If you would like to submit an article to this website, email us at info@heart-intl.net for a review of this paper
info@heart-intl.net
SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY NIGHTMARE - IT COULD
HAPPEN TO YOU!!!
I am a 47-year-old female and for the last 30 years of my life I
have contributed to the Social Security system as many millions of
people do every day. Until 1996 I was perfectly healthy and never
expected to have to use these funds until I was old enough to retire.
Unfortunately 5 years ago I hit my head on the doorframe of my car and
the result is an incredible story of medical incompetence, which
resulted in major brain surgery. I did my best to function in spite
of my fate but now the diseases have progressed to a point where I can
no longer work and every day life causes me intense pain beyond
description among other things. In December 2001 I applied for Social
Security Disability, which I assumed would be there to help me in my
time of need. I had heard nothing but discouraging stories from
others but figured every case was different. I was sure that anyone
with the laundry list of illnesses that I have, (blood clot in brain,
several autoimmune disorders including Scleroderma, Fibromyalgia,
Rheumatoid Arthritis, Raynaud's, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis to name a
few) all of which are incurable - and medical documentation to prove
it, would surely be able to get the help I needed. I was sorely
mistaken and the following is what I have discovered in the process.
The Social Security Disability System process is set up to suck the
life out of it's applicants in hope that they die in the process so
they don't have to pay out benefits to them.
Millions of people across the country become disabled
unexpectedly (12,000 per week in this country apply for long-term
disability benefits - over 300,000 annually in NYS alone). Keep in
mind when reading this, that while this is a nationwide problem, for
NY State applicants it is worse than most other states in the country.
The federal offices of the Social Security Administration and the
Social Security Office of Public Inquiries in MD gave me that
information when I contacted them about the problem yet even they were
not able to help. When I applied in December 2001, after filling out
several pages of paperwork which I was told was greatly reduced from
which it had originally been and submitting a huge stack of medical
records supporting my claim I was told that it would take 4-6 months
to go through the process. I was shocked and asked what I was
supposed to live on and I was told to apply for social services
(Medicaid, food stamps and cash assistance) while my claim was being
reviewed. I did just that and was denied any sort of help based on
the cash value of a life insurance policy that is not even enough to
bury me when I die. Due to all my illnesses if I cash in that policy
I will never be able to get insurance again! That process and
paperwork is very difficult and humiliating and then to be denied,
just added even more to my stress and misery. I have had to live off
my life savings and have only a few months left before that money runs
out. I was hoping beyond hope that I would get news that my claim
would be processed and accepted. On 4/25/02, I got the incredible
news that my claim had been denied! I found out that it seems to be
common knowledge on the streets that it is standard procedure to be
denied the first time as a "stalling tactic." Almost NOBODY gets
accepted the first time they apply to discourage the applicants; even
those who feel brave enough to tackle on the system. I have heard too
many horror stories in doctor's waiting rooms and other places I have
been, of people who have lost everything, were in homeless shelters,
totally bankrupt, no health insurance and still having to deal with
the stress of all their illnesses. I cannot understand how it is
possible that anyone could read about all the medical problems I have,
and it is not totally transparent that I should qualify for benefits
and should never have been denied in the first place! I have since
filed for an appeal, have to go through an even more complicated
process and I am now being told will be at least 14 months before I
get my hearing if I don't die first - where is the justice?
