If you have filed for SSI Disability and you received a rejection letter don’t freak out! Hire someone who can file for you and follow through for you, someone who knows the system. Wherever you live, do a google search for Disability Assistance. I was initially rejected and then hired a firm who submitted all paperwork for me. They keep a small sum from your first check as payment. They could not believe that someone who worked all their life and was actually disabled was rejected. I live in Massachusetts-tax accusets and it took about a year but, I now get my monthly check. Good Luck
Same here, denied twice , hired attorney, 3’s a charm in Los Angeles, California
If I am not mistaken, Ataxia is one of the diseases that automatically qualify you for SSD, that is what I have been told. I have SCA1 and have been receiving SSD for some time now.
As an previous social worker (retired eight years, due to ataxia), I can tell you most people are denied their first time. I had many disabled (physically and mentally) clients that applied, a were denied at their first filing. Seems to be the norm. ;o)
All I know is that me and 2 of my sisters have been diagnosed with SCA 1 and we were all approved the first time, and we were all told that Ataxia was one disease that is automatically approved???
Dear Kathy, I believe you are correct, as Social Security Disability has an adult list of condition (under neurological), with Spinocerebellar Ataxia (11.00) listed. Therefore, I assume (?) this is one type of ataxia that is automatically approved. Please don't quote me as I don't know the ins and outs of SSD (very complicated). Anyway, kudos to you and your sisters for being approved at your first filing! ;o)
Thank you for your responses. Here in Mass the Cerebellum Atatxia that I have is not on any list. I had to wait and wait for SSI to even reject my application. The main reason for this topic is to let fellow Ataxians know that they will reject an applicant the first time, and that should not be the end of things. You need to keep reapplying, and I was successful with the help of an outside source. DO NOT GIVE UP!!
I am glad that me and my sisters were approved, and if the Ataxia, in general, is not automatically recognized, it SHOULD BE!! It is not a good disease to have. I know some people who desperately need it, and are denied time after time.
Suzi said:
Thank you for your responses. Here in Mass the Cerebellum Atatxia that I have is not on any list. I had to wait and wait for SSI to even reject my application. The main reason for this topic is to let fellow Ataxians know that they will reject an applicant the first time, and that should not be the end of things. You need to keep reapplying, and I was successful with the help of an outside source. DO NOT GIVE UP!!
Can you apply for SSD even if you are retired and already collectring SS?
I too was approved on my first time. They have a list called "Compassionate Allowance Conditions" and Spinocerebellar Ataxia is on the list, Google it on the Social Security Benefit website
Ataxia was moved to one of the 70 automatic disabilities last year. Once I was diagnosed I was approved with back pay in a month. You can go directly to SSI office and they will handle it. No need for an attorney.
I live in Maine and also battled the system. I hired a lawyer and was approved when the law firm filed the second appeal. It was money well spent! But in the U.S. there is a 6-month waiting period where you get no benefits and then you have to wait two years from the time you are defined as disabled for Medicaid. If you can survive these periods you can get disability but it is a long haul. I am spending half of my disability benefit on COBRA Insurance while I wait for Medicare to kick in. Then you still have to buy a supplemental policy for Gap Extension for Medicaid and pay for prescription drug coverage. The good news is that the Medicare policies are cheaper than conventional insurance but the whole Medicare process is very confusing. I am getting together with a sales person next week to sort through all the choices. Where is the Safety Net when you really need it?
You are absolultely correct. However, there is a silver lining. If you apply the day you decide you have to go on disablity your wait time is retroactive. I applied 9 months before diagnosis and recieved back pay and credit toward Medicare. Seek out someone one of the specialty insurance companies to help you through American Family Life is a good one. In any case the day you decide to apply you must stop work, be able to make it for the two years. There is no exception. Been there done that got a tee shirt.
I am on SSI when I retired. When my wife filed for her SSI, her marked me down as being disabled. I received a call from the SSI office to tell my that I was also eligible for disability Five months later I received an increase in my payments, and a lump sum back to when I should have been receiving the disability.
I know a person who hs epelepsy. It took him well over a year to be told he wasn't eligible. Close to another six months plus to finally be accepted.
Israel
Is anyone else getting SSI and disability? I thought you only got one or the other, whichever was more $. I am 56. Living in the U.S.
I have been told i will go on ssi when i am entitled. i hope to know more in november
I have been seeing my neuro at Albany Med. in Albany NY for over 2 years after wasting 2 years prior with a neuro. that said all I had was neuropathy. I have been diagnosed with ataxia (not SCA) and at my last visit in April I was diagnosed with cerebellar degeneration (genetic). I have been going thru this for 4 years now. Last August my company closed (where I had worked for 19 years) and I was on unemployment for six months. I did look for clerical work (which I did previously) and did not get hired for 2 of the jobs I interviewed for due to my health. After my last visit to neuro. in April we decided that I should file for SSD. I filed in mid April and also had a letter from my employer stating my deteriorating health over the past 2 years which I submitted with my med. records. What are my chances of getting approved the firt time?
I was told that no one gets approved the first time unless they are terminally ill. Sorry for the bad news. Maybe others have different information and better experiences.
SCA is one of the automatic diseases for ssi. It was ruled so 2 years ago. File with SSI with the paperwork from a neurologist and should go on through. Go to your Senator and they will help you grease the way. You shouldnt need an attorney i didnt.
Mel is correct about ataxia being automatically approved. I was approved the first time but it wasn’t simple. I went to an attorney initially and then decided I could do it myself (was a former bureaucrat). I would have given the attorney a substantial sum as they eventually paid me for a year back and the attorney would have got ton most of it. As it was, the words “spinocerebellar ataxia” has to be the diagnosis. I had this in writing from the doctor I initially went to as a “probable” diagnosis but none of my current doctors would confirm this since no lab work backs it up. so they call it a hereditary ataxia. It’s a way for doctors to never be considered wrong in the diagnosis. I used spinocerebellar ataxia as the diagnosis on the forms, sent in the letter from the original doc and explained exactly what I was no longer able to do in my job and why and they sent me for an exam with their doctor. Apparently was enough as I was approved.