Should I go for SSI?

[llloyd4]

Ok. So. Let's start and work my way down with the list of things that is wrong with me.

Eyesight, not *quite* legally blind but I can't drive legally and my 24 inch monitor I need the fonts to be 125%.

Speech, I tend to, with out thinking, speak a bit too quick and I have a mild stutter. I really have to focus and sometimes repeat myself a few times to get what I want said. Not always but sometimes.

Bent spine, my vertebra are wedge shaped due to poor posture as a kid. In my current job lifting is problematic. I do it as I have to but, yeah, I pay for it later. Also I can't stand still for very long with out my back starting to hurt.

Knees and ankles have the beginnings of arthritis. Knees hurt most of the time, more so If I do a lot of walking / lifting. I can't kneel for too long as my leg muscles will spasm.

So. I'm thinking a sit down job but then I really don't know what I could do in that regard. Receptionist? Nope, speech needs to be clear and concise when speaking to people both in person and over the phone. IT Tech? Nope, don't have the qualifications. Plus seeing the text on the monitors. Same with electronics, can't see the components. Umm... Yeah. I am drawing a blank on this. If I did go for SSI I'd need to lawyer it up and find a better doctor. I tried to get a disability bus pass and was told I wasn't quite disabled enough. Presently I have to rely on the bus and on Uber, Uber especially when I go shopping for groceries and stuff.

Umm... Do you all need to know anything else? Otherwise what do you think? I am not so bad I need a cane or a walker, not yet, thank God. But I do have to limit myself, I did Universal with a friend and it took me 3 days to recover enough to head back to work and that was with taking a lot of Ibuprofen to get me by. That sort of stuff doesn't help my GERD any at all.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

How old are you?

 

[Zigner]

If your doctor won't approve you for a disabled-person bus pass, what makes you think that same doctor will push for you to get SSI? Yes, find a new doctor (FIRST) and work with that doctor to show that you are too disabled to work.

 

[Janke]

First you need to understand the difference between SSI (a welfare disability program) and SSDI (a disability program you pay into when you work).

Second, you also should understand that if you can find a job that suits your abilities, you will almost always have more money to live on than you would with SSDI and especially with SSI. It means you should hold on to whatever job you have as long as you can, generally. But also, if you are able to do the work the boss expects, just like everyone else, SSDI will turn you down, no matter how bad your medical problems are.

Next, a good 2/3 of the SSDI and/or SSI claims are denied at the initial level. A higher percentage are approved at the higher appeal level, which is usually years after filing. The lawyer is the most help at that level, not much help earlier.
Age and educational level may matter, since more jobs are available for people with education. But, a person can be approved at any age and denied at any age. You have to prove that your physical and mental conditions are so serious, and substantiated by medical records, that you cannot perform any kind of substantial work and that this inability will last 12 months or longer.

You are working now. How would you support yourself for the possibility of several years with no money coming in from SSDI or SSI? This can be a long process with no guarantee of success. You may wish to wait until you just can't drag yourself to work anymore. Why can't you keep doing the job you are doing? Perhaps going to Universal Studios is no longer an option for you, because you need your strength to work.

If you need a better doctor, you should get one now, and not because you want to qualify for SSDI or SSI.

You might qualify. Impossible for anyone here to guess and you should make an informed decision, not a guess. SSDI attorneys could give you their opinion when you interview them. 4

Work as long as you can. Save money so you can support yourself if you do have to file a disability claim as your condition deteriorates.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

This is not a legal question.

This forum cannot tell you if you would qualify for disability.

Gail

 

[Just Blue]

Px Hx...

 

[llloyd4]

@Janke Well, that's kind of the problem at the moment. My current job, not Universal, it's a cashier at a big box home improvement store, it's getting harder and harder to work at, I am taking absurd amounts of Ibuprofen, on a level that concerns my doctor (but it's the only over the counter I can take, Tylenol does nothing for me), and that only dulls the pain. And not very well neither. They say get a sit down job but, with my stuttering I would never be suited for to many sit down jobs. At least the type I can think of, like receptionist. Not to mention education. I have my diploma and a useless degree that I never did much with. Honestly, I go over in my head what little I know and this seems like the better option even though I'd be stuck on unemployment and GR for God only knows how long. I've asked the Dept of Rehab for help and it keeps boiling down to me deciding on a new career and they're not helping in that regard. I don't *know* what jobs I can and can't do, what jobs that are sit down that I could do. It would have to be a job where talking clearly isn't a requirement. So IT Support, where you need to walk someone through a problem, or receptionist, where you need to talk to clients in person and over the phone, etc just won't do. Heck, I saw one posting for IT Support with a 50 lb lifting requirement. Like, good Lord.

