That is incredible! I'm happy for you as we all know how much trouble it can be to get approved. How much evidence did you need to apply? I've been putting off applying for my son, and I'm not sure what they look for. I have his school eval/scores/IEP and a recent scrip with his DX. Do you need much more than that or do they just request the records from the pediatrician?
[QUOTE=Matty]That is incredible! I'm happy for you as we all know how much trouble it can be to get approved. How much evidence did you need to apply? I've been putting off applying for my son, and I'm not sure what they look for. I have his school eval/scores/IEP and a recent scrip with his DX. Do you need much more than that or do they just request the records from the pediatrician?[/QUOTE]
I kept putting it off also, it was only after they continually kept raising our insurance premiums, that I said enough is enough. 0 a week is just nuts. We couldn't even afford actually going to the doctor after the premiums each month. Our son was on a waiting list for the med waiver, but the wait is between 7 and 10 years here, so what good was it really doing for him to be on the waiting list?!
Anyway, SS wants originals of everything and most of what I have are copies of the originals. What I did was to apply online https://s044a90.ssa.gov/apps6z/i3820/main.html I filled out the report, which included listing all of the people who hold the originals of any evidence I had, physicians, psychologists, teachers, school counselors etc. SS then requested the info from all of them. I also had to give deatailed descriptions of the problems he had and so on. It was easy, just time consuming. After I filled out the report, I then had my husband make a quick stop after work to simply sign the application, but you can also do it by phone if you're very far from your local office. My husband just happens to work a few miles away.
At the time that he signed the papers, a phone interview was also set up. I did the phone interview, which basically consisted of wages, make and model of cars, social security numbers for everyone in the house, when disability began, etc. It took about 45 minutes from start to finish. A few days later, I received a packet of papers to fill out with statements like "child writes age appropriate stories", "child is able to appropriately us a spoon, fork, knife", "child turns in schoolwork on time" , to which I had to agree or disagree. For some I had to elaborate some on my response. Like my son can use a spoon and fork, but can't use a knife and can't cut up his own food (he's 11 years old). He also turn his work in on time, but only because I spend hours doing homework with him. Filling out this report was actually harder and took longer and more thought than the original online report I filled out. Along with the abilities report, they sent a form that DH had to take to work to verify his wages. Then everything got mailed back to the SS office and the wait began.
Like I said, I was really surprised that we didn't have to appeal, be sent to SS doctors and such. I would say you might as well give it a go. You certainly have nothing to lose. I was honestly prepared to be turned down. His diagnosis is HFA /Asperger's (just depends upon which evaluation you look at).
Looks like you were approved!! Yay. If it works in your state like it does in Louisiana, then he's automatically approved for medicaid now. I didn't have to apply for it...they just gave it to B. I too got the check before the letter lol. I got the first check and then about a week later I got the approval letter.
ETA: We got a backpay check for one month benefits but it was about 2 months later. Brendon was approved in 2 months. I applied for benefits in July and we got his first check in September. I think we were approved quickly because Louisiana became a fasttrack state after Katrina hit.
If they sent a check it was approved. I dont think you have to apply for Medicade, it should be automatic. We got a call from our local SS office to say DS was approved, but we have to send in documentation for income to see how much we will get. Try calling your LOCAL SS office listed in the front of your phone book. The regional line is always busy, it is quite annoying!
In NY medicais is automatic. You get SSI and you get medicaid. It was probably a retro check. You will be receiving word in the mail about his monthly check. Congrats! It is great that you have it. That seems just slightly different than what I had to do. I did mail in release forms, but did the non-online part all over the phone. Including the assessment stuff you had to mail back to them. They are just asking us to send in my husband's pay stubs once a month to verify his wages.I applied for SSI for our son back in April. On Monday, there was a check in the mail in the amount of 4.00 for SSI. That was all, just a check, no explanation of benefits, etc. I have no idea if this is what he will get monthly, if it's backpay, or what. I need an explanation of benefits to apply for medicaid for him. That was my whole point in applying in the first place. Insurnace where my husband works is extremely high and it's eating up over 0 a week. Our income is slightly over the cutoff, but with the disabled label, the cutoff is higher and we fall within those income limits.
I have tried contacting the Social Security office, but it's lines are constantly busy. Anyone who has experience with SSI, how long did it take you to get an explanation of benefits? Did you get backpay and if you did, did it come before or after the monthly check?
In all honesty, I am shocked that he was approved and we didn't have to appeal. I know a few people who get SSI to supplement their income and it was a major fight for them. I didn't care if all he got was a month. We just needed to be able to get that higher cutoff. With premiums so high, we can barely afford to take the kids to the doctor, buy DH meds, etc. Heck, I haven't been to the DR. in well over three years. Really, it's ridiculous.
Well, I finally found out about his check. He was approved for SSI, the check was for July and he won't get any backpay because our income was too high for those months. He won't get a check in August, but may get one in Sept, depending on this months pay. So, he is approved, it's just going to be on a month to month basis as to whether or not he actually gets a check. As for the medicaid, we do actually have to go to the welfare office and apply.