Status
Not open for further replies.

keith

Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2007
Messages
17
Reason
PALS
Country
US
State
Pennsylvania
City
West Alexander
My company disability plan cuts my pay to 60% of base after 5 months. I thought okay we can manage if I file for SSD. Come to find out that the compnay policy will back out all other monies earned either from ssd, workmans comp, or other sources. MY question then becomes, is it worth filing for ssd other than the fact that you get medicare after two years on ssd? A note about myself, after almost two years in the medical system they think I have Inclusion Body Myositis, but they are now talking about a second biopsy to try to confirm this.

thanks for your replies, sincerely Keith
 
Keith, as a person diagnosed with polymyositis which actually could be inclusion body, I really am sorry for your diagnosis. What did your first biopsy show. I would definitely have the other biopsy. Aqua therapy seems to help with IBM and PM.

I have had to go on disability and though I don't have the amount of points that I wish I did, the income has helped us tremendously. If you have children they will also receive benefits to add to your household income. And, you can work a certain amount every month without it effecting your disability and you can gain more points in the system with that. It was very hard for me to go down the disability road because I had big plans for our future and it made me feel as if I was giving in, but we have to do what we have to do. You should have received documents from social security that tell what you would make on it at this time. You can always call and find out. Good luck. Leslie
 
Keith,

Sorry for your diagnosed.

I'm pretty sure your disability insurance company will make you file for SSD. By law, you can only make 60% of your income before disability. So what happens is this:

1. You get payments from your company disability plan at 60%
2. You file for SSD and Medicare
3. The SSD payments kick in at predetermined time
4. The company disability then deducts whatever you get from SSD, including dependents benefits, thus still meeting the 60% of pre-disability income

Your company disability plan is not gonna want to pay out all that money if you qualify for SSD. When filling out the paper work to file for long term disability, my husband had to answer questions regarding SSD.

Also, Medicare is worth having, as private insurance costs are unbelievable. And having a pre-existing condition will not help matters in obtaining insurance. I know you can go on COBRA, but that only lasts so long and is very expensive. I think my PALS medicare payments is about $93 a month and they can't turn you down. This payment can be taken out of the SSD payment when disbursed so you don't have to fool with it.

Hope this helps a little.
 
Last edited:
ssd

ltr and jimmercat, thankyou so much for your replies about ssd. I was unaware that it was the law of max amount of base pay equal to 60%. ltr, about my muscle biopsy,complicated stuff:" Hematosylin and eosin stained frozen sections reveal a very abnormal variation in myofiber sizes withan excess of internalized nuclei. There are groups of angulated atrophic fibers and some scattered atrophic and moderate numbers of hypertrophic fibers. There are few degenerating fibers undergoing myophagocytosis. a rare regenerating fiber is seen. There are several small foci of endomysial momonuclear inflammatoryinfiltrates with focal myofiber invasion.Gomori trichrome reveals ragged red fibers and some fibers with vacuoles that are not clearly rimmed.Esterase reactivity is increased in many atrophic fibers and in fibers undergoing myophagocytosis. ATPase reacted sections reveal a fiber type groupiong pattern with a Type1 to Type2 fiber rario of 1:1 and significant myofiber atrophy affecting both fiber types." "Succinic dehydrogenase reveals a few SDH-rich fibers. Cytochrome oxidase reveals about 1% COX-negative fibers. These findings are consistent with mitochondrial dysfunction which may be secondary or primary. Final diagnosis , A. chronic inflammatory myopathyor and B. chronnic and active neurongenic changes. the inflammatory myopathy may be due to inclusion body myositis but chronic polymyositis is still possible. have to watch clinical features." WHEW! hope this helps
 
benefits

I was wondering if anyone knows if I can apply for ss benefits for my children even though my husband is receiving his 60% from long term disability benefits? It really gets so confusing. Our health insurance will expire next year..is there anything we can do to protect ourselves and continue to have health coverage. I will plan to go back to work...for benefits..unless I have to be my husbands caregiver. I really feel like I need to explore all our options. ANy suggestions would be helpful. Thankyou in advance.
 
