Applied for SSDI but...

[hardkore951]

I was technically still on the "books" of the employer. June 9, 2016 I checked myself into the local VA for suicidal and homicidal thoughts. At the time I was at work, but never went back once I had a friend drive me to the ER. Since that date, I was placed on Admin Leave, pending indefinite suspension without pay. My VA re for primary physician wrote a letter stating I could not go back to my job for at least 6 months and that I may never fully recover.

My employer ended up suspending me without pay and I took my doctors advice and resigned.

My question is this:

What date will SSDI use as last date worked? Will it negatively affect me that I applied for SSDI while still on the "books"?

I applied using the Wounded Warrior Program. I wasn't denied at the first round and was sent ADL's to fill out.

 

[gsfowler]

Can you clarify something?

You stated that your were on the books of your employer when you went to the VA for suicidal and homicidal thoughts, and you also stated that your applied for SSDI using the wounded warrior program.

There is a discrepancy in what you have written. Were you a civilian when you applied, or were you on Title 10 active duty?

More than likely right now, you are eligible for state temporary disability benefits.

With the letter stating that you could not go back to your job for at least six months, you would not qualify for SSDI.

You must have a medical condition that meets the SSA’s definition of disability. SSDI benefits are eligible only to those with a severe, long-term, total disability.

Severe means that your condition must interfere with basic work-related activities.

Long-term means that your condition has lasted is expected to last at least one year.

Total disability means that you aren't able to perform "substantial gainful activity" (SGA) for at least one year. If you are currently working and make over a certain amount ($1,130 per month in 2016 for disabled applicants, $1,820 for blind applicants), the SSA will find that you're performing SGA and that you are not disabled enough to qualify for SSDI benefits.

 

[hardkore951]

Can you clarify something?

You stated that your were on the books of your employer when you went to the VA for suicidal and homicidal thoughts, and you also stated that your applied for SSDI using the wounded warrior program.

There is a discrepancy in what you have written. Were you a civilian when you applied, or were you on Title 10 active duty?

More than likely right now, you are eligible for state temporary disability benefits.

With the letter stating that you could not go back to your job for at least six months, you would not qualify for SSDI.

You must have a medical condition that meets the SSA’s definition of disability. SSDI benefits are eligible only to those with a severe, long-term, total disability.

Severe means that your condition must interfere with basic work-related activities.

Long-term means that your condition has lasted is expected to last at least one year.

Total disability means that you aren't able to perform "substantial gainful activity" (SGA) for at least one year. If you are currently working and make over a certain amount ($1,130 per month in 2016 for disabled applicants, $1,820 for blind applicants), the SSA will find that you're performing SGA and that you are not disabled enough to qualify for SSDI benefits.

I was DX with the PTSD in 2013. Its been spiraling downward and hit rockbottom in June. I worked for the US Government as a civilian employee , not title 10. I would say going on 3+ years is more than enough to qualify as long term.

Right now I'm not working.

 

[gsfowler]

Maybe it has been going on for more than 3 years, but you stated your doctor wrote "My VA re for primary physician wrote a letter stating I could not go back to my job for at least 6 months and that I may never fully recover."

This letter states that you could not go back to your job for 6 months...

You need to apply for state disability. You should be granted it. State disability will cover you for six months, then you will need to apply for SSDI if you condition becomes long term (greater than one year) than you will qualify for SSDI.

I'm just going off of what you have written, please understand that by me writing this, I am pointing out that there are some areas that you need to address if you want to qualify for SSDI.

 

[hardkore951]

Maybe it has been going on for more than 3 years, but you stated your doctor wrote "My VA re for primary physician wrote a letter stating I could not go back to my job for at least 6 months and that I may never fully recover."

This letter states that you could not go back to your job for 6 months...

You need to apply for state disability. You should be granted it. State disability will cover you for six months, then you will need to apply for SSDI if you condition becomes long term (greater than one year) than you will qualify for SSDI.

I'm just going off of what you have written, please understand that by me writing this, I am pointing out that there are some areas that you need to address if you want to qualify for SSDI.

I understand and I appreciate your time and help. This is all new to me. The only reason I applied for SSDI is as a Federal Employee in order to apply for an early Federal Retirement one of the requirements is to apply for SSDI.

Can I open a State claim with an open SSDI claim?

 

[gsfowler]

Yes, the state claim is typically opened before a SSDI claim. Your doctor usually helps you with this. Reply or PM me what state you are in and I can assist you on where to find the paperwork.

 

[tony292]

Look into SSDI blue book listing 12.06


Impairments that Qualify for PTSD Disability Benefits
Some disability claims for post traumatic stress disorder are approved by satisfying the Blue Book listing requirements under “Anxiety Disorders.” To do this, you must meet the requirements of Paragraph A and the requirements of either Paragraph B orParagraph C.

