Another splendid example of rules that make no sense at all. As most of you know, I've been collecting Social Security Disability for the past two years. It's about half of what I was making when I was working, but I'm pretty much debt-free so we were able to adjust the budget to make it work. Last fall, my oncologist and my transplant doc cleared me to begin working six hours a week. The plan at the time was to start there and then work my way back up to a 40 hour work week. Social Security is cool with that. In fact, they have this "wonderful" Return to Work Program where one can work for nine months without any change in benefits. They even told me that it didn't matter whether I earned a million dollars a month because they'd keep right on sending me benefit checks every month. That was my first WTF moment. It would seem to me that if someone is earning far more than their benefit, perhaps they really don't need the benefit any more. Makes sense, right? Well, I'm nearing the end of my nine months and sure enough I get a letter from Social Security this week. In it they graciously explained that beginning in October if I have gross earnings of $780 or more in any month I'm considered full-time employed and my benefits will be immediately cancelled. WTF? I'm supposed to zoom from six hours a week to 40 in no time? Hell, I'm still trying to work my way back to being in the office every day. I wouldn't even mind if they deducted my earnings from my monthly benefits, but no, it's an all or nothing deal. So what's a red-blooded American supposed to do? I can't support a family of four and keep my home on $780/month! Oh, I could just limit my earnings to less than that and keep on receiving those government checks but that bugs the shit out of me. OTOH, I do have a family to think about. Government bastards. It's like some conspiracy to keep you dependent on them in order to survive. Who the fuck comes up with completely irrational shit like this?
Honestly, it's amazing you got it. My mom, who is disabled, cannot get disability. She has tried for well over a decade but gets turned down because she doesn't have accumulated work hours. My Uncle, on the other hand, is a drunk and gets a disability check because of his "disease", and has for decades. He's never held a steady job for any real length of time. *sigh* It's annoying as hell. J.
Yet white trash and cadilac queens get everything provided yet disibilities like scizophrenia get squat.
If you're genuinely needy (and from what you've said, sounds like you are), you have my blessing to game the system. Make sure you earn about $779 every month while you need the benefits. Transition to full-time employment (and give up the benefits) when you are able to do so...
One of the things my father convinced me to do when I was 18 was to purchase private disability insurance, which is dirt cheap at that age. When I finally got around to filing a legitimate claim some 33 years later the insurance company had a vested interest in moving me to SSDI, so they did everything for me. They filled out forms, they gave me an advocate, they collected all the paperwork from my doctors and they scheduled my appointment at the SS office. That's right, one appointment and all I had to do was present my Social Security card and my birth certificate. It was that easy for me. Coming from you that means a lot. Thanks! Unfortunately, that just means I'll be working a lot of hours off the clock until I get to where I need to be and am certain I can maintain it. I'm sure my company is going to love seeing the government pay me instead of putting me back on the payroll full-time. I just don't understand why the government can't just do a one for one on earnings. If I earn a thousand dollars one month, just send me a thousand less the next month. And that's just me. The waste in this process has to be enormous. And that frustrates the hell out of me.
That's why we need drastic reform to the system. It's insane how much money is wasted. There is a way to help disabled folks while not pissing away every penny we have. J.
If your mom doesn't have the requisite number of accumulated quarters of income to qualify, she's never going to get it. Going to the government is a last resort choice anyway. That's why people have private disability, health, liability and automobile insurance. Because the government is loathe to just fork over benefits, especially if it involves any kind of mental illness.
I just don't understand how she can't get it (she has worked in the past, before the disease), but numerous people we know in the family can, like my aforementioned Uncle who has never worked a legitimate job, drinks himself sober, and collects a check. In her case, she had a type of Sarcoidosis that hadn't been encountered, and by the end of the whole treatment some years later, she was unable to walk, she was diabetic, she had illness related issues, and everything. She wants to work, that's not the problem. However, with all the health issues she had over the past 15 years, she cannot work at a job. I'm trying to get her one of those home based jobs, part time, but that's a needle in a haystack, too. J.
