Disability

Katalin59838, it depends on what country you live in as each has its own requirements  for eligibility. You would need to access your government health website or call their offices to find out. Also perhaps your doctor can advise you.

Although I have been unable to work for ten years I am not on any disability as our family income is above the means tested threshold but if I was alone I possibly would qualify.

All the best in your pursuit of disability income.

The first thing to do is call Social Security, make a claim and get what's called a protective date.  That starts the process.  Everything will be tied to that date.

Then sit down and make a list of every doctor you've seen in 3 years.  Well, start the list.  More will cone to you over time. Write down any tests, prescriptions, just everything you can remember.  Never give this list away.  You can let others copy it, but they have to give it back.

You need the list so that you can tell what Soc. Sec. has bothered to look at & what they haven't.

Also sit down and list every job you've had and roughly how long you worked there.  This too will take some time unless you're quite young, in which case you're apt to be applying for SSI rather than SSDI.

If you are low income or might be, call Legal Aid to see if they'll help with your case.  It's rarely listed as "Legal Aid," they usually have some local region mane stuck in from of the 2 vital words,  very unhelpful.   They will ask you a ton of questions.  They will also suggest "stacking."   Don't get offended by this.  It's where sometimes people get classed as 70% physically disabled and 30% emotionally disabled.

If you have too much money for legal aid, you can hire an attorney for a percentage of what you get.  I have not seen this avenue work out welk, but ,,,

I handled my own case for disability from a fall.   Took 3 years because I didn't find out til the last 6 months that SSA never bothered to get 90% of my medical records.

It's much easier now than it was 27 years ago when I started on that road, but it's still quite and unpleasant.  You will have to see doctors who are paid by whatever state you live in to deny that you are disabled.  Take someone with you and take a battery operated recorder with you.  Up to you whether you let them know that you are recording but do not give them permission to record.  Where i live i can legally record any conversation IF i'm part of it, but in other states it's only legal to record with the other person's permission.

Everybody gets turned down the 1st time.  It's a long process. 

Good luck.

I would like to give you a little bit more information about disability because I have been on disability for 6 years therefore I think that I have a little more recent knowledge of the process than another commenter. First of all some people do not get turned down on the 1st application. Case in point my brother-in-law. And I've known others. Another thing is that although it is possible to be accepted for disability while you have a job and are working full-time it is very unlikely that they will approve you. This makes it very difficult to apply for SSDI because most people do not have the resources two not work during the long application process. I never heard of anyone using legal aid to assist them to apply for SSDI. Everyone I've ever heard hires a special attorney that's sole purpose is to help clients with their disability cases. As payment they get paid only if you get approved for disability. If you are approved for disability then Social Security will give you a check for the amount of back pay you would have gotten from the first date you applied. The attorney gets a percentage of that check. In some cases the attorney will not get paid at all because you do not get that check because there is no back pay. My case was that way. I was approved within the first year so there was no back pay. (Its a very complicated equation they use to determine how much back pay you get) That was not my problem though that was my attorneys problem. But I don't feel too bad since she didn't do a whole lot for me. Like the other commenter said you can make an appointment with your Social Security office and get the process rolling or you can get online like I did and start the process on your own. Most attorneys will want you to start the ball rolling on your own before you hire them. In fact most people don't even hire an attorney until you've been turned down. If Sjogren's is the only disease you have you might want to check with Social Security and see if it's even an approved disability. Some diseases are not covered by social security disability. Recently Social Security added fibromyalgia but before that it in itself was not considered a disability. And finally if you are 50 years old or older the criteria for approval is different. Which makes it easier to get SSDI. Oh and one last bit of information, if you do get disability once you're on it for 2 years (I think its 2 years) you qualify for Medicare. To me that has been invaluable because prior to me getting Medicare I was paying $400 a month for insurance that had a $2,000 deductible. And my health bills are tremendous.

I did get my disability very quickly sjogrens and fibro.  I just received my Medicare cards and it is exactly 2 years to the date you become disabled.   I needed it so bad because my insurance was $800 monthly and 6,500 deductible crazy!!  I too just went down to local Soc Sec office and started the process.  Everything was done over the phone and only had to see one of their doctors.   Was not turned down !!

I wish you all the best.  I hope this is positive for you.