primitives discuss getting on the disability dole

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=250x3988

Oh my.

DollyM  (594 posts)        Mon Feb-15-10 10:05 PM
Original message
 
Can a person be classified "disabled" without recieving social security disability payments?

My husband is diabetic and was recently hosptialized and lost another chunk of his foot. I think it is time we recognize that he probably is not going to be able to keep working. Unfortunetly, he does not qualify for social security disability because he is not an American citizen. He has been here since he was four, worked and paid into the system for 25 plus years, served in the American military, etc. but because he worked for a state college that paid into a teachers pension fund rather than social security, it was as if he didn't work for the past seven years.

For some reason, if you don't pay into social security for seven years and you are not an AMerican citizen,you lose the right to apply for disability. So we went back to the teachers fund and it had a disability clause but he would have had to applied for it within a year after leaving his job. (He didn't leave willingly, he was on a grant and the college lost the grant and all the employees in the program lost their jobs.

He is 56 years old and a diabetic so has had a great deal of trouble finding an appropriate job.

But my first concern is, he needs to be able to get a medical card, medicaid, but I don't know if he has to be on social security disability to be able to get one. We have very little income (my part time job and a few bucks from our small business) so we should qualify financially. I have seen several programs tied to this qualification such as the heating assistance program.

You have to be on social security disabilty to show that you are disabled. He has a state handicap placard which meant a letter from the doctor was sent to the state showing that he had a permanent disability, but that hasn't been good enough for anything we have applied for that wants proof of disability.

So how does one prove they are disabled? Does that have to come from the social security administration to state that a person is disabled? I don't know who to turn to for answers.

Well, the primitive came to the right place; if anyone knows how to use and abuse the disability dole, it's the primitives on Skins's island.

Justitia (1000+ posts)      Mon Feb-15-10 10:11 PM
Response to Original message
 
1. You apply for Medicaid separately, through your state.

It is a totally separate program from Soc Sec, with different eligibility requirements for each state.

Here is a link to the Medicaid website, with an overview of eligibility:

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicaidEligibility /

Best of luck to you & your husband.

DollyM  (594 posts)        Tue Feb-16-10 08:25 PM
Response to Reply #1
 
10. I checked on that today when I went to apply for food stamp . . . 

The worker said that he was not eligible for Medicaid unless he was on social security disability. Here we go again in the same circle. Basically, we are screwed.

Justitia (1000+ posts)      Tue Feb-16-10 09:34 PM
Response to Reply #10
 
11. What state are you in?

DollyM  (594 posts)        Tue Feb-16-10 11:20 PM
Response to Reply #11
 
12. Illinois

Justitia (1000+ posts)      Tue Feb-16-10 11:36 PM
Response to Reply #12
 
13. Here is a state specific link for you...

http://www.hfs.illinois.gov/programs /

It talks about various programs you may be eligible for, basically it says to give them a call and let them point you in the right direction.

Justitia (1000+ posts)      Tue Feb-16-10 11:42 PM
Response to Reply #12
 
14. Forgot to mention....please check w/the hospital social worker.

You mention that your husband was recently hospitalized. Call the hospital business office and ask to speak with the hospital social worker.

The hospital social worker should be able to give you information that you might specifically be eligible for.

Your hospital district (that you pay for w/property taxes) may also have it's own "medically needy" plan, mine does.

It's not easy, but this is what you pay taxes for.

Also, ask about disease-specific advocacy organizations, i.e., programs to help diabetics. My son receives great help from the TX Kidney Fund for his kidney meds.

Don't get discouraged or give up.

Justitia (1000+ posts)      Tue Feb-16-10 11:47 PM
Response to Reply #12
 
15. Call Illinois Disease Management also....

http://www.hfs.illinois.gov/dm /

This dept is set up specifically to help citizens of Illinois in coping w/chronic illness, like your husband's diabetes.

MiniMe  (1000+ posts)        Mon Feb-15-10 10:19 PM
Response to Original message
 
2. The college may provide disability insurance

It is a place to check anyway.

DollyM  (594 posts)        Tue Feb-16-10 01:45 PM
Response to Reply #2
 
9. already tried that . . .

The college HR office said he would have had to applied for disability through them within one year after leaving there.

Traveling_Home (1000+ posts)      Mon Feb-15-10 10:20 PM
Response to Original message
 
3. SSDI seems like a lost clause but I would start here ......
 
"So we went back to the teachers fund and it had a disability clause but he would have had to applied for it within a year after leaving his job"

I'd get a lawyer and talk to them about his.

Another Bill C.  (1000+ posts)      Mon Feb-15-10 10:23 PM
Response to Original message
 
4. There's a program called Streamlined Citizenship for Service Members and Veterans. It might be worth looking into in order for your husband to obtain more benefits.

http://www.military.com/benefits/legal-matters/streamli... 