 

[commentator]

Quote: "even though I'd be stuck on unemployment and GR for God only knows how long" Uh, no.

Janke is our resident expert on Social Security, and everything said is very true. Also, let me point out that you'd play heck to get any unemployment insurance if you quit your current job, in any state in the union, because you believe you are too disabled to do it. Unemployment insurance is ONLY for those who are able, available and actively seeking another job which is equivalent to the one they've had, which means, in most cases, equally strenuous. So when you become too disabled to work, you are looking at about a year, best case scenario, of ZERO income before you are apt to be approved for disability IF you are approved. There is no program whole that will pay you money when you don't feel like doing your regular job anymore and you haven't been approved for social security disability yet. Some states have some disability insurance, but don't count on that even if you are in one of the states that has it.

I strongly suggest that while you are still employed, you begin preparing yourself for something, as in retraining or educating yourself further or applying for jobs that you do not think would be as strenuous. No one, repeat no one, is concerned with your comfort, level of income, etc. in this country. Its sort of that you are on your own until you are actually approved for disability, and frankly, from what I'm hearing here, it doesn't sound like you've got anything clear cut that would ease your way into a social security disability claim. By all means, get a better doctor. Get a more definitive judgment about your disabilities before trying to file a claim.

 

[Janke]

You have options. You say you cannot do too many sit down jobs because of your stutter. It might be difficult to be a telemarketer, but you haven't tried it yet. Have you been with your current employer long enough (and are they big enough) for them to want to and be able to make accommodations for you?

I don't disagree that you have fewer options when it comes to jobs. But it doesn't mean you have no options. You haven't listed your age, but it does get slightly easier to qualify after age 50 because SSA considers that you will have a harder time making a career change than you would at age 30 or 40. But if SSA finds that you are capable of a simple, sit down job, even with your stutter, your SSDI claim will be denied.

You are not going to get unemployment if you quit. Does your state offer public disability insurance? California does. Pays for 12 months. Twelve months will probably. But getting state disability is much easier than getting SSDI.

I think you should spend time searching out other career options. It will take quite a bit of work and research. And continue to work until you can no longer drag yourself to the job anymore. And you should have a better doctor because you need one now, now because you need one to get on SSDI. It is not the doctor's opinion that matters anyway. What matters is your ability to function. How long can you stand/sit/walk in an 8 hour work day ("not very long" is a useless answer to SSA)? I am pretty sure that your speech and vision problems would not be sufficient for an approval, even if you were totally blind in one eye. Totally blind in both eyes would do it, but I don't wish that for you.

I assume you meant you went to Universal Studios park when you said you did Universal with a friend. All that walking and standing and being thrown around on roller coaster rides would wear out lots of people who can hold jobs.

By all means go have a conversation with an SSA lawyer who can give you a little more specific answers. But that would be speculation as well. No one can tell in you advance if you would be approved and it can be a very long time, years for some people, to go through the appeal process. With no guarantee of every being approved. Especially if you can still do the job you have.

Have you opened a MySSA account to pull up your earnings record so that you know how much you might get if approved for disability? Can you live on that? You also would not have medical coverage through Medicare until two years of entitlement so can you afford COBRA or are you on the ACA? Do you have enough credits to qualify for SSDI (5 years of work in the last 10 years) or is it the welfare SSI program that would be the only thing you could get?

Best advice, work as long as you can. Save as much money as you can. Stay out of debt. Pare down your life now so you can live on less when you have to file the SSDI claim.

 

[Pinkie39]

There's also no longer a "general relief" cash welfare program in most states in the U.S.. It was pretty much eliminated with welfare reform in 1996. In most states, people without minor children are no longer eligible for cash welfare.