| New Mobility is pleased to announce a new monthly column by noted polio expert Richard L. Bruno, chairperson of the International Post-Polio Task Force and director of the Post-Polio Institute at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. Please e-mail questions directly to him at ppseng@aol.com.
Note: This column is for information purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice.
Q: I had polio in 1952 and one leg has always been in a long-leg brace. I now have severe fatigue and fall asleep at my job as a computer analyst. I hear that everyone who had polio gets denied for Social Security Disability, even when they appeal. I have no choice but to keep on working.
You do have a choice! It is not Social Security Administration (SSA) policy to deny Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) payments to polio survivors. In 1987 the SSA implemented a policy that allows polio survivors to get SSDI, called the POMS (Program Operation Manual System) for Evaluation of "The Late Effects of Poliomyelitis". SSA can and does grant SSDI for polio survivors. What's more, not one of our patients has ever been denied SSDI. Why? It's all in the details.
Here's a brief overview of how to get SSDI. For a more detailed description, click here.
1. Read the POMS for "The Late Effects of Poliomyelitis part1 and
part2."
2. Ask the Social Security Administration office to mail you the SSDI application form (SSA-3368-BK).
3. When you do the initial phone interview, get the name, phone number and address of the adjudicator working on your case, the head of that local SSA office and the head of the office where your case will be decided. Before the interview and before you fill out the application, briefly and clearly list the job-related activities you can't do and the specific symptoms that prevent you from doing them. This is the heart of your case.
4. "Do illnesses, injuries or conditions limit your ability to work?" This is the only thing SSA wants to know. Limit your answers to "illnesses, injuries or conditions" that make you work-disabled. SSA doesn't require records of childhood surgeries or even hospitalizations for polio. Don't include medical records about illnesses you have had as an adult unless you have another condition that also limits your ability to work. If you have conditions that do not disable you-e.g. osteoporosis, successfully treated sleep apnea or even a heart attack-SSA doesn't want to know about them. Don't mention pain unless it is the overwhelming cause of your disability. Answering "yes" to the question "Do you have pain?" results in another long questionnaire that delays the process, and it's almost impossible to get SSDI for pain anyway. Never mention depression, anxiety or the medications you take for them unless these symptoms prevent you from working.
5. In the "Remarks" section, briefly summarize your answers and describe your work disability as caused by your specific PPS symptoms. Also mention long-standing polio "disabilities" that have never prevented you from working. Some people with severe fatigue, but who have always used a leg brace, have been denied SSDI because the SSA said, "Your leg has always been paralyzed and should not affect your working at a desk job." You should say, "The fact that I have always used a long-leg brace has nothing to do with my disabling post-polio fatigue today."
6. Send a letter to your congresspeople and ask them to contact the SSA representatives reviewing your case and remind SSA to make a decision about your disability based on the POMS and SSA policy (see the Web site for a sample letter).
7. Mistakes do happen and you may get denied. Find out the specific reason for the denial and appeal immediately, asking your doctor and congresspeople to write supporting your appeal (again, see the Web site for a sample letter). You have a right to two local appeals and then a hearing before an administrative law Judge, where about 90 percent of denials are overturned.
Applying for SSDI is a "game" you can win if you follow the rules.
Column Archives
1 PPS Forum
2 PPS Forum
3 PPS Forum
4 PPS Forum
5 PPS Forum
6 PPS Forum
7 PPS Forum
8 PPS Forum
|
