I had too many assets. Once I depleted out the assets I reapplied and was granted SSI but it took 3 months to get it. At the same time I also applied for SSD.
It took 5 months before I was granted the SSD.
Although I had health insurance, it was a catastrophic
policy with a high deductible so I was able to get medicaid assistance and have continued to get
medicaid and food stamps to supplement the SSD.
It takes 2 years to qualify for medicare and one
should start looking for supplements to medicare
3 months before medicare benefits are put into place.
There is a period of time during the year that one
has the right to sign up for medicare supplements
without bias....I can't think of the name that is given
to this time frame due to my chemo brain...wish it would come to me but it isn't happening right now.
I was told by a person versed in insurance that one wants a Plan F supplement to compliment Medicare.
That is also considered the Plan B supplement.
You will also need a Plan D supplement.
It is advised to look at companies who will pay for the drugs that you take and also when looking at a Plan B supplement it was advised to look for a plan that doesn't make you pay co-pays when going to Dr. visits.
I would suggest that if you are not going through chemotherapy during the time that you start investigating your supplements that you still look for
a company that will pay for the drugs that are needed during chemotherapy just in case you have to start it again.
For those of you who are over age 50, AARP has some great offers for supplements to compliment
medicare so it is wise to join AARP.
I just recently found out that if you are on medicaid now, depending on the income that you get through
SSD, medicaid may pay for those supplements each month.
This may vary per state, but in IL, medicaid will pay for
the supplement premiums once I qualify for medicare.
I hope this helps.
Blessings,
Luann
There is a section on this website that gives you info on getting a patient advocate to set up your appt with SS ,and get you a caseworker. Amazing what happens when you hit the wrong button.
Yes, you can definitely get SS disability. Just make an appointment and apply.
It is the SSD that is automatic, if you have any type of metastasized OvCa. SSD kicks in after you have been out of works for 6 months. The advice I received from the HR folks where I work is to apply for SSD at your 3 month point, because the processing for approvals (they contact your hospitals and oncologists), can take months. I followed that advice, and had the approval completed by the time the 6 month waiting period was up. If you start the application for SSD on-line, you need to enter that you have a terminal condition (their words, not mine) when the question comes up in the form. That will trigger a message to get you a quickly scheduled appointment at your local SS office. You will not have to wait in any awful lines.
If you have any type of Long Term Disability insurance, they will also require you to apply for SSD.
If you are under 65, Medicare will not kick in until you have been on SSD for 24 months. You are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A (hospitalization coverage) at no charge. You must then indicate that you do not want part B (out patient/physician care) if you have alternate coverage. If you need hospitalization, the Part A is charged first, with the remaining charges covered according to your private policy.
One more important nugget. During the 6 month waiting period for SSD, you may not have worked more than 160 hours total. Otherwise, the 6 month clock resets to the beginning.
To momanderson, applying for SSD is entirely unrelated to applying for Medicare insurance. No one forces us to pay for coverage that is redundant with any we have. So, you would still be able to maintain your Tricare, with the eventual addition of free Medicare hospitalization coverage. These days most policies have lifetime maximum coverage ceilings. So having the Medicare backup for hospitalization seems like the prudent thing to me.
can someone link to where on the site you can look at the ssa stuff? i haven't been able to work for over a year now and it's hitting hard. mestatized cervical cancer....
You can google "how to apply for social security disability" or go to www.ssa.gov
Okay this seems pretty easy guys click on the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance logo at the top of this page then go to the About Ovarian Cancer tab then legal and insurance .This will take you to the info about getting an advocate to help set apps. and get you a case worker .
Hope this helps.
My mom tried to applied last year and they told her that since she and my dad own a home and a car she did not qualify. She was also told that in order to qualify she could not travel for five years because that would mean that she has enough assets to cover her medical expenses!! Therefore she never followed up or went through with the application process. This is wonderful maybe I can look up more information and ask her to try again. My dad would love to retire but given the fact that my mom does not qualify for any help he has to continue working for insurance purposes otherwise my mom will be left with no medical insurance. Any input or suggestions will be greatly appreciated !!!
Cindy,
That's probably for SSI...not disability, right?
Hi,
I just applied for SSDI (Social Security Disability) as I have Stage IV Ovca which just recurred less than 6 months after completing chemo. As others have noted on this post, there is an initial application you can do online and it doesn't take that much time. Then there is another application that follows and pretty early on in that second application, there is a question asked about whether your medical issue is likely to result in death. Mine is, so I marked yes and was told to contact Social Security and things would be streamlined as a result of my situation. I called, sat on hold for 30 minutes, then was cut off. So much for streamlining. But within a week, someone for Soc Security called and arranged a phone interview; that lasted about an hour. The interviewer told me that I would be notified of my status within 30 days. She also gave me an estimate of what I could expect to receive and told me I would qualify for Medicare in 2 years. Then some other Social Security office in a different state sent three more forms to fill out. I don't know if there is more to do in terms of interviews or forms, but should know my status shortly.
They did explain that it a a 6-month wait before benefits are paid, from the date of the last work day. I noticed several people on this post indicated they did not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid - my question is: which one - it wasn't clear to me. I think with Medicaid if you have too many assets you don't qualify until you essentially lose everything you own. I didn't think that was true for Medicare - anyone know if there's a difference?
Mary
I have been on SSD for 2 yrs and they did not deny me for it or medicare which just came thru and I own my home. I think that is the difference between Medicare and Medicaid.
My SSI depends on my husbands income. He doesn't make much, even the accountant that did our taxes said he made next to nothing for the past few years. Some months I get it, some I don't. I'm beginning to wonder how many of those diseases listed I've got to get before I qualify for disability, but even though I have Stage IV OVCA and was born with Muscular Dystrophy I don't qualify because I never worked to put into the system. Ummm....I was declared by doctors at age 14 that I was disabled. But I get zip, zero, nadda, nothing! It irritates me because I know others getting it and still work on the side. My Medicaid depends on hubbys income too.
I hope you're able to get some help from Social Security.
Take care & God Bless
I received disabilaty right after my surgery. It is a hassle filling out the forms, but worth it.
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