Can you be considered for disability payments due to chrohns/colitis?

In Canada you can get disability tax credit.

Yes. This is Jennifer Jaff's website http://advocacyforpatients.org/chronicity.html and it's very informative. I know she has crohn's and I believe her book is about getting approved for disability with it.

Benjammin,

Are you talking about social security disability payments? Please note that "disability payments" can refer to private short term and long term disability benefits insurance policies, as well as SSD payments. I mention this only for purposes of clarity of this discussion. Also, we have many members outside the USA posting here and disability payments may mean something totally different in their countries.

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If you are talking about private disability insurance I would think that qualifying depends largely on the language in your policy. And of course, I believe that with any policy: private, state, or Social Security, you need to be declared disabled by your physician. There also is the distinction between temporary and permanent disability. I don't think the diagnosis alone is a qualifier, since many with the diagnosis are able to work.

Jan

Jan,

That is correct, and within the universe of social security disability, what happens is that disability claimants will often list multiple disabling conditions, one or more than one of which may be accepted. For example, I have one case in which the claimant listed both traumatic injuries from his motor vehicle accident and diabetes as disabling conditions. The diabetes was accepted as the primary disabling condition by the SSA and the traumatic injuries as a secondary disabling condition.

I believe with IBD many claimants may also group the physical disease with secondary mental health diagnoses such as depression.

If Benjammin is speaking of SSD payments the complexities are such that he may want to seek an attorney specialized in that area who can marshal the medical evidence needed to sustain the application. However, I see many cases where applicants are succesful on their own without an attorney as well. If there is a worker's compensation or personal injury case producing iinjuries that precipitate or relate to any claim of disability (which is probably not the case here), I always recommend that an attorney be retained to pursue the SSD claim because SSA has a very lengthy questionnaire, the answers to which becomes a coveted discovery item, potentially, in the course of the litigation.

Absolutely, & it isn’t as difficult to qualify as some would believe, Many will tell you that you need to hire an attorney, (that may or may not be the case), the forms are ready available on the internet & if you have kept reasonable records they are quite easy to fill out, if your own efforts fail, then an attorney may be in order. Your chances of achieving a successful claim depends on many factors, it has been my understanding that your age, your profession, & your doctor, are key factors in the decision, I am not sure but your employer may have a voice also,. If you think you qualify I would go ahead and file, if you are unsuccessful, you then have the option of an attorney, & even if that fails you are on record & your next application may be looked at more favorably JMOP Good Luck Den

Yes you can. Get a disability attorney. I have one currently that does everything for me.

DJBHusky-

Are you in the employ of the Federal Government or the SSA? You seem quite knowledgeable on the subject.

As my screen name implies -this disease and surgery and pseudo-recovery have made me somewhat of a mental case who is barely hanging on to his hospital job. Recently I started looking into the options available to me. Would you suggest retaining an attorney from the get-go? I may send you a private message also. Thanks

MK

quote:

Are you in the employ of the Federal Government or the SSA? You seem quite knowledgeable on the subject.

Neither. I am a private practice attorney who has some contact with this area of the law because my personal injury clients sometimes need to make SSD claims, and my insurance company clients ask me to investigate SSD claims made by those who are suing them or their insureds. So I have read through many SSD files. I do not consider myself a SSD law specialist, however.

You may want to retain an attorney who specializes in this area of law. Many pro se individuals are able to handle their own SSD claims without an attorney. What an attorney specialist gives you is someone who can marshal the requisite medical evidence to sustain the disability. What that means is they know, and can communicate with the doctors who can write medical-legal reports that appropriately address the question of disability for purposes of receiving SSD benefits.

My exposure to this area of law is limited to those cases in which personal injury claimants are making claims of disability relating to a traumatic injury or accident, which may also relate to some other condition that is unrelated to the accident. That is usually why I am peeking into someone's SSD file.

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DJBHusky-

Many thanks for the info. A few questions, I assume that J-Pouch surgery is not considered a disability since the level of individual functioning can be so varied? Are Doctors supportive of the disability process generally? Is much required of them?

quote:

I assume that J-Pouch surgery is not considered a disability since the level of individual functioning can be so varied? Are Doctors supportive of the disability process generally? Is much required of them?

I do not know the answer to your first question, but as I noted previously there can be a coupling of physical and mental disabilities. As has been discussed in other threads I think the psychiatric component of IBD looms large as a "wild card" in any SSD application. Read more about this here:

http://j-pouch.org/eve/forums/...1071921/m/7337060916

Your other questions are way too general to be answered intelligently. You live in Oregon. I have never been to Oregon in my life and don't know anything about the medical community there. I have a pretty good handle on the reputations of doctors in the State where I practice. But I think you have good, great and not so great doctors in every state. I am primarily a personal injury attorney and in doing insurance defense work, I like doctors who know how to write good reports. However some of the doctors who write great reports are not so great in the bedside manners department. This is why hiring an attorney who specializes in SSD law in your area COULD BE advantageous. The attorney could, possibly, help you find a good doctor who writes good reports, and that could help if your disability claim isn't a slam dunk.

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Thanks, I will take a look.

Every state is different, some have state dissability, way easier to get than SSDI. I got declined when I applied for an auto immune dissorder and then the cancer and surgeries, etc.

I had to be out of work for at least 4 months if not then prove your employer fired you over taking too much time off or using the restroom too much. It's a battle. It took my mother 7 years to get her SSDI with an attorney. You also have to prove you can't work for 12 months so all doctors have to be on board and write good letters.

They make it hard. I got declined.

I am receiving insurance benefits from the LTD policy I took out in the late 80's. I have a wonderful Internist who sat with me while filling out her portion of the disability application. Medical releases were sent to the other physicians and surgeon. I was approved from the last day I worked because of my final flare from hell. After a 12 week waiting period the money started.

That said they thought I should be back at work 3 months post my take down surgery. I ended up with incisional hernia abdominal surgery a few months later, which confirmed that I was still in pain. Also by then I was being treated for my depression, PTSD and anxiety. I've been receiving insurance benefits since then. I didn't need an attorney. I answered the claims managers questions honestly and stayed calm and always thanked her for her help. She said we'd touch base periodically. My therapist has never been contacted so I guess if I'm receiving benefits because of my mental problems it is evidenced by all the medication I'm taking. I'm not asking, as long as they directly deposit the money each month I won't stir the pot.

I have just completed the paperwork for my social security disability claim on-line. If you need help filling it out you can make an appointment with someone at the local social security office. I didn't have to get a doctor's portion filled out for this. It was all information that I had.

After it's received I will have a face to face appointment You can start and stop filling out the paperwork and do not have to do it all in one setting. I estimate it took me a total of 8 hours to do and I'm familiar with filling out government forms. Tax forms that is.

I have a friend who's LTD insurance company is helping her obtain social security disability so they won't have to pay her so much a month. He benefit total will be the same but the insurance company will get to reduce their payment by the amount social security amount.

I was advised not to wait for my insurance company to file for social security disability as it's been 2 years and they go by quarters worked and there are time frames that I know nothing about. This is where it might be a good idea to make an appointment with an attorney that is familiar with it all.

Please don't use one of the TV advertised national firms as I heard that sometimes they stretch it out so they can receive larger fees. They work on a percentage. I'd prefer to pay someone by the hour. Not that all attorney's that work on recovery percentages are that way.