DollyM  (594 posts)        Tue Feb-16-10 01:41 PM
Response to Reply #4
 
8. thanks for that information . . . 

However, according to that site, he would have had to applied for citizenship within 6 months after leaving service. He left service in 1975.

happyslug  (1000+ posts)        Mon Feb-15-10 10:53 PM
Response to Original message
 
5. Different Programs have different definition of "Disability".

First, being a Non-American citizen does NOT cut you out from getting Social Security. His problem is that since he has NOT paid into Social Security, for he was working for a state, for Four year before he became disabled, he is NOT eligible for Social Security Disability.

This is true even if he was a US Citizen. It is one of the nasty rules of Social Security. Please note if he can show he was disabled within the four year period, he is eligible today. He can not get money for any period more then a year before he applied for Social Security, but if he can show he was disabled do to his disability or other problem within four years of the last time he paid into Social Security, he can get Social Security.

Please note if he has been denied but NOT gone in front of an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) have him appeal and try to get whatever evidence you can find that show he was disabled even seven years ago (Through the fact he was working is strong evidence he was NOT disabled, for the test for Disability is the inability to do any job).

While he is NOT eligible for Social Security for his State did NOT pay into Social Security does not mean he is NOT disabled for other benefits. For example the related Social Security Program known as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), while using the same definition of Disability as Social Security, is NOT dependent on his payments into Social Security.

Now SSI is different from Social Security disability it that it is reduced by any other income he receives (And is reduced by his spouses income). SSI is capped at $674 per year (plus whatever your state Supplements it by, most State's supplement is much like my Home State's Supplement which is only $27.40 per month).

Now the Federal Government also have other programs to help people who are disabled. One of them is the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR). OVR's definition of disability is can you be re-trained to do a job? (Social Security Definition of Disability is can you do jobs that exist in the substantial numbers in the National Economy of a full time nature).

SSI uses the same definition as Social Security Disability but OVR definition is substantially different (As I point out, can he be retrained to do ANY job in the National Economy, full time employment is NOT a limitation).

Welfare also have different definitions and these vary state by state. In the South forget it. In my home state of Pennsylvania, all you need to get Welfare Benefits is a statement from your doctor that you are disabled and make an application for Social Security (Benefits continue as long as you keep on appealing, even beyond the ALJ Level, but I always advise clients if you lost at the ALJ Level make a new application for SSI, and that is good enough to continue getting Welfare benefits).

Please note this is General Assistance and thus 100% state paid for. Transitional Aide for Needy Families (TANF, what was known a AFDC before the mid-1990s) is a different program.

charlyvi  (1000+ posts)      Mon Feb-15-10 10:59 PM
Response to Original message
 
6. You don't have to be an American citizen to get Social Security disability.

You do, however, have to have worked for five out of the last ten years leading up to the point of disability onset under a job which paid into Social Security. If your husband paid into a teacher's retirement fund rather than Social Security, that is why he does not qualify. It has nothing to do with his citizenship. It matters for SSI, but not Social Security disability.

ChicagoSuz219  (1000+ posts)        Mon Feb-15-10 11:24 PM
Response to Original message
 
7. Go to www.socialsecurity.gov...

...look for their 800 #. Call them. They're very nice & will give you the right information &/or direct you to the proper agencies that can help you.

In the meantime, apply for food stamps, Medicaid & welfare. Even if you're not eligible for all of it, you may be entitled to something.

Odin2005  (1000+ posts)        Thu Feb-18-10 07:49 PM
Response to Original message
 
16. I get SSI instead of SSDI because I CAN work.

I just can't work full time at a McJob.

With that last comment, by Odin's left hand, one consults the perceptive-but-alas-now-gone Gloria Swanson for her "take":

Odin2005 - who can't wait to tell anyone that he's got Asperger's Syndrome, which I seriously doubt. Just an over-inflated ego, the kind a college sophomore, I think that's where he is, has.  They've read a coursebook so they know everything.  But that claim of a kind of autism strikes me as a really neat cover, and I don't buy into it for one moment.

http://www.conservativecave.com/index.php/topic,37688.120.html

[BEG]

If the person who we bought this house from can work when he has ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) then someone who is diabetic and lost a "chunk of his foot" should also be able to work. My grandfather was a farmer. He was diabetic and lost one of his feet (not just a chunk, his whole foot). Somehow he managed to continue to farm.

[JohnnyReb]

You know something, if the DUmmies studied and learn useful subjects in school as well as they have studied and learned the ins and outs of disability law, maybe they wouldn't need it.

Mod: He's been here 52 years, served in the military and he still ain't a citizen?????

Is there rubber in them there words????

[blitzkrieg_17]

You know something, if the DUmmies studied and learn useful subjects in school as well as they have studied and learned the ins and outs of disability law, maybe they wouldn't need it.

