posted
I am very overwhelmed and scared at beginning this application process. The LTD insurance company mandates that I apply for SSDI.
I am going to begin putting my medical files together. I think I have a pretty good case - going back 5 years to an MS diagnosis; aggressive treatment for chronic Lyme in the past year (including IV Rocephin).
Do I include the naturopaths I have seen, the herbal protocols I have included in my treatment? Do I include the carniosacral work I am doing for pain relief?
My instinct says yes but I just want to get opinions from people who have been through the process.
"Illnesses, hover constantly above us, their seed blown by the winds, but they do not set in the terrain unless the terrain is ready to receive them."---Claude Bernard. Posts: 131 | From US | Registered: Dec 2006
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posted
My daughter is applying for ssd. We are working with an agency that is helping her fill out the paper work. She told us not to include this. Hope this helps.
Posts: 488 | From NY | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Any other opiions out there on Lymenet? I got a response from a friend stating that she included chiropractors, nutritionists and accupuncturists. I will include my past naturopath too.
"Illnesses, hover constantly above us, their seed blown by the winds, but they do not set in the terrain unless the terrain is ready to receive them."---Claude Bernard. Posts: 131 | From US | Registered: Dec 2006
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Greatcod
Unregistered
posted
Several years after I got on SSDI, I went to the local Soc Sec Office to check out my case file to find out what had impacted my being approved. At the time of getting on, I was told that I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which didn't qualify. Social Security had requested opinions from my Rheumatologist, from a neuro-psych person I had seen, and from a psychotherapist I had seen. So it wasn't just doctors. I would advise that you emphasize the MS diagnosis if made by a neurologist. That's very serious and an approval condition (I don't know that Chronic Lyme is). I don't know if they solicit opinions from Naturopaths or Chiropractors, but I do know its not just MD's. I don't see that it could hurt to include them. It certainly adds to the picture of a really sick and desperate person looking for answers.
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posted
Hubby was told to list every doc seen. We submitted list of 58 docs I think it was at the time plus about 15 different ER's and hospitals. If you exclude anyone and then they are listed in another doc's office notes or they have copies of any medical tests from other docs Social Security will try to contact anyone they find out about that was not on your original list.
If you have insurance they could send you a copy of claims paid for whatever years you need if you think you have forgotten anyone.
Social Security will contact everyone on your list. They requested each doc send copies of all records. Some docs will not respond. Social security will tell you who has responded. You can request a meeting to actually look at your file.
The most important piece of paper in your file is a statement from a doc that you are totally disabled. Can't remember what the form is called that Social Security will ask the doc to complete -- asks questions about residual functional capacity.
If this form is missing -- it will delay the process and you can be pretty sure of a denial. Hubby had to go through a couple of appeals to get all the paperwork in order -- ended up taking about 2 1/2 years to get approved.
Better to spend the time upfront to get everything included in the initial application.
The sooner you start the process the better as claims can only go back in time for a certain number of months. But you need to be prepared to devote time to the project as they try to process the initial application within 60 days I think it is -- I think we got it extended to 90 days.
Bea Seibert
P.S. Lists of herbs would not be needed -- they are only interested in current meds.
You could write a brief history of types of treatments tried with dates but no specific details regarding doses of meds.
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
The best thing you have going for you is your LTD benefits through your place of employment. They are VERY motivated to have you approved by SS so they don't have to continue to pay you as much money.
The amount awarded by SS is deducted from your LTD benefit from day one. I was in this position. My LTD company did ALL the work, except going to the SS doctors and compiling the original paperwork.
I was turned down twice by SS. My LTD had to keep paying me their original amount. They got a lawyer (theirs) on my case who wrote a brief to the Administrative Law Judge, and on that basis alone, I was approved without having to go to court.
I don't know why I was approved. I was informed that I would not be reviewed for at least 10 years and that was true....and then I only got a one page form from SS asking if anything had changed for me in ten years (yes, I was worse.)
While most people get back payments from SS beginning from the date of application to present, I did not because the LTD company took it all back. That was in the fine print somewhere and I was taken by surprise.
I actually got a check from SSD for over $14,000 and it's a good thing I didn't go out and spend any of it because that is what my LTD told me I owed them for their work.
