Disability Questions
My job pays 4 full weeks, then 9 "1/2 salary" weeks. Obviously I can't live off of that. Has anyone from here apply through Social Security? If so, how did that turn out? How long does it take? And do they combine wages from your company as well? Was it difficult to get?
I guess I want to be ready! I also don't want to lose my job. Though they "claim to understand" the situation, I am the type not to trust companies. Please advise sisters!
Hope you are enjoying this weekend.
Love
Comments
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Soc Sec
I applied years ago for my husband and it took a year back then. Now however the wait is much shorter. You will need a statement from one of the doctors treating you that you are disabled. They may review your case a year or so after you qualify but having the steady income is a comfort. I hope to avoid going on disability but would do it if the treatment regimen became too overwhelming. None of us asks for cancer after all.0 -
I don't blame you; I don't
I don't blame you; I don't trust companies either! I read that U.S. social security can be applied for if the expected time off is at least one year. You can also look into state disability options. Companies have their own policies about all this. I have a friend who had 2 months off (not cancer) and state disability paid half her salary, the employer (a university) paid the other half so she kept getting full pay!
Otherwise, you might have to see how it goes as far as what you'll be able to do. I feel grateful that I can work a few hours from home. My 2nd job is supposedly on hold, waiting for my return. I go there to visit to keep my foot in the door. They seem to like it; they ask all kinds of questions about the chemo. Plus they want to check me out from curiosity.
Just drink lots and lots of water and this will be your best insurance against side effects. You really need to flush out the toxins. Start a couple days before. I even tallied the glasses of water I drank for a few days. I got used to it. Best,
LynD0 -
Thank you both!Findingout said:I don't blame you; I don't
I don't blame you; I don't trust companies either! I read that U.S. social security can be applied for if the expected time off is at least one year. You can also look into state disability options. Companies have their own policies about all this. I have a friend who had 2 months off (not cancer) and state disability paid half her salary, the employer (a university) paid the other half so she kept getting full pay!
Otherwise, you might have to see how it goes as far as what you'll be able to do. I feel grateful that I can work a few hours from home. My 2nd job is supposedly on hold, waiting for my return. I go there to visit to keep my foot in the door. They seem to like it; they ask all kinds of questions about the chemo. Plus they want to check me out from curiosity.
Just drink lots and lots of water and this will be your best insurance against side effects. You really need to flush out the toxins. Start a couple days before. I even tallied the glasses of water I drank for a few days. I got used to it. Best,
LynD
So you can actually take a little time off - like your friend did Lyn - and still be able to get SS? I just want to get my checks!
Yea, everyone says to drink a lot of water and I will try. However, if I vomit too much and feel really sick, how would I be able to keep the water in? I guess if you start way before then you can prevent it? I don't want to be sick at all. I want to be able to eat and drink so my body takes the treatment - but don't we all? I love water. Does it matter if you drink it cold or room-temp? I like it room-temp. Its very difficult for me to drink water that's cold. 0 -
Room temp water was/is bestLoveBabyJesus said:Thank you both!
So you can actually take a little time off - like your friend did Lyn - and still be able to get SS? I just want to get my checks!
Yea, everyone says to drink a lot of water and I will try. However, if I vomit too much and feel really sick, how would I be able to keep the water in? I guess if you start way before then you can prevent it? I don't want to be sick at all. I want to be able to eat and drink so my body takes the treatment - but don't we all? I love water. Does it matter if you drink it cold or room-temp? I like it room-temp. Its very difficult for me to drink water that's cold.
Room temp water was/is best for me. I, knock on wood, have hardly been sick, just SO TIRED!!
I am on disability. I STRONGLY suggest going to your local office in person, seems like it went more quickly for me that way, they were very nice to me and I was approved right away. I received SSI for 3 or 6 months, cant remember, now I am on straight disability. I also get it for my 10 yr old daughter. With the disability I am able to earn up to $950 additional income per month. So you can still earn some from your employer. You might also be approved for a handicapped parking permit. I have one of those as well. ALSO you should contact your appraisal district, they marked my house as owned by a disabled person and my taxes are LOWER
GOOD LUCK with all of it!!!!0 -
Hipinkflutterby said:Room temp water was/is best
Room temp water was/is best for me. I, knock on wood, have hardly been sick, just SO TIRED!!