1. Your medical records must document at least one of the following findings:
   
   1. You must recall a traumatic experience; and/or
   2. You must have recurring obsessions or compulsions; and/or
   3. You must exhibit an irrational fear of a situation, object, or activity that is persistent enough that it causes a compulsion in you to avoid the situation, object, or activity; and/or
   4. You must have severe panic attacks, with symptoms of fear, intense apprehension, and feelings of impending doom and terror, on an average of at least once a week; and/or
   5. You must experience generalized persistent anxiety accompanied by at least three of the following symptoms: autonomic hyperactivity (shortness of breath, rapid heart rate, dry mouth, cold hands, and dizziness), apprehensive expectation (anxiety, fear, worry, and persistent thoughts of potential misfortune), motor tension (fatigability, trembling, restlessness, and muscle tension), or vigilance and scanning behavior (feeling keyed up, increased startling, and impaired concentration).
   In addition, you must meet the conditions of either paragraph B or C below:
   
   
   
2. Your medical records must show at least two of the following findings:
   
   1. You are markedly restricted in your normal daily activities, and/or
   2. You have marked difficulties in maintaining social functioning, and/or
   3. You have marked difficulty in maintaining your concentration, persistence, or pace, and/or
   4. You have repeated episodes of decompensation (worsening psychiatric symptoms), that are of extended duration.
   OR
   
3. Your medical records must prove that your PTSD results in your complete inability to function on your own outside your house.
   

 

[hardkore951]

I have thousands of pages of VA medical records to support my claim. I could go in depth but not in an open forum.

 

[tony292]

I am sure that you do have thousands of pages to support your claim. None of that matters to SS.

In the end it doesn't matter what you could prove to us here on this forum with ease, but what you can prove to Social security. The burden is on you. SS won't believe you.

Again look at listing 12.06. Not trying to antagonize you. Just trying to help. SS is not your freind.

 

[ssdlawyer]

I was technically still on the "books" of the employer. June 9, 2016 I checked myself into the local VA for suicidal and homicidal thoughts. At the time I was at work, but never went back once I had a friend drive me to the ER. Since that date, I was placed on Admin Leave, pending indefinite suspension without pay. My VA re for primary physician wrote a letter stating I could not go back to my job for at least 6 months and that I may never fully recover.

My employer ended up suspending me without pay and I took my doctors advice and resigned.

My question is this:

What date will SSDI use as last date worked? Will it negatively affect me that I applied for SSDI while still on the "books"?

I applied using the Wounded Warrior Program. I wasn't denied at the first round and was sent ADL's to fill out.

The real issue is the AOD, i.e. the alleged onset date. It may sound "cool" to have an M.D. who opines that you cannot work, but the opinion must first meet the 12-month durational requirement for not being able to work, and in my experience as a practitioner, I see that fly right by many a M.D. all the time, and they just say a claimant cannot work. Period. Second, the M.D. may not be a psychiatrist, and his/her opinion therefore does not have the weight an ALJ may assign to a state psych examiner.

It won't work against you to have applied while in the WW program, as I have a lot of veterans doing the same thing, and I often prevail in proving SSD/SSI. As to the ADLs, at paragraph C for Listings 12.04 and 12.06, that's just one portion of it; there are also Social Functioning, CCP, and decomp, and there must be at least two "marked" in those four areas.

As to the advice above to meet/functionally equal (it can be either) a MH Listing (12.04 or 12.06), it's bad advice. I see it all the time where a combat vet claims significant psych impairment, but at the credibility/consistency portion of the RFC during testimony at Step Four, they testify that they have panic symptoms or anger issues, but are partying, going to clubs, and attending the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, etc. That said, here's my advice, based on years of doing this thing as an attorney: Plan for Step 5, i.e. that your psych and other MDIs prevent in combination your being able to do other work in the national economy. That is the $6M advice I give you, and it's damn good.

 

[tony292]

Maybe I was lucky then. I didn't get caught up on step 5 in front of an ALJ or anything. I was approved for myasthenia gravis due to a doctor stating I met listing 11.12:

Myasthenia gravis. With:

A. Significant difficulty with speaking, swallowing, or breathing while on prescribed therapy; or

B. Significant motor weakness of muscles of extremities on repetitive activity against resistance while on prescribed therapy.

Now I wasn't clubbing or going to the RNC in Cleveland, was unemployed from the Army and my ADL forms SS sent me to fill out were consistent with my impairments and the listing above. Not all people get denied automatically at step five. I'm sure someone at DDS examined everything and made the step five determination and I was approved.

My intent wasn't to tell the OP that a listing was an automatic approval, but a very key step in the process to prove the severity of the condition on SS own terms, not based on what military doctors said (they almost never put things into VA or SS terms).