Has anyone in the US tried applying for permanent disability because of EM?
yes! about 5 years ago..i got an application online, filled it out and sent it in, them they called me for an interview.. we talked for 1 hour..then i got my disability in 4 months.. make sure you make a COPY of your application!!! that way you will not make any mistakes when they call you.... good luck and God bless..
I am still in the process of getting SS disability but I have been approved by my long term disability through my insurance. They only approve total disability too and they believe I am a good canadit for SS and they are helping me apply. Just don’t give up if they turn you down the first time .I have heard that is not uncommon and has no Bering on your approval once an appeal is filed. Good luck and don’t give up !
Take care,
Alina
I have been turned down 2 times for SS disability. I have EM, fibro and other injuries. My attorney will now request a hearing before a judge. Hope my feet are flaring for that! SS has made it much harder to get permanent disability in the past few years. I'd advise getting an attorney who specializes in this type of law.
Thank you Jewels. I have the help now from an attorney with my long term disability because it is in their best interest to get me qualified. Once approved they will only have to pay me the difference between what SS pays and what I am entitled to through them. I am glad I had long term disability because not only am I receiving payments now even though I have yet to qualify with SS but their payments are a bit more than SS. After my SS approval they will continue to pay the difference between the two so that will be a great help!
May I ask if this is the first time you have applied with the help of an attorney or did you have one for the other times you were denied? I am so grateful I gat paid either way but I really need to get SS so I can eventually receive help with medical insurance.
Please let me know how it goes for you this time around and if you have any more tips for approval. It is ridiculous this is so hard for approval because for those with bad cases it is beyond disabling! I think it is more difficult because it isn't well known and therefor not on any list of approved conditions. You would think with you having this and other conditions it would be easier for you to qualify. Just don't give up! I know I'm not! :)
Take care,
Alina
I applied & was turned down twice due to my age (41). I do have an attorney & we are now waiting to meet in person with a judge. Unfortunately where I live this can take 12-18 months just to meet with the judge. I have a laundry list of other serious and many rare conditions but the EM def makes working difficult!!
Alina Delp said:
Thank you Jewels. I have the help now from an attorney with my long term disability because it is in their best interest to get me qualified. Once approved they will only have to pay me the difference between what SS pays and what I am entitled to through them. I am glad I had long term disability because not only am I receiving payments now even though I have yet to qualify with SS but their payments are a bit more than SS. After my SS approval they will continue to pay the difference between the two so that will be a great help!
May I ask if this is the first time you have applied with the help of an attorney or did you have one for the other times you were denied? I am so grateful I gat paid either way but I really need to get SS so I can eventually receive help with medical insurance.
Please let me know how it goes for you this time around and if you have any more tips for approval. It is ridiculous this is so hard for approval because for those with bad cases it is beyond disabling! I think it is more difficult because it isn't well known and therefor not on any list of approved conditions. You would think with you having this and other conditions it would be easier for you to qualify. Just don't give up! I know I'm not! :)
Take care,
Alina
Dear Alina,
Regarding my application for SS disability, I got an attorney right away and he is very knowledgeable about disability claims. He had my primary care doctor fill out questions regarding my work ability. I'm sure he plans to use this info in the future. I will see a judge in perhaps September or October. I hope October because then I will be 55, which he told me was a benchmark year and was easier to get disability if you're that old. He told me this could take up to 5 years! I read in the newspaper that the adjusters (I don't know if that's their title) that look over these disability cases, take on average 10 minutes to look over your records. They get bonuses for the least amount of people that they approve for disability. The system is not easy to work with. I'm hanging in there and my husband works a lot of overtime so we can make it financially with me not working at all.
Hope this helps.
Hang in there Jewels.
I was fortunate to have long term disability which approved me and a husband that works a lot of overtime to see us through. It is crazy that EM isn't enough to qualify straight away! Something I should of done when I first applied was enclose a printout about EM and just what it does and how difficult it is to treat. If you look at any research papers on EM the first thing it says is that it is a rare condition that causes extreme pain often resulting in total disability. They all say that in the first few sentence's.
Because no one knows what it is I am sure they take one look a it and never do any research into exactly what it entails and possibly supplying that research for them up front could of been some help. I don't know for sure but I think it can't hurt.
I wish you the best of luck. It is just another long frustrating part of having something so rare.
Take care,
Alina
I would like to share my good news that I was awarded permanent social security disability about 2 weeks ago. I have EM, Fibro, possible pinched nerve in back, and tennis elbow of both arms from my last job (still have worker's comp claim going on that for 5 years now!). I hired an attorney who seemed very on the ball with my case. It took about 2 years to finally get a hearing before a judge. Of course, he'd never heard of EM, but had a back issue himself. I made sure I went to all my doctors before the hearing and my attorney ordered updated records from them. I haven't worked since 6/2011. It's hard to make it with no income for so long and was thankful my husband had a good job with benefits. I was awarded a settlement that went back to when I filed my claim and am also receiving Medicare coverage.
Great news jewels! !!!
I am awaiting my day before a judge.
I have been working with an advocate group and they are baffled as to how I haven’t been approved already. They are paying for a lawyer to help me through and go with me to my appearance with the judge so hopefully this will help. I feel that when the judge sees me in regular room temperature himself mixed with medical records should be enough. Congratulations Jewels. Thank you for being a pioneer for us all.
Alina Delp said:
Great news jewels! !!!!
I am awaiting my day before a judge.
I have been working with an advocate group and they are baffled as to how I haven't been approved already. They are paying for a lawyer to help me through and go with me to my appearance with the judge so hopefully this will help. I feel that when the judge sees me in regular room temperature himself mixed with medical records should be enough. Congratulations Jewels. Thank you for being a pioneer for us all.
I sure hope things work out for you too Alina. My attorney said it was important that I appear personally before a judge so he could see me. I have a friend that agreed to an on-line hearing, apparently his attorney didn't see that as important. My attorney has been doing disability cases for 30 years. The money he got paid was out of the money back owed me by the government. Now my worker's comp attorney is another matter. Maybe my case just isn't worth much, so it's not worth much effort on his part! I used to be a legal secretary so I guess I'm a bit critical when things fall in the cracks.
Thank you jewels.
I received a letter stating that unless I filled out this form Stating I wanted to see a judge in person that they may assign me to see one over video conference. I made sure to turn that in stating I only wanted to see one in person regardless of the fact it would take longer to get my appointment because I need the judge to see what happens to me with his/her own eyes. Surely after that I will be approved.
I hippie you get your workers comp settled soon too.