I work for disability and I have to say that CBS's report was one sided and laughable. With their report, they assume that everyone filing for disability is disabled. They never asked to see the guidelines that examiners must follow in determining if a person is disabled. They play up the sympathy card of losing everything and look how this person lives. They interviewed people who had been legitimately screwed by the system and stated that they were a good representation of all cases.
I have cases come through with people filing due to pregnancy, broken arms, foot pain, sinus problems, and all kinds of other stuff. My job would be easier if everyone was disabled. It is a lot less work and a whole lot quicker. That guy with throat cancer is in and out of my office really fast.
The truth is that I am overworked, underpaid, and not appreciated by SSA or the people I am working cases for. The truth is that if you can do any type of work, you are not disabled. The truth is that a child can't work and will only get disability based on the parents income, so if you are middle class and insured, your child will not qualify to even be considered. The truth is that lawyers will purposely sabotage a case so it will get denied quicker on initial and recon levels so that it can be put on the list for a hearing sooner.
The problem is that most people don't know what disabled means. It is a condition that will cause death or an imability to work for at least twelve months. Any type of work. Jobs in the economy range from someone who farms worms to people who sew up holes in socks. Everything is taken into account, age, work history, education, and the actual disability. a 60 y/o with a 3rd grade education, who was a homemaker all of her life, and now has debilitating arthritis would not be expected to make an adjustment to any type of work, but a 24 y/o college grad working construction that blows out a knee would be expected to adjust to some other type of work. This is not subjective, there is a chart. Nothing in this job is subjective.
9 comments:
yikes. that's gotta be a tough place to work for...
Trust me it is not my job of choice. It sucks and is very depressing. Every person I talk to feels the need to tell me that they are losing their house.
what would you say to someone who is agoraphobic, who is afraid to answer the phone, and can only leave the house if someone (a parent) is with him/her; who gets dressed to go out, and freezes at his or her apartment door, unable to walk through it.what would you say to this person if for the last 15 years, they've been in and out of jobs because they can't deal with the normal stress that comes with any job due to extreme levels of anxiety and panic attacks it causes, and has finally gone over the edge?what if this person has been to therapist after therapist, and tried method after method (including medications), and nothing has helped?I'm not saying that a lot of the SSA's decisions don't make sense, but they don't really take everything into account. Someone who legitimately needs help shouldn't have to get a lawyer to get the help that's supposed to be there for them, especially if the very thought of picking up the phone to call one sends them on three-day crying jags.And I'm sure that people recognize that you are doing the job you are asked to do. This doesn't make it any easier for those who might have really needed that assistance to swallow the poor decisions you're asked to make.
"poor decisions"? I would have to see full medical records as well as other information to even share an opinion on what I thought, but this is not the place for such things.
My advice would be to document everything, go to appointments, and send in any forms that are asked for. I would also go to as many psych visits as possible. A lot of mental claims are just anemic when it comes to info because the person doesn't go to regular visits. this makes it impossible to paint a complete picture.
The system is set up to catch any mistakes made by an individual examiner. It doesn't catch them all and sometimes the examiner makes a decision that seems poor due to lack of information. We can request medical records but if some doctor doesn't send them or waits six months to do so, we have to go with what we have. Sure we make mistakes, but we have a oversights and an appeals process that should correct them. I will admit that the process isn't easy.
And that I understand; but I don't think that it makes some decisions less bad. Uninformed, certainly, but not less bad for it. Again, I don't blame you or your offices for following guidelines that are in place, it's just that the process needs to be updated a bit, don't you think?In the case of physical disabilities, I suppose it can be a bit plainer what the person can expect in his future, but as for social/emotional/psychological issues... well, it's nearly impossible to decide what a person has to go through in his or her daily life based on an 50-minute appointment with a therapist who knows nothing about him and has never seen him before.I suppose I don't have to tell you this is about me and my own experiences; my emotional reaction to your post is probably completely transparent at this point. I've dropped the claim, because I can't continue with it anymore, so I'm not looking for you to try to change my personal case or anything - not that you could if you wanted to. I'd just like someone to realize that this sort of thing causes me (and possibly others like me) more stress than I can handle, and it might be interesting to get some insight into the process that causes people like me to have to deal with the emotional defeat for such a drawn out period of time. It does tend to exacerbate things.I'm in school. Only one class a day, for a couple hours, and only three days a week; I simply wouldn't be able to handle more, and I can barely handle it now. I'm sure news like that makes it sounds like the situation has gotten better, but it's actually getting worse. As of November, I sit in an isolated corner of the classroom, and I don't participate in any study groups or class-organized activities. I live three blocks away, but can't walk to class or home; if I can't get a ride, I don't go. There's an internship coming up that I won't be able to participate in, and when the program is over in May, there will be job placement, for which I could go through the motions, but fully anticipate only being able to function for a month or so before I have to stay home again, or before I completely break down and have to decide if it's better to attend partial hospital (again) or go all the way to inpatient (which might be better in the long run). I'm not looking for sympathy here, I would really like to understand why people who are just as (or nearly as) debilitated as someone who has a more physically obvious problem might be shoved back out into a world he can't function in.
I don't mean to put all of this on you. I know you only do what you can for whom you're allowed to, based on what information you have. I would just like you to know that a lot of the time, people only file claims when they're completely desperate. I don't blame you at all. it's just that things look very different from my side of the fence.
You should probably continue filing, even though the process is a pain. I understand about the appt with a doctor that doesn't know you, but that is due to us having to have specific questions asked that most psych doctors generally don't ask. Almost every mental case has to have an additional exam. As much as my job is objective with criteria and charts, mental doctors jobs are very subjective and that accounts for most case by case discrepencies.
The system itself is antiquated and we complain about it constantly. They took the old system and tranferred it to computers a few years ago, the problem being that what worked on paper doesn't always translate to computers. We are also using the same software that was used to track cases when we were doing them on paper. Add to this that examiners are overworked. Don't expect one to know what is going on with your case. They have 100-200 other cases they are working on.
It's not so much a pain as it is debilitating. I stayed in my room for three days after the last time. I'll consider it, though. And thanks for listening; I know I was kinda rough at first - I swear, I didn't mean it! D:I do know from working in offices that a system that works at one time doesn't always work for another, so I know where you're coming from about updating things.
In addition to what Budd said, the more the examiner knows about your case the better off you are. Thus I would suggest having your therapist write a detailed letter stating what your condition truely is and how it would impact your work. Maybe your teacher could write a brief summary of what they've witnessed. Also, if you have an employer who would be willing to write a brief letter stating your problems w/ employment, you would have even a stronger case. The fact is this is not the best system but it is the system set up by the government. People do get allowed but there must be significant evidence supporting the case. Good luck.
Post a Comment