I am on disability. I STRONGLY suggest going to your local office in person, seems like it went more quickly for me that way, they were very nice to me and I was approved right away. I received SSI for 3 or 6 months, cant remember, now I am on straight disability. I also get it for my 10 yr old daughter. With the disability I am able to earn up to $950 additional income per month. So you can still earn some from your employer. You might also be approved for a handicapped parking permit. I have one of those as well. ALSO you should contact your appraisal district, they marked my house as owned by a disabled person and my taxes are LOWER
GOOD LUCK with all of it!!!!
I was on medical leave paid by my employer. I worked for big corporation for 5 years prior cancer, they paid 20 weeks 100% and additional 6 as 50% of pre-diagnosis salary. I took all time off I was entitled to and it was right decision I ever made. Five states in the country have State disability for 12 months. My state of California has this program too. My sincere believe that if cancer patient has opportunity staying at home during treatment she or he should use. It will help recovery and reduce stress from treatment.
Good luck with your treatments.0 -
Disablity
Hi,
I am going thru chemo (Taxol) and herceptin treatments now, just finished my 11th treatment. Between the pre-meds, the chemo and herceptin I have sleepless nights and tired during the day, out of breath, just not myself. After 12 weeks they stop the Taxol and continue with the Herceptin every three weeks (triple doses) for another 13 times. I also have 5 years of Arimidex to start yet and am not looking forward to that. I need to discuss the side effects with my onc. I also need two more surgeries for my reconstruction to go thru.
I used my sick and vacation time for my rehab after a double mastectomy and started chemo the end of December. I applied for State Disability in January and got a check in February. It took a couple of weeks. I applied for 6 months but need to find out if that can be extended if necessary. I have heard you cannot lose your job while on state disability unless, of course, your company goes out of business. I live in New Jersey. Hope this helps. Good Luck0 -
social security disability
i have heard that if you have stage iv cancer you can automatically qualify for disability.otherwise you have to be deemed unable to work for a year because of a mental or physical disability. i just got approved for ssdi.the process has you fill out lengthy forms online, listing every dr, every medical clinic, every majoy procedure you have had related to your disability.then i had a short phone interview.then i was snail mailed a long packet of papers asking me to fill out how my disability affects my daily life and sent one to anyone who was not a medical dr (including my best friend who i listed as a contact).after they recieve all of that information, a team of medical drs reivew all your medical information. some people are asked to meet with a team of drs for interviews,some are not.i was told the whole process can take 3-6 months for approval.many with strong cases are not even approved on the first try, and can take many appeals,some even need lawyers.once you are approved, you can apply for medicare,but according to my best friend, she had to wait 2 years before she can get it.it took my best friend and i about four months to get approved for disablility, (and i have noncancer related issues) and i was shocked that i was approved on the first try. i meet with my social security disability case worker next week.it would be best if you contact the social security administration either online, http://www.socialsecurity.gov/ or call 1-800-772-1213 and talk with your team of doctors.our state has no state disability that i know of or have been told about so i have been without income since i havent been working. your sick leave benefits are awesome compared to the places that my family have worked at!!!0 -
State disabilityNew Flower said:Hi
I was on medical leave paid by my employer. I worked for big corporation for 5 years prior cancer, they paid 20 weeks 100% and additional 6 as 50% of pre-diagnosis salary. I took all time off I was entitled to and it was right decision I ever made. Five states in the country have State disability for 12 months. My state of California has this program too. My sincere believe that if cancer patient has opportunity staying at home during treatment she or he should use. It will help recovery and reduce stress from treatment.
Good luck with your treatments.
If you know which states have the state based disability it would be awesome if you would post those states for others who will see these postings. Perhaps if you don't others who see this subject will speak up if they know. Thanks bunches0 -
Grateful!
I am so grateful to have people like you here, helping and supporting each one of us. Thank you all. I wish you (and pray) that you're all healthy for many, many years to come. Hmmm...how does 101 years sound? Just wanted to say that.
