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"How to Apply For—and Receive—Your SSDI: Long COVID makes it tricky. Know the rules"

https://longcovidmd.substack.com/p/you-may-qualify-for-ssdi

Blog with linked video recording.
Most of the advice is specific to SSDI rather than more generally useful internationally

Also useful for other spoonies

#LongCovid #MEcfs #Spoonies
#Spoonie #POTS @pots #PwME #ME #MyalgicE
@mecfs
@longcovid

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“Social Security evaluates whether your condition limits activities like sitting, standing, concentrating, lifting, walking, or sustaining cognitive effort throughout a workday.”

Barbara points out most physicians don’t document these limitations unless patients actively describe them. (contd)”

#mecfs #longcovid #pots
@pots @mecfs @longcovid

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“(Contd) She strongly recommends symptom journaling—tracking fatigue, PEM, dysautonomia, and cognitive crashes—and bringing those to appointments so they become part of your medical chart.”

#CFS #LongCovid @pots @mecfs @longcovid

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“Social Security then looks at the actual demands of the work you used to do. This includes physical stamina, cognitive load, reliability, and the ability to sustain attention and attendance consistently.

Barbara describes how many people with long COVID can sometimes perform isolated tasks, but cannot reliably function at the level required for full-time employment.”

#LongCovid #mecfs #cfs
@pots @mecfs @longcovid

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“That means denials are extremely common for complex chronic illnesses and should not be interpreted as personal insult. A denial does not mean Social Security believes you are lying, exaggerating, or mentally unstable. In most cases, appeals are simply expected.”

#disability #mecfs #longcovid
@pots @mecfs @longcovid

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“The medical impairment(s) must be shown to exist by means of medically acceptable clinical and laboratory findings.

Under the law, symptoms alone cannot be the basis for a finding of disability, although the effects of symptoms may be an important factor in deciding whether an individual is disabled.” — Long COVID, a Guide For Health Professionals

#mecfs #longcovid #pots #chronicillness
@pots @mecfs @longcovid

I suggest, that if you're even contemplating Social Security Disability, the very first thing to do is to APPLY. On April 1, 1991 I called Social Security and told them I wanted to sign on. This was even before the CDC's CFS Fukuda Criteria were published, and I had what was then referred to as "Yuppie Flu". The very next thing I did was to engage a law firm that specialized in SS Disability claims. Only because they had advertised on the radio, I went with Binder & Binder here in the USA. It took two years of legal wrangling and intense medical scrutiny by SSA, before an administrative law judge [not in a courtroom] decided in my favor. The next bigger news was that I was to receive a lump sum for all the benefits that I would have received from the moment I first called. Binder & Binder [they're still in business] took their fair share off the top, and I received something like $15,000. -Phil