ssd

Kelly, the answer to your question is yes, but you need to get the info from the social security office or onlne. you can get benefits for your children after they approve your husbands claim for ssd, and as long as they are not over the age of eighteen. also your family wiil be eligible for COBRA insurance after your husbands health insurance runs out. Your husband will probably be eligible for medicaire after two years. Here in Pa. I think you can get insurance for your children through the Welfare office if it comes to that. Your situation is like mine, and my wife is trying to find full time employment with benefits. Our future has changed dramatically but we will try to adapt and move on. Hoping the best for you and your family and may GOD BLESS.
 
Kelly,

We get ss for our son, but it is deducted from the disability insurance company's disbursement, still rendering it at 60%. As Keith stated, you should be able to get insurance (Medicaid) through your state children's insurance program. Insurance for yourself...well I'm still trying to figure that one out...How to work and be a caregiver. So I have no insurance. Thinking of going to the local services office to see if there is any way to get on Medicaid. Husband's disability puts us over $ amount to qualify according to the state's website.
 
Hi,

A friend of mine was disabled due to a severe car crash. Her adult child was paid by the insurance or someone as the care giver for her. Is this a possiblity for anyone? Just thought I would ask.

I am also on the 60% LTD. I had to get a lawyer for SSD claim as I was turned down the first time. I am still waiting but the good news is, the LTD company will pay the lawyer fee and it does not come out of my retroactive pay when I do get it. But please note the LTD company is entitled to payback from the SSD settlement. So if I get say 100 dollars from LTD in November and get SSD in December I would get 200 dollars and 100 of that belongs to the LTD company. You have to pay them back retroactive pay so DO NOT SPEND the SSD money without paying back the LTD first. I hope that is clear.

This may be the same as some of you if you do not have a final DX of ALS. I have two DX, ALS- atypical and MMN, but they have so far ignored the ALS part as it is not the exclusive DX. But LTD is a good thing. Take Care, Peg
 
apply for SSDI in person vs. online

Hi everyone. My husband will be applying for SSDI in January (DX with ALS in 8/07) Does anyone have an opinion as to whether it is better to apply online or in person? Thanks so much!
 
Linda, when I called social security to apply, thay set me up with a phone interview about a week later. They said they prefer either online or over the phone. Just have all your facts, dates and list of tests and doctors ready. It was quite painless. The lady who did mine said that they are alloted about an hour and a half for each interview. Mine took about 30 minutes.
 
I tried to apply online for my husband, but their site kept timing out and freezing up. I was able to get through the disability report portion and then we went to the local office for the rest. So in my experience online application took a lot of time and effort that perhaps could have been avoided by phone interview.
 
Keith - your biopsy had a lot more information on it than mine did. Did you know you can have that muscle sent to another specialist for another opinion? I had mine sent to Johns Hopkins and after the doc there read it they set up an appointment for me for January. Just a thought.

I applied for disability online very easily and then had a phone interview that was about an hour long. I was given immediate disability, no waiting period and no court. My kids are automatically being added, though it wasn't as quick as mine. What a relief it has been for us. Peg, I can't believe that didn't happen for you, that's really awful.
 
leslie,

That's interesting, for the future when I finally get my biopsy done. I actually had one nueroligist say to me that they do not have a good patholigist at the hospital where he works.
Did the dr say anything different about the first biopsy report or just set you up with an appointment.
 
biopsy

Hi Leslie, I did have my slides reviewed at another hospital( Cleveland Clinic], and they posted the same results. I have tried one course of IVIG treatment without any help,so the treatment will probably be discontinued. My local neuro called the other day and suggested thath I might want to look into John Hopkins. I have to think wheather or not I want to be a human pin cushion again, and pay that money over again for the pleasure of it.
 
ssd

jimmercat, somewhere on the social security web page states a certain amount of time allowed for each page of the disability form. I like you found the site freezing up and being uncooperative and so chose to file by phone. Try to avoid a monday morning appointment because their computers are really slow first thing monday because of the crush of calls they get.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top