As for what to report in your paperwork, I would first include your main doctors, including any for behavioral or psychiatric medicine. Try to think like an organization...they want to see that you have been to a number of "normal" doctors and have had lots of treatments.
You could then add in complementary treatments. I believe one of the most important portions of the paper work is the one entitled "Activities of Daily Living." Here is where they will nitpick.
This is also where you need to be specific. "Before I got sick I..... or I did.....After I got sick and ever since I can no longer...... or I can't......
They need to see the comparisons. And you need to address the questions like they are talking about your WORST days. If you could sit at a desk and work on a computer for 8 hours per day, and now you can't stay on a computer at all, that is a big discrepancy but is real and needs to be included.
If you have quit driving that is important. If your memory is gone, that is worth noting. And SS will take in consideration your previous kind of work, your education, etc. If you dropped out of high school and your job has been to put together car parts, SS might say that you can screw a nut onto a bolt. (I know it's ridiculous but it's true.)
Oh my first denial letter, they said I could sit upright for 4 hours. Well, duh! They didn't notice that what I was doing took masters and doctorate degrees....like I had to be able to TALK WHILE SITTING UP and my employer frowned on taking naps while my patients were in my office.
Really though, you WILL have help because of your LTD benefit. It's the best insurance I ever bought and I'm so glad I did it since it was not compulsory to take it.
I broke out in hives the day I received my SS packet. I knew my brain wasn't firing on all cylinders but I went over the forms with a couple of friends and family members (you'll need to have 3 or 4 of them to attest to your abilities or lack thereof too) and it wasn't so bad.
The forms don't leave nearly enough room to complete the information. Just hand-write the answers on notebook paper if you can write. If you can't, make a note that so and so helped complete the form.
Waiting for an answer is the hardest part, but you WILL get an answer. The day I heard that I had been approved I almost danced....and then I got a phone call from my bank telling me about the large check that had been deposited.
Good luck! It CAN be done! Janet
-------------------- DISCLAIMER: No information presented above should be considered medical advice or take the place of advice given by a medical professional. Links to other sites are provided merely for ease of research. Posts: 287 | From Tennessee | Registered: Sep 2006
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map1131
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 2022
posted
I was told by my lawyer to include all persons I was seeing regardless if they were medical, naturopath, holostic. Someone (from SS) called my naturopath and questioned her on the phone about me.
The judge & SS both told me that treatment was treatment and all of the treatments were showing that I was trying to get well. The judge was pretty impressed when I told him I had spent $30,000 out of pocket trying to improve. The medical doctor that was at my hearing wasn't impressed. He wanted to argue with all my docs. I had my PCP, LLMD and naturopath finding and all saying I couldn't work due my symptoms.
Good luck, Pam
-------------------- "Never, never, never, never, never give up" Winston Churchill Posts: 6495 | From Louisville, Ky | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
WOW - thanks everyone. This is very good info. and a great spiritual boost while I begin this process. I love this board! And I love all the people I meet on this journey.
"Illnesses, hover constantly above us, their seed blown by the winds, but they do not set in the terrain unless the terrain is ready to receive them."---Claude Bernard. Posts: 131 | From US | Registered: Dec 2006
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bejoy
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11129
posted
From my experience helping people get on SSI, I have discovered the following:
They specifically need information related to a medical diagnosis, or two, or three.
They need proof of the degree of your disability, and inability to work and or to care for yourself.
Alternative treatments don't hurt the case. It can help to the degree that they see how much of your resources are going in to your treatment.
Alternative or complementary medicine or evaluations can't be subsitituted for "medical" diagnostics. They have to have something that fits into the little codes in their computers.
Mental health diagnoses don't hurt, but ususally do help the case. A diagnosis of disabling depression from a qualified therapist can be very helpful if you are experiencing that.
In my area it is usual to be denied two to three times before being approved, regardless of the severity of the disability. They want to wait and see if the person will go back to work when they run out of resources. Not fair, but that's the way it is. So hang in there.
-------------------- bejoy!
"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." -Ralph Waldo Emerson Posts: 1918 | From Alive and Well! | Registered: Feb 2007
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