Meanwhile, I am still continuing to fight the state to get disability. This most recent denial made it evident that the people in charge of deciding whether or not I “am disabled” (hint: I am) did not even read the doctor’s notes that they asked my pain management clinic for on two separate occasions. My pain management clinic has literally been nothing but supportive of me filing for disability, but they make this the most difficult in the world to access with the most asinine rules and regulations that they themselves do not even adhere to. At this point, if my reconsideration is denied, I am seriously consider looking into one of those lawyers that only takes some of your backpay if you win the case — this wasn’t something that I wanted to do because these are more appointments that I’m going to have to make to see the lawyer, and this is something that I’m going to have to put even more time and effort into, but the current system of disability we have is causing disabled people to go without needed care and to die. I’ve actually known (of, depending on who you’re talking about) a few people — as in, more than one — who have died of their disabilities because Social Security continually kept denying them hoping that it could save itself some money by not having to pay out on another case. I knew someone who was diagnosed with aggressive cancer who finally got awarded disability at the hearing level, and then he died of that cancer two days later, which meant that all of his backpay had to be given back to the state. This was money that he had deemed eligible for, but due to disability laws, because he passed away all of it had to be remanded back to the state… which means that they ultimately lost themselves no money by denying him and denying him until his cancer killed him.
I knew someone whose mother had to attend like… four hearings for them, and at the fourth hearing they were approved for disability, but the backpay only went so far back since this was like the fourth hearing.
I knew of someone who died in her sleep waiting for her hearing to come up, having been denied twice.
My second neurologist had to field denials for two of his patients who had conditions that were going to kill them. His nearly exact words to me were, “Lou-Gehrig’s doesn’t get better. You die from it. And the state persisted in claiming that this individual was “no longer disabled”, so they tried to deny his benefits on CDR.”
The disability “system” as it exists in the United States needs to be overhauled, drastically, and soon.