When I called the Office of Hearings and Appeals in Buffalo NY to
check on my claim on 9/13/02, the receptionist told me, that my file
was still in the un-worked status, which means that no human has even
looked at the file at all since March when I originally filed my
appeal. She said that nobody had been assigned to even look at the
folder. I expressed my disgust that after six months in their
possession that it had not even been looked at yet! I called them
again on 1/23/03 and they told me that STILL nobody had been assigned
to my case and it would be a MINIMUM of five months or more since they
were just starting to work on cases that were filed in November of
2001! Since that last call in January 2003, I have done some research
and found out that I could request copies of the reports of the SSD
doctor I was sent to, and the claim examiners notes that denied me,
and my worst allegations have now been confirmed. Even though I have
no neurological problems they sent me to a neurologist to examine me
so of course he would find nothing wrong with me and say I did not
qualify as disabled. Then even though I filed my disability claim
based on all physical problems I have as a PRIMARY diagnosis for
disability, the examiner purposely wrote depression as a primary
diagnosis instead of a secondary one so of course I would be denied on
that as well. This was after I had already submitted tons of
documents to prove my physical disability claims that he chose to
ignore. I have filed a formal willful misconduct complaint to the
Office of Inspector General's Office in Washington against the DDS
office and am awaiting a reply. I have also requested an immediate
pre-hearing review of my case. This is outrageous when something this
serious, and a matter of life and death could be handled in such a
poor manner. No other company or other government organization that I
know of operates with such horrible turn around times. She expressed
her sympathy for my cause and literally begged me to let others know
(especially the government and press) about how much of a problem they
are having. I was told that there are only 50 employees handling
hundreds of thousands of cases and they, along with all us claimants
critically need help now!
Since my conversation with the Buffalo office I have done just
that. I have contacted several national media outlets and I have
written to my congressperson Louise Slaughter, three NY state
senators, the attorney general, Governor Pataki, President Bush, Vice
President Cheney, all of the NY State members of the House of
Representatives, Senator Tom Daschle, Senator Edward Kennedy with
little or no response. Louise Slaughter and Hilary Clinton, Charles
Schumer, Governor Pataki's offices were informed that unless you are
homeless or facing utility shutoff that there is nothing that they
will do to expedite any claim! Even though they can help fix the
problem none of them has done anything to address the issue or
initiate reform in this area. The Social Security Office of Inquiries
and Inspector General's office in MD told me the same thing after
doing an investigation with the Buffalo office of Hearings and
Appeals. I need help and I need it now! I don't know what
constitutes a dire needs case in the eyes of the Social Security
System but I should think that not being able to afford health
insurance, medicine and other necessities of life and wiping out all
your financial resources when you have no income at all because of
your inability to work is a dire need! All the diseases are getting
worse by their clinical nature with each day that goes by and due to
the ever increasing stressful conditions I now have to live under. In
November 2002 I was back in the hospital emergency room with a
horribly painful form of the chicken pox virus called shingles. The
blood clot in my brain and my worsening financial situation keep me
from taking medicines and seeing doctors that could help me deal with
this horrible existence. Yet that is not considered a dire need? The
government does not care, as they are too busy worrying about dropping
bombs on Iraq while thousands of us are suffering here at home. A
country is only as strong as the citizens that live there. We keep
hearing about the 9/11 victims who were killed and that was a horrible
thing for sure. What you are not hearing about is all the people who
survived but are now disabled and facing a similar fate and nobody
cares about them either. We are all being victimized all over again.
Something is extremely wrong when you have to deal with the pain
and suffering physically and mentally that comes along with the
illnesses you have and then have to struggle so hard get benefits that
you have worked for all your life. The Social Security Disability
System is also set up to line the pockets of the legal system, as you
are encouraged from the minute you apply to get a lawyer. You should
not have to pay a lawyer to get benefits that you have earned - why
should they have to be involved at all? This is highway robbery
without the ski mask and gun and this travesty needs to change
immediately. Even a lawyer cannot speed up this process any more than
if you file on your own. This is an important issue that needs to be
addressed now, in NY State and across the country. Only our elected
officials with your urging can get the funding and help needed to fix
this critical problem.
I did not ask for this fate and would trade places with a healthy
person in a minute. Please spread the word to everyone you can, to
get this problem corrected immediately, for myself and all the
thousands of others that are currently suffering this horrible fate.
Nobody ever thinks it can happen to them. I am proof that it can, and
remember disease and tragedy do not discriminate on the basis of age,
race or sex. Anyone of you reading this could be one step away from
walking in my shoes at any moment!
