My sister just lost her job

[Hewitt]

My sister was just diagnosed with ALS in December, and a recent evaluation indicated that she is also probably in the early stages of frontotemporal dementia. She has worked in an academic position for some 35 years, but on Friday she was told that she was to begin disability leave immediately (for unknown reasons, undoubtedly related to her ALS disability). I believe she will have some benefits for six months, and after that she will probably be on her own. She is the sole support for her family. What first steps do you recommend she take? Should she wait to apply for SSI until closer to when her employment disability benefits run out, or should she get the process started now in the expectation that it may take several months to process the request? She has two teenage sons, and I know they are all in a panic about how they are going to get by financially. Any advice would be most welcome. Fortunately, she is now going to a good ALS clinic, and I hope the social worker there may also be able to help her in this, but firsthand knowledge is always valuable. Thanks--

 

[Nikki J]

She is no longer working and she has an ALS diagnosis she should apply for ssdi immediately. There is a 5 month delay from stopping working to receive benefits but she should be approved quickly. ALS is a TERI illness so processing should be expedited. SSI is needs based. They will assess her for that too but as she is getting disability? now will presumably be rejected.if the teenagers are under 18 ( 19 if still in high school or lower) they will probably get benefits too on her record. If one of the kids is under 16 her husband may be able to collect though there is a family max I think. I am sort of sorry this happened but from other things you have said perhaps it is for the best in the long run?

 

[KimT]

I will tell you what I did. I started the Fall semester in August. I worked for two weeks, using ADA accommodations to work from home. Then I "went out on disability" but used Family Medical Leave Act so they couldn't fire me. During that time I negotiated with them to let me use ALL of my sick leave (I had 900 hours) which meant I received all benefits, including health insurance. My last day on campus was August 26 and I applied for SSDI immediately and sent it on my last day of work from home (September) which was the exact date he put on the letter and on my SSDI application. My neuro wrote a letter with my dx. I also included a cover sheet and copies of all the tests (EMG, MRIs, etc) that supported my claim. I hand delivered it to the Social Security Office after making copies. I was approved for SSDI in two weeks and it became effective on February 1. My last day on the college's payroll was March 10 and my first SS check was deposited into my account last week.

Your sister needs to give someone a POA to act on her behalf. She needs to find out if the school has a long-term disability plan (mine does but it is offset by other sources of income. Even so, I get $300 a month from that because it is the minimum.) Also, she might be better off taking her sick leave now and taking it pre-tax rather than staying on the payroll. HR should work with her. If she has worked as an academic, she should have a pension and/or 403b plan if it's a public school. If it's private a 401k plan. She might also have the option of taking an early distribution on her life insurance or keeping it after termination.

There are so many financial decisions to be made before permanently separating from a company.