Already a member? Sign in
What - Inspire is a place where you can connect with people who share your health concerns and find information and advice in groups sponsored by organizations you know and trust.
Why - As a member you can use Inspire to let friends and family know how you're doing, contact others who share your health concerns, receive personalized updates and information about participating in surveys and clinical trials, and more.
How - Joining Inspire is completely free and usually takes less than a minute. Join now!
Hello all:
I am new to this community and I hoped some of you could share some of your experiences with applying for SSD. I applied for SSD on March 4th but haven't heard anything back. I find myself getting upset everytime I go to the mailbox and there isn't any response. How long does it usually take to hear back?
I appreciate anyone sharing.
Cancer Sciatica Surgery Arthritis Chronic pain Back pain Bypass surgery Ovarian cancer Chemotherapy Pain Acupuncture
Hey, Skatemama! If you go to my discussion entitled "Yeah! I got my disability!", you'll see ALOT of discussion on the subject :)
I had my SSD sent directly to my bank and the money was deposited before I heard anything back in the mail.
I know it's hard to be patient, but it'll come!
Hugs and blessings!
Thanks for letting me know! I will definitely check out that discussion.
Be patient--it will come. Depending on when you last worked you may have some back pay coming to you. I went for 6 months without any income and I am single. Imagine how happy I was when I got that letter. Disability has enabled me to devote all of my time to me and getting better. Cancer is a full time job and we deserve to be paid back a little of the money we paid in taxes.
Good luck and God bless.
I was told it could be up to 120 days which is a really long time when there isn't much else coming in. I think it depends on your area exactly how long it takes.
They did provide me with some local numbers I could call to get updates on my claim status, you could see if your local office can provide you with that.
Best of luck
It can take forever for soc sec to make up their minds and get the paperwork done. I know because I was a consultant for them.
One way to speed it up is with a Congressional Inquiry,,that gets them off their duffs for a fast decision.
All you do is call whoever your Congressman is,,you don't have to even know him. Call his office, tell them of your dire straits and ask them to do a congressional inquiry for your claim. They will do it,,the office does it routinely.
That may speed them up.. You can call them everyday too and cry a bit,,just goose them.
Good luck,,the squeaky wheel gets the grease so go for it!
I think it took mine about 3 months. But like a previous person said, mine was in the bank before I got the letter. Here's my question: has anyone had their "review" yet?? If so, were your benefits continued/denied???
Since ovca was put at the top of the list now, it's not a problem to get the disability as long as you have enough work time in to qualify....if you haven't worked, then you won't get SSD. When you see on tv all the lawyers telling you need to have a lawyer to get your SSD, that is not true if you have ovca...you don't need a lawyer....as long as you filled out the papers of all your doctor visits, work history, etc...you will get your disability.
It will come :)
Thanks to all of you for all your advice.
Patricia, You are "ditto-ing" a friend's suggestion on this subject. She used to work for a congressman and told me to go that route if I had any problems. While I don't recall the date I spoke with (by phone) and signed release of medical records, but we were blown away by how quickly it took to hear something. While I won't get my first check til July (having a last paycheck in December), it was still surprising to hear by mail.
It will be good to have the extra income after having worked my whole life!
Hugs, Kathleen
I applied for Soc Sec Disability right after I saw Abbaschild's first post. The social security employee I talked to told me it would be 120 days but I politely reminded him that ovca is on the fast-track list. He looked it up and confirmed it, and I got my approval letter within a few weeks. Keep in mind that you might have more current information than they do, and be your own advocate.
--Bev
I love it when I hear someone else got their social security disability :D Yeah!!!
Me, too! Contact the person at Social Security who has your case and remind them about the Compassionate Allowance list that includes ovarian cancer. I had money deposited in my checking account in 2 weeks!
I had my 24 month "review" last summer. I had no trouble retaining SSD benefits, I think mainly due to being stage IV. Also, it might have been a factor that I was too fatigued to work even 20 hours a week, unless I stopped my fitness routine.
I worked as a Disability Analyst for SS and it can take up to 6 months to get your first decision. You should receive a packet of questions from them and you typically have 10 days to answer and return. And it truly depends on how long it takes for your doctors to get your medical records to the analyst. If you have your records you can call your analyst and tell them you have your records and they will send you a bar code and an envelope to send the information to the scanning facility. All records are now scanned from another facility and your claim is review electrionically.
You should have received a letter from your analyst stating when they received your application and the analysts name and number.
The actual determination is not done by social security it is done by a state agaency such as Social Services or Social and Rehab services, it depends on the state which you live in where your claim is being reviewed. Then the state agency sends the allowance or denial back to SS. If it is a denial you will recieve a letter from the state agency, if it is an allowance you will hear from the SS field office. You can call your analyst at any time, but they can't tell you if it was an allowance only if it was denied. The reason for that is that there is an Office of Disability and Adjudication for SS and they can pull your claim and review it after the determination and change the outcome of the claim.
Hope this helps. If you have other questions please let me know. I know it is a long process and they are very, very busy, so any extra work you can do to get ALL of your records would be helpful to your analyst. What they really need is the path report, that is the most important part of the medical records.
Good luck.
Just an update, I got my award letter Saturday! I was so relieved to finally have my answer. My letter said that my child may be eligible for a benefit check, have any of you had this experience? Do I need to do anything or does the SS office review his eligibility? My letter said that he would receive a letter separately from mine at a later date.
You don't have to do anything for your sons benefits. SS will determine his eligibility. I'm glad you finally heard from them :)
Ok, I have questions about SS Insurance. I worked for Enron (yeah, Enron) for 20 years, so I had SSI during that time. I quit two months before it went down (2000) and haven't added to my SSI BUT should I still be able to go for SS Disability benefits? Ovarian Cancer Stage IIIc in Sept of 08, some removal of bowel, complete hysterecomy, 6 chemo treats. Three months of being cancer free then it returned. Have to have bypass surgery on small bowel and now receiving another type of chemo. With the SBO, I'm pretty much tied to the bathroom and since I was in the hospital for 18 day, lost 40 pounds, I haven't regain my strength. I'm on a 21 day treatment cycle (Day 1, Day 8 and then on the 21st day, new cycle) so two after the treatment I'm pretty much in bed for several days. What are my chances of getting benefits?
Thanks! Love ya ALL! Keep prayers going for everyone!
Maryann
Opps - I should let ya'all know I worked for myself from 2000 to 2008 when I had the first surgery and had to give up my little company - closed it down officially on 12-31-2008. Had plans to return to some kind of work until the reoccurance hit me. So bottom line I was working, not contributing to SSI and now cannot work, had to shut my company down and have loss wages from Sept 08 to the present.
Thanks again!
Maryann
Add to the discussion