Mod: He's been here 52 years, served in the military and he still ain't a citizen?????

Is there rubber in them there words????

Yes, lots of it.

[Celtic Rose]

You know something, if the DUmmies studied and learn useful subjects in school as well as they have studied and learned the ins and outs of disability law, maybe they wouldn't need it.

Mod: He's been here 52 years, served in the military and he still ain't a citizen?????

Is there rubber in them there words????

My grandmother has been here for 54 years or so, and she was a Military wife, but she never bothered to get citizenship.  She didn't feel that the hassle would be worth it.  She's had a Green Card most of her life now.

So this guy worked for a state college for some number of years in the past 7 years (interesting that she doesn't specify how long her worked there) but has been unemployed for more than a year.  I would think that if he simply found a job that paid into Social Security, then he would regain the ability to apply for SSDI.  Of course, actually having worked would show that it is not necessary...

[GOBUCKS]

If DUmmy TLB was still posting at the DUmp, she would have started a real brawl on this thread.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Wow, I'm really surprised that so many DUmmies know so much about going on disability.

[franksolich]

Wow, I'm really surprised that so many DUmmies know so much about going on disability.

It's the only thing on which the primitives know more about, than decent and civilized people do.

[The Village Idiot]

I know a dead beat who absolutely refused to pay child support, to "rent his kids". He refused to get a job, refused to stop smoking pot - on the stand in court - and then declared himself crazy. He began to get disability payments for being "crazy" because he thought he wouldn't have to pay child support but they garnished it. Garnishing is actually kind of rare in Texas too.

[delilahmused]

Why doesn't he just apply for citizenship now? Besides, in Barak Obama's America citizenship shouldn't matter! People can aspire to the highest job in the country without birth certificates, college records, work records, etc. Surely dear leader can find a way to help a fellow traveler.

Cindie

[DumbAss Tanker]

Why doesn't he just apply for citizenship now? Besides, in Barak Obama's America citizenship shouldn't matter! People can aspire to the highest job in the country without birth certificates, college records, work records, etc. Surely dear leader can find a way to help a fellow traveler.

Cindie

Exactly what I was wondering.  Seems like it's entirely fixable, while the guy's situation sounds pretty bad, it does not sound like he is entirely unemployable and homebound (For that matter, there are jobs you can work from home that pay FICA taxes, my wife has one) and putting in a few more years at an any-old job while he processes the citizenship application really isn't an insurmountable obstacle.

[AllosaursRus]

Call the damned waaaaammmmbulance! I know a guy with muscular distrophy that works 40 hr/week, refuses to get a handicap plate, never complains, and works his but off! It's pretty tough on him, but he absolutely refuses to be a victim. Until you get to know him, his speech is hard to understand, yet he wants to support himself. He's been working in the plumbing dept for 5 years! He and I are pretty close as he has back problems similar to mine. It really chaps my hide when these pukes start asking for pointers on how to live off the government when guys like Tom refuse it and consider it degrading!!

[Tucker]

Just what the world needs is another leech.

[Randy]

Call the damned waaaaammmmbulance! I know a guy with muscular distrophy that works 40 hr/week, refuses to get a handicap plate, never complains, and works his but off! It's pretty tough on him, but he absolutely refuses to be a victim. Until you get to know him, his speech is hard to understand, yet he wants to support himself. He's been working in the plumbing dept for 5 years! He and I are pretty close as he has back problems similar to mine. It really chaps my hide when these pukes start asking for pointers on how to live off the government when guys like Tom refuse it and consider it degrading!!

AMEN! I have 2 disabilities that qualify me to live like a DUmmie, cripple tag parking and all but I refuse to get any of that crap or live like a victim. I'm not supposed to walk on hard surfaces or uneven surfaces. That sorta limits my choices. I've never worked a carpeted floor, seat warming job and never will. As far as I'm concerned the day I do means I've given up and I may as well die and get it over with. 

[GOBUCKS]

AMEN! I have 2 disabilities that qualify me to live like a DUmmie, cripple tag parking and all but I refuse to get any of that crap or live like a victim. I'm not supposed to walk on hard surfaces or uneven surfaces. That sorta limits my choices. I've never worked a carpeted floor, seat warming job and never will. As far as I'm concerned the day I do means I've given up and I may as well die and get it over with.

Hats off to you, sir! But I'd take that cripple tag parking in a heartbeat. That is the stupidest law in the history of do-gooder politics. Not the idea of parking for handicapped people, but the number of spaces. It looks like the law expects every disabled person within a hundred miles comes to the same place at the same time. One convenience store I stop at sometimes has NO parking except for handicapped spots. If you don't have a wheelchair tag, you have to block a pump, even if you're not buying gas.