You're all right. I do marketing, Project Management and it's VERY stressful. Though I don't want to lose contact with the world while going through treatments, I also want to make sure my life is stress-free, somewhat, so that I am able to beat this and tolerate side effects better. I am from New York, and will look up more information about this. I think many people are scared of losing their jobs when something like this comes up, which is why they need to be educated. For instance, I didn't know you can't lose your job when you're on state disability. And the funny thing is companies don't want you to know these things either. They don't want you to look else where and not work while getting paid, which is sad, after all the years of commitment you've given them. Oh well...this is how it is.
But I think we should keep this topic alive and try to post as much info. as possible. I will look into this and bring in some info. too.
Thank you all for your help.
God bless you ALL.
Love0 -
meeee too!LoveBabyJesus said:Grateful!
I am so grateful to have people like you here, helping and supporting each one of us. Thank you all. I wish you (and pray) that you're all healthy for many, many years to come. Hmmm...how does 101 years sound? Just wanted to say that.
You're all right. I do marketing, Project Management and it's VERY stressful. Though I don't want to lose contact with the world while going through treatments, I also want to make sure my life is stress-free, somewhat, so that I am able to beat this and tolerate side effects better. I am from New York, and will look up more information about this. I think many people are scared of losing their jobs when something like this comes up, which is why they need to be educated. For instance, I didn't know you can't lose your job when you're on state disability. And the funny thing is companies don't want you to know these things either. They don't want you to look else where and not work while getting paid, which is sad, after all the years of commitment you've given them. Oh well...this is how it is.
But I think we should keep this topic alive and try to post as much info. as possible. I will look into this and bring in some info. too.
Thank you all for your help.
God bless you ALL.
Love
I've been thinking about re-applying myself. I dont know the difference between SSI and Social Security, and Disability. I wasn't working at the time but I just know we are struggling financially since my diagnosis & treatment, and I don't know what kind, if any, of assistance I would qualify for. I had a bone scan done 2 weeks ago for terrible joint pain I've been having, it started up after chemo ended & is getting worse as time goes on. I have my follow up appt with my onc. in 2 weeks, and if I don't get any answers to what is causing this pain & what I can do other than take pills to relieve it, then I'm going to see a pain managemant doctor. I applied for Social Security when I was diagnosed & was denied because it was deemed my breast cancer would not stop me from working in any capacity for a period of 6 months (it's been like 9 months already....)...I guess i need to get on the phone & see what I can find out because things are pretty iffy, and any type of income I can bring in would certainly help us out.
Thanks for starting this thread, I hope we get lots more info!
*hugs*
Heather0 -
Disability vs FMLA
I never used anything other then sick time at work. Just curious...disability you get $ & still your job is safe?!???? Does that mean you lose health coverage from employer?0 -
I worked through chemo & radiation
I went through 2 lumpectomies, 6 rounds of chemo and have had 20 of 33 radiation treatments finished. Not working was just not an option for me--I work for a small company and they give us only 5 sick days a year. However, I took a total of 2.5 weeks off for the surgeries and 2 days off each round of chemo. My supervisor has been more than understanding and hasn't docked me for any time off because they know what is happening and I had never abused my sickleave during the last 3 years of employment.
Working at times was hard--I won't tell you it wasn't--but it kept my mind occupied and that is a good thing!
A lot depends on how you tolerate the treatments, which unfortunately no one can tell you in advance because we all react differently.
Good luck to you.
JoAnn0 -
Social Security and Disability
There are two kinds of social security. There is the "regular" social security which is a program that requires you to be "disabled and unable to work in the national economy". There is SSI which is an INCOME based disability payment. You can qualify for one or for both depending on your assets and income. If you qualify, all of your minor children in your household will also receive payments but you must claim them. I'm not certain off of the top of my head what the current cap on assets is right now for SSI since it changes from time to time and I haven't handled SSA cases for a few years but you can get that information easily on the SSA website.
In order to qualify for disability, you must be unable to work for at least a year. You will also need to have earned enough quarters to qualify for payments. Not only will you need to have the support of your physicians, but your medical records will also have to support that position.
With regard to PRIVATE disability payments which it sounds like you are receiving from your employer, the company that provides those benefits may consider the receipt of social security to be an offset to their payment. In fact with some employer sponsoered plans, they REQUIRE that you file for social security. You should check the plan language to be sure what the requirements are.
