Social Security

[jbarclay]

Hi all. Diagnosed 8 months ago with PD. 57yo male in California Some days better than others I feel the need to retire and am eligible for my government pension. I called the social security office locally and they were encouraging. We will see I guess. Does anyone have experience with California SSI? Do I need to hire a Lawyer?

[Hidden]

Lawyer? most definitely yes

[laglag]

Hi. I'm from Indiana so things could be a little different, and I hate to disagree with RoyProp, but I don't think you need a lawyer until you've been turned down once. When you complete the paperwork, here are a few things to remember:

1) Have someone help you with completing the paperwork

2) When answering the questions & giving descriptions, don't exaggerate but describe your bad days. May be helpful to do a timeline (what you could do 5 yrs ago and 1 yr ago that you can't do now

3) Be as descriptive as possible, the person reviewing your paperwork may not know a lot about PD

4) Get a letter from your doctor saying he/she believes you are disabled and you are not a candidate for vocational rehabilitation

5) Make a binder with tabs to keep all your paperwork organized, you may need to refer to it at times

Getting away from stress was the best thing I ever did. Good luck!

[GymBag in reply to laglag]

Lawyer ? In Canada we dont hire lawyers to fight our own government when they have not done anything yet, especially if also your employer. Talk to your union rep.

Retire? YES as soon as possible. You will not need as much as you think.

[MBAnderson in reply to GymBag]

I now wish I would have worked as long as possible.

[GymBag in reply to MBAnderson]

Are you sure that you didn't

[Popeye529 in reply to MBAnderson]

The busier the better. Exercise, exercise and exercise

[ronn]

Calif. SS provides a phone number, ( 1 800 772 1213), which they recommend as a good place to start . I retired from local government in California when PD began to affect my job performance but had no pension problems. The major problem with early retirement is the smaller numbers in the paycheck.

[tmjennings]

I live in California. I was turned down three times by Social Security for my PD. It took over 2 years of running around with Social Security and finally went to a judge who granted me full benefits of disability. I hired Freedom Disability and they provided a lawyer at the hearing before the judge when I won I got two years of back pay that I should have gotten all along so it was sweet. By the way you only pay them if you win and their fee is reasonable after that.

[ddmagee1 in reply to tmjennings]

Hiring a lawyer that specializes in this does, indeed, seem to be the right thing to do. Otherwise, fighting the system, while not well, for years, under stress, is a rough road to go. My brother went through all that. He finally got a specialty lawyer and is now on Social Security disability.

[Rosabellazita]

Consider yourself lucky on ur age. Im passed retirement age..66 and have not been diagnosed per say with pd.have a bad hand tremor. I am not eligible for disability. Big problem if turns out i cant work any longer in the future. I only work pt time now and receive very little social security.

[AngelaMcH]

I'm 54 dx 2years. Was lucky as I had good employers pension. In in Scotland. Heartbroken to give up a job I loved but it was the right thing to do. My 'job' is now .... getting well!

[movinngroovin1]

No problem!!

[Parkiewife]

My husband has been on SS since 2003 (young on set pd). We didn't hire an attorney. Got the application, had HIM fill out by hand - took him 3 days! Obtained al medical documents pertaining to illness. Took everything to his SS case worker. She was taken aback at the micro handwriting and thanked us profusely for all the medical records (one thing they didn't) have to do. He was given disability within 6 months! What a blessing. Hope all goes well with your case.

[Christin313]

I would encourage retirement. My father kept working through the early symptoms of PD (finally diagnosed within months of retiring at 62). One of his regrets was not leaving work sooner, as time simply passes faster than one realizes it will.

As for SS, I'd pursue it strongly and not give up.

[Babowen898]

My husband, too, applied and received SS disability. We did not use a lawyer, and he was approved the first time around. Important to get your medical records from dr to include with your application, this will speed things up tremendously. They still contact your Dr, but they already have his paperwork in front of them. As someone else said, be very straightforward describing your condition. Include everything you can think of. No need for a lawyer unless you are denied. And yes, you will receive a check for the months you have been disabled and haven't received benefits, most likely several thousand dollars. Good luck!.

[laglag]

If you're approved, they usually go back retroactively to the day you applied.

[dreem]

I wish I could have worked longer, but things happen. My doctor make that choice for me and I wasnt happy about it at that time. I will tell you I dont have as much money but I do have more time to take care of myself. I worked in nursing and had a hard time passing meds. looking back, I now know it was the right choice. I was dropping pills and I even spilled water on someone while passing meds. I did not have a lawyer and had my first SSDI check in 3 months.Please keep in mind that you will not get medicare until you have been on SSDI for 2 years or are 65 years old so make sure you have some kind of medical coverage. I had to go with corba. Good luck

[jbarclay]

Thank you all for advice and encouragement. I appreciate the positive feedback from room. Some days it seems like a positive attitude is the most important tool to fight PD

[Erniediaz1018]

I'm on the same boat 49 years old and just applied for ssdi in NJ. Had an attorney fill out paper work as I can't write much because of tremor on my dominant side and the stress of doing certain things exacerbates the tremor. I hope it goes smooth for us both. Medical records are very important so if you're able go to every doctor you've been to and get your records and make copies don't leave them to anyone when presenting them.

[Beckey]

Hi, JB. If you've applied for SS and been denied (which happens to most people), THEN you need a lawyer, and I have a good one for you if and when that happens. You don't pay for your lawyer; SS pays.

Beckey