Victory!

With the passing of Robert's grandmother taking place a couple of weeks ago, I haven't had the chance to give an update on the situation with Bill and Social Security.

To begin with, a couple of weeks ago, we got a letter detailing the judge's decision.  She agreed that Bill was unable to work and would be awarded disability income. Woohoo! Secondly, she said the date he became disabled was a date in 2004.  Basically, she said he was unable to work for nearly 7 years. So, the next question was how much he would get in the way of back pay.  For that, Bill and Robert had to meet with the Social Security office to determine the amounts he would be awarded.  This is where the whole thing got a bit frustrating.

It started when we got a letter from their office saying that Bill and Robert needed to come to their office on at 2:30 on Thursday, July 12th.  And they needed to bring any pay stubs that Bill had dating back to October of 2010 - when he first applied for Social Security.  Hello people! He filed because he can't work - how is he going to have any pay stubs for that time if he couldn't work? And, considering that Robert got this letter the Thursday before he was to meet, there was no way he could get the day off since the schedule was already written. It did say he could call to reschedule and so he figured he would do that first thing Monday morning since he would be too busy at work to call them on Friday.

Now, fast forward to Sunday.  We got the call that Robert's grandmother had passed so there was no way they could possibly make it on Thursday since that was the day of the viewing and the funeral was on Friday, in Cleveland.  So, Monday morning, Robert calls the number.  And waits on hold for over half an hour! He finally had to hang up because he needed to make some other phone calls so we could make arrangements to head off to Cleveland.  Very frustrating to say the least.  He finally got a hold of them on Tuesday morning and explained the situation - we were in Cleveland and wouldn't be able to make it on Thursday.  The lady he talked to made note of it and said it was no problem.  They could just come in whenever and it would be taken care of. The lady must have forgotten to update the appointment notes though because they blew up both Robert and I's phone during the viewing because Robert and Bill missed the appointment. It was a bit of a pain to say the least.

So, Robert and Bill finally get to the office last Monday. They were taken without an appointment which was very nice. However, I am not sure they had it all together. Robert and Bill were called to an office to meet with someone only to be told that everything wasn't ready and sent back to the waiting room to wait some more. Finally, after a couple of hours, they were called back to the office a second time where details were given - or at least some details.

First, Bill will get a check in the amount of $590 a month.  Much better than what we were originally told - around $300 a month. Secondly, he will get a second check each month - SSI.  But nobody would tell us that amount.  So how much is it?  We hope to find out next week when he get the first check on August 1st.  Third, he will also be getting back pay. And it will be in 3 lump sum payment checks.  One in the next few weeks, one 6 months later and one 6 months after that.  But they never gave the actual amount.  Only the amount of the fist check. The only thing that was really said about these checks is that the fist 2 would be direct deposit and the last one would be a paper check because it was too big to do direct deposit. However, it is hard to make plans for his future if we do not know the full amount of money he will be getting on a regular basis or if the lump sum checks will be enough to buy him things like the new clothes he needs as well as furniture for wherever he will be moving to.

The best news of the day, though, had to do with Medicare. Normally, when applying for Medicare coverage under the diagnosis of HD, a person has to wait 2 years before the coverage kicks in after being approved for Social Security disability income. However, because he had been waiting so long for approval, his Medicare Coverage actually started July 1st.  That is great because that means he can begin some of the necessary medications and treatments to help him live a more comfortable life as he progresses in his disease.

So, we got some great news! And now, we can begin the process of finding Bill a place to stay. Preferably a place that will offer assisted living for someone on a fixed income so that the can be checked on on a regular basis and be provided any extra help that he might need. The social security office did provide Robert with a place that might be able to offer assistance so that we can move forward.