Social Security Disability Insurance
Do you need Social Security Disability Insurance? Choose an attorney who can help you through the obstacles of your SSDI claim.
Imagine this: You are a 36-year-old office manager with a wife and two children. You do fairly well and can support your family on your salary, so your wife stays home with the kids. Things are going fine until one day you start feeling weaker and soon you notice you’re losing a lot of weight and aren’t able to keep anything down. You go to the doctor at your HMO and he tells you that you have symptoms of severe leukemia. The case was caught early enough to give you a strong chance of recovery, but you will have to devote most of your near future to therapy and rehabilitation. For at least the next three years, you will have to follow a strict regimen of diet and rest and participate in therapy on a daily basis. You quickly realize that the long hours and other demands required by your job won’t be an option while you restore your health.
You have a good long term disability insurance policy, and they agree to pay for your therapy and will also pay about 60 percent of your annual salary for up to five years. Your wife can work, too, if necessary, but you don’t want your illness to disrupt the rearing of your children and the stability of your family life any more than it already has. The Human Resources coordinator at work tells you about Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and after some research you calculate that you may be eligible for $2000 a month – which will make up the difference between your regular salary and the reduced amount of the long term disability benefits.
You apply for SSDI at your local Social Security office, explaining your situation to a case worker, and providing copies of the documents social security requires, such as medical records, birth certificate, and W2s for the last two years. The case worker explains that your file will be prepared and sent to the Disability Determination Service for your state, which will review your case, collect medical records and determine whether your disability qualifies you for SSDI. You should hear back within three to four months.
Ninety days pass, and finally a notice arrives in the mail from the Social Security Administration(SSA) explaining that your medical conditions do not prevent you from working. You’ve been denied.