Re: Re: childrens disability, PLEASE answer if you know anything

[Guest guest]

Thanks. I really appreciate it. I think he will qualify if not just by a hair.

My income is below the guidelines barely. But I really hope it works out so he

can get some good medical care. It just seems the middle class in this country

is crushed. We make too much for any help, but not enough sometimes to provide

health insurance for our family. The poor get help... which they truly deserve

so don't get me wrong. I am very glad that people in poverty get help. But

then the rich don't need help. so the middle class is kind of falling between

the cracks. And I don't expect as much help as someone who makes alot less than

I do. I just want a LITTLE help.

Anyway, I appreciate you very much. I have calmed down alot since this morning.

love and hugs,

Debra V.

Subject: Re: childrens disability, PLEASE answer if you know anything

To: Fibromyalgia_Support_Group

Date: Friday, April 18, 2008, 12:54 PM

Debra,

Here is the inforamtion from the social security website:

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments for children with

disabilities

SSI makes monthly payments to people with low income and limited

resources who are 65 or older, or blind or disabled. Your child under

age 18 can qualify if he or she meets Social Security's definition of

disability for children, and if his or her income and resources fall

within the eligibility limits. The amount of the SSI payment is

different from one state to another because some states add to the

SSI payment. Your local Social Security office can tell you more

about your state's total SSI payment.

SSI rules about income and resources

When we decide if your child can get SSI, we consider your child's

income and resources. We also consider the income and resources of

family members living in the child's household. These rules apply if

your child lives at home. They also apply if he or she is away at

school but returns home from time to time and is subject to your

control.

If your child's income and resources, or the income and resources of

family members living in the child's household, are more than the

amount allowed, we will deny the child's application for SSI

payments.

We limit the monthly SSI payment to $30 when a child is in

a medical facility where health insurance pays for his or her care.

SSI rules about disability

Your child must meet all of the following requirements to be

considered disabled and therefore eligible for SSI:

The child must not be working and earning more than $940 a month in

2008. (This earnings amount changes every year.) If he or she is

working and earning that much money, we will find that your child is

not disabled.

The child must have a physical or mental condition, or a combination

of conditions, that results in " marked and severe functional

limitations. " This means that the condition(s) must very seriously

limit your child's activities.

The child's condition(s) must have lasted, or be expected to last, at

least 12 months; or must be expected to result in death.

If your child's condition(s) results in " marked and severe functional

limitations " for at least 12 continuous months, we will find that

your child is disabled. But if it does not result in those

limitations, or does not last for at least 12 months, we will find

that your child is not disabled.

Providing information about your child's condition

When you apply for benefits for your child, we will ask you for

detailed information about the child's medical condition and how it

affects his or her ability to function on a daily basis. We also will

ask you to give permission for the doctors, teachers, therapists and

other professionals who have information about your child's condition

to send the information to us.

If you have any of your child's medical or school records, please

bring them with you. This will help speed up the decision on your

application.

What happens next?

We send all of the information you give us to the Disability

Determination Services in your state. Doctors and other trained staff

in that state agency will review the information, and will request

your child's medical and school records, and any other information

needed to decide if your child is disabled.

If the state agency cannot make a disability decision using only the

medical information, school records and other facts they have, they

may ask you to take your child for a medical examination or test. We

will pay for the exam or test.

We may make immediate SSI payments to your child

It can take three to five months for the state agency to decide if

your child is disabled. However, we consider certain medical

conditions so limiting that we expect any one of them to disable a

child. In these cases, we make SSI payments right away and for up to

six months while the state agency decides if your child is disabled.

Following are some of those conditions:

HIV infection

Total blindness

Total deafness

Cerebral palsy

Down syndrome

Muscular dystrophy

Severe mental retardation (child age 7 or older)

Birth weight below two pounds, 10 ounces

If your child has one of the limiting conditions that is expected to

disable a child, he or she will get SSI payments right away. However,

the state agency may finally decide that your child's disability is

not severe enough for SSI. If that happens, you will not have to pay

back the SSI payments that your child got.

SSI disability reviews

Once your child starts receiving SSI, the law requires that we review

your child's medical condition from time to time to verify that he or

she is still disabled. This review must be done:

At least every three years for children younger than age 18 whose

conditions are expected to improve; and

By age 1 for babies who are getting SSI payments because of their low

birth weight, unless we determine their medical condition is not

expected to improve by their first birthday and we schedule the

review for a later date.

We may perform a disability review even if your child's condition is

not expected to improve. When we do a review, you must present

evidence that your child is and has been receiving treatment that is

considered medically necessary for your child's medical condition.

What happens when your child turns age 18

For disability purposes in the SSI program, a child becomes an adult

at age 18, and we use different medical and nonmedical rules when

deciding if an adult can get SSI disability payments. For example, we

do not count the income and resources of family members when deciding

whether an adult meets the financial limits for SSI. We count only

the adult's income and resources. We also use the disability rules

for adults when deciding whether an adult is disabled.

If your child is already receiving SSI payments, we must review the

child's medical condition when he or she turns age 18. We usually do

this review during the one-year period that begins on your child's

18th birthday. We will use the adult disability rules to decide

whether your 18-year-old is disabled.

If your child was not eligible for SSI before his or her 18th

birthday because you and your spouse had too much income or

resources, he or she may become eligible for SSI at age 18.

For more information, ask for Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

(Publication No. 05-11000).

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