Best of luck, Michele0 -
Check to see if your cancer
Check to see if your cancer center has a social worker on staff, many do. The social worker will be familiar with the state and federal laws and can help you navigate FMLA, short term disability, long term disability, social security, etc.
The one at my center also suggested the following websites for my question.
http://www.cancerandcareers.org
http://www.cancerlegalresourcecenter.org
I hope this helps.0 -
Thanks so muchGabe N Abby Mom said:Check to see if your cancer
Check to see if your cancer center has a social worker on staff, many do. The social worker will be familiar with the state and federal laws and can help you navigate FMLA, short term disability, long term disability, social security, etc.
The one at my center also suggested the following websites for my question.
http://www.cancerandcareers.org
http://www.cancerlegalresourcecenter.org
I hope this helps.
Thanks so much for these valuable suggestions and the websites. I doubt I will personally need them but the idea that there is a way to navigate through some of one's questions on the issue is comforting.0 -
Thanks so muchGabe N Abby Mom said:Check to see if your cancer
Check to see if your cancer center has a social worker on staff, many do. The social worker will be familiar with the state and federal laws and can help you navigate FMLA, short term disability, long term disability, social security, etc.
The one at my center also suggested the following websites for my question.
http://www.cancerandcareers.org
http://www.cancerlegalresourcecenter.org
I hope this helps.
Thanks so much for these valuable suggestions and the websites. I doubt I will personally need them but the idea that there is a way to navigate through some of one's questions on the issue is comforting.0 -
Love
As others have said, disability laws and regulations vary by state, and some companies provide disability coverage, and others offer it as an employee-paid option, while others don't. I don't know all the details about SSDI, but my understanding is that you need to be "permanently" disabled to qualify for that. I could be wrong about that, though.
As far as protecting your job, if your company has at least 50 employees, you qualify for FMLA, which provides 12 weeks of job-protected leave each year for an employees serious medical condition or for medical issues of a family member. FMLA does not provide any pay, however. You may also have additional job protection under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).
That being said, you may also be able to work through at least most of your treatment. I was fortunate to be able to do that, but others have not been able to.
If your company has a policy, I would ask for the written documentation of the policy to assure yourself about what your benefits are and how they can best be used. For example, our company has a voluntary Short-Term disability program that I had signed up for, but it didn't really help me much during my treatment because it has a 7 day waiting period which starts over once you return to work for 2 weeks. I was off for 2 weeks for my lumpectomy, so I received 1 week of benefits for that, but for my chemo I only missed 3 days every 3 weeks, so I didn't qualify for any benefits from that policy.
Wishing you the best of luck - It's great that you're asking those questions now so that you can be prepared.
Take care,
Cindy0 -
Thank You.
Thank you all for your time and for giving me some information. I have a lot of homework to do, it seems.I start chemo April 1 so I will make sure to find out about these benefits. I think everyone should be aware they exist too. I will post whatever information I can find.
Love0 -
Wishing you good luck withLoveBabyJesus said:Thank You.
Thank you all for your time and for giving me some information. I have a lot of homework to do, it seems.I start chemo April 1 so I will make sure to find out about these benefits. I think everyone should be aware they exist too. I will post whatever information I can find.
Love
Wishing you good luck with chemo next month!
Hugs, Megan0 -
I am in the process of
I am in the process of switching over from my company short term disability to SS disability. The way it is being explained to me is that with my work, I get 60% of my wages thru Sept 15th. However, it takes 3-5 months for ssi to go thru, so I am applying now and if it goes thru b4 my work end date then I will collect my amount from ssi, and my work will be paying the difference to the amount that I am entitled to through my union contract.
I am very leary as I am afraid that I will lose my life and medical insurance which I am entitled to until Sept. of 2015. (it is based for me on years of service, and for those 3 years I will have to pay cobra and the premiums for the life insurance). So I have the paperwork here but am waiting to talk to a benefits rep from the union. My company is going thru a buyout and I am hesitant to do anything without making sure it is correct!
I was told that Stage iv is an automatic qualifier also. But I do know of others that have been approved who are stage 1 & 2, based on the way that thier doctors worded the diagnosis and the impact on their lives. It did take 3 denials, but they were finally approved!0
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