dSavannah note: (I have updated this post on Jan 16, due to new information I found by Matthew Cortland, Esq., who is, in his own words, “a disabled, chronically ill, healthcare and disability rights lawyer.”)
This is not the full post I planned to publish for January; I was going to include this information in my regular missive. But I am very very, well, not good today, and I was very not good yesterday, when I felt even worse. One of those days when the pain was so great, I was desperate, absolutely desperate for relief. I would really really like to pinch my head off. And I’m so exhausted, I don’t have brain fog, I have brain smog!
But this action has an updated deadline of January 31, 2020. (Per Matthew Cortland, Esq., as required by law, Social Security has opened the new rule for comments until 1/31). So it’s important I publish, and it’s even more important that you, my readers, submit comments against this heinous and punishing new rule.
[Note: copied from The #MEAction Network; mine and other comments are indicated]
The Social Security Administration has announced that it wants to change its rules for people who get disability benefits. Right now, the federal government is accepting public comments on this issue.
Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (CLS) has shared a guide to help understand the proposed change and what we can do: Tell Social Security Not to Create Additional Burdens for People with Disabilities!
Liz Burlingame, one of my #MEeps here in Georgia, allowed me to share this photo of her recent social security disability review. See below for her comments about the process.
CLS says, “Most people would have to prove disability every two years. If Social Security moves forward with this proposal more than two million people will be at risk of losing benefits over the next ten years. These are people with severe disabilities who can’t work.”
The main request for action is to submit a comment. Social Security is collecting comments on the new rules until January 17th, 2020.
CLS provides sample language on their page about this (scroll down; it’s just below the video), but you are encouraged to PERSONALIZE it for maximum effect.
CLS has made a short video (posted on their page an on youtube) to help explain the issue and ways you can take action.
(Update on 1/16): Matthew Cortland, Esq. has written a very good post (far more edifying than my own!) on his Patreon summarizing the suggested changes, and offering a very good guide about submitting your own comments.
dSavannah notes:I know from personal experience that the process of applying for social security disability is inhumane, demoralizing, unfair, horrible, and makes you feel like a criminal. And it’s NOT easy. At. All. And it’s not a great payout, either. (I’m still in limbo in this process. And it’s been five years.)
You know the phrase “innocent until proven guilty”, which our justice system is supposedly founded on? Well, this system is the opposite – it says you are guilty of being well. And it ignores evidence of you being sick if it feels like it.
Trust me. No one wants to be disabled. No one wants to need the help.
I would rather scrub toilets in the men’s restroom at a truck stop than be this sick and deal with this nonsense.
Please comment and let the administration know that these new rules are ridiculous, onerous, and horrible!
Fellow MEep Liz Burlingame shared these thoughts along with her photo (above), and said I could use them:
The Social Security Administration just announced that it wants to change its rules for people who get disability benefits, including SSI. Most people would have to prove disability every two years.
This is an inordinately bad idea. Here’s why.
On September 5, 2018 I received the notification that my SSA disability case was subject to a review. Over the next 13 months, I would receive more than half a dozen pieces of correspondence from three separate offices including the SSA and 2 offices of Disability Adjudication Services, or DAS.
The review included multiple forms requesting information – some 2 dozen pages for me to complete, sign and send back. There were follow-up requests for additional information. I was notified that I would be required to submit to an exam by one of SSA’s own physicians. I was given 10 days to sign and return the Appointment Reply Form, make arrangements for transportation (I am too sick to drive) and show up at that doctor’s office, (a doctor I had never met and knew nothing about).
I collected testimony from my physician, testimony from my mother and primary caregiver. I wrote my own appeal and sent a picture of myself because I’m human and I wanted them to see my face.
In October of 2019, I was notified that my disability claim is continuing. The very notion that I might be forced to endure this process again in a mere 2 years is untenable.
Make no mistake, I am one of the lucky ones. I am disabled with a chronic illness that has no cure, but I am extraordinarily blessed for what I have got. I have a family that took me in when I could no longer live independently, I have friends that supply encouragement and practical help like transportation. I have an internet connection and a computer to access information. I have met social media friends who provide invaluable support, not to mention advice on how to maneuver through a process that feels outright menacing.
If any of these advantages were missing, the review would be almost impossible to complete. People who are totally eligible for benefits are being routinely denied due to flaws in the review process.
The demands of a disability review not only make people sicker, it is a de-humanizing process. It’s de-humanizing not just for the patients but also for the SSA and DAS staff who are forced to contend with a truly broken system.
Change is needed but increasing the frequency of reviews benefits no one.
So what can you do?
Read the proposed rule on the Federal Register.
Read Matthew Cortland, Esq.‘s guide to this issue on his Patreon.
Submit your comments against the new rules.
Share this post with the hashtag #NoSocialSecurityCuts! (Or you can share one of my posts: my public Facebook page or Twitter.
Thank you for your time.
Hey Debbie. Great blog! Love. It. This is SUCH an important issue as you well know. I Shared to Twitter today. Glad you could use some of my words and the photo. Teamwork. #hugs
#Teamwork is so important, especially with this illness. Thanks for ALL the sharing! xoox