Am I Disabled?
by Talks about the injustices that disabled individuals have to deal with when applying for benefits through the Social Security Administration or private long term disability insurance carriers.
Many disabled people also apply for Long Term Disability benefits through a plan that they either purchased privately or through their last employer. If you think the Social Security Administration is tough to deal with, the long term disability companies are far worse, from what I have heard. It is a fact that many of these companies will actually employ private investigators to monitor the daily activities of claimants in order to “catch” them doing something they shouldn’t be doing, such as mowing the lawn, carrying groceries or just lying in the sun. Of course, this is a cost effective thing for the long term disability carriers to do if a person who claims they can not walk is found going for a jog or playing in the yard with their dog. However, if a person who suffers from depression is caught lugging groceries into the house because it helps their self esteem to be useful or a person with Fibromyalgia is found sitting in the sun because it eases joint pain, this can adversely affect their chances of being approved for benefits. There are many types of disabilities, and they are not always obvious. To make a judgment of someone without really knowing their history and what their daily life is like is a gross injustice to all disabled people as a whole.
So the question “Am I disabled” should really be “Am I disabled enough to receive benefits?” For the vast majority of first-time disability applicants, the Social Security Administration or long term disability insurance company decides that the unequivocal answer to this question is “no”. Many of us have paid into the Social Security System for DECADES, so it is not like we are asking for a handout. Many of us have either purchased long term disability policies either privately or through employers in the event that we ever become disabled. So, why do we have so much trouble when we make a claim? As for the question “what do I do NOW?” Well, that is up to you to decide. If you feel that your condition has improved enough that you can attempt to re-enter to work force (or to continue working if you have not stopped), you may want to give it a try. However, if your suffering has severely affected your quality of life, then you have every right to pursue your claim on appeal. Hire an attorney if you have to; many of them accept cases on a contingency fee basis. I think it is important that you do not give up, no matter what. After all, it is your right!
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Post Commentjo oliver
On August 16, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Diane,
I appreciate your article & think that 99% of your opinion is a bulls-eye. I am the mother of a totally disabled child. She will never walk, talk, or even hold her own head up. She will need SSI for the rest of her life. So, it is my opinion that people who are permanently disabled should always come first. Depression is a hard thing to prove and difficult to compare to those mental handicaps, like retardation. If a depressed person feels better by going to the store, then they are capable, maybe not ideal, but very capable of choosing to work. However, someone that does not have the mental or physical capacity to work, can not choose to work or not. I was severely depressed to the point I didn’t leave my house for weeks at a time, after I found out my daughter was handicapped, but I didn’t go and get on disability. That money needs to go to those who don’t have options, medicine cant help, and are truly unable to work.
jo oliver
On August 16, 2008 at 9:17 pm
http://www.socyberty.com/Society/A-Day-in-my-Life.137936
http://www.socyberty.com/Society/A-Day-in-my-Life.137936
PS: This are a few of the articles I have written on the subject. Thought you might enjoy.
GreyWolfeSC
On August 17, 2008 at 5:58 am
Great article, A++++, I hope ya get it the goverment and SSA only care about the illegial aliens in our country and certain attributes of a person, they only care about certain ones, period
they act as if it is their money but you paid it in and should be able to draw whenever you please and especially if you are disable
thestickman
On July 18, 2011 at 6:42 pm
I’m living in Canada now, we in Ontario have paid healthcare and while not the best probably and often there is a wait-time, it is far better than what we still do in America. The US needs to wake-up and get with socialized medicine.