Members of the Cabrini community may have a loved one or a neighbor who deals with a number of serious health problems. These health problems may be severe enough to impact their ability to work and do everyday activities. As a result, they may decide to apply for SSI / SSD, in the hopes that they will receive government assistance to cover medical needs.
According to Social Security Online, SSI is supplemental security income. It is a system that assists people who are not disabled but at least 65, as well adults and children with disabilities. In both cases, an applicant has to be in a limited income situation to qualify for the benefits.
However, after all the paperwork is completed and all health documentation is sent in, disappointment may follow. The applicant, with multiple serious health problems is denied benefits and has to go through a lengthy appeal process. What is the point of this appeal process, other than to hold off a person’s much needed medical treatment that they need help paying for?
Most people can do everyday activities without a problem. Yet it is a different story for others to do the same activities. There are some people I know who fit this particular situation due to a variety of health problems impacting their lives. Among them, there was a pattern of getting denied government medical assistance despite the fact that they have legitimate reasons to apply.
When someone is able to document that he or she has multiple health problems, maybe even one that is potentially fatal, why deny the assistance? If one of the health problems someone has could lead to death, that person should not have to wait through an appeal process. The appeal process seems like a danger to people in that situation because they could die in the meantime.
If someone who legitimately needs SSI / SSD applies and gets approved the first time around, he or she will get what is needed. It could very well be a case in which death was prevented just in time, as the person finally begins medical treatment.
There are many stories of people holding off in getting medical attention because they can’t afford it. Complicating that is when the health problems keep a person out of work, so employer-offered health insurance is not an option. With no steady employment and medical expenses building up, and he or she is in a limited income situation.
Therefore, the government needs to help people who so obviously need the help, rather than make them wait long as they appeal a rejection. After all, this is not about someone simply not wanting to work and just trying to get government assistance. With full documentation of multiple severe health problems, that should be clear to anyone who handles an applicant’s paperwork.
Denying these benefits to severely unhealthy people is similar to the elderly and their concerns of Medicare being cut. If Medicare is cut, the elderly would feel like the government doesn’t care about their health. If SSI / SSD continues to be denied to people with multiple serious health problems, the same attitude is shown by the government.
This is in no way blaming a particular political party, since healthcare and everything within it has been difficult to solve for a long time. Yet I hope that healthcare as an overall issue, and the particular problem with SSI / SSD, will be solved in the near future.
The government should change the system so that people with full documentation of multiple serious health problems will get approved. They should not need to go through an appeal process to prove any further why they need the benefits. People who have multiple serious health problems should be approved for these benefits on the first try.
This is especially because a person’s doctor would be involved in the process of getting all the medical documentation together. In my opinion, a doctor’s authority on this matter should be respected more by those who deny someone potentially life-saving benefits.
Members of the Cabrini community may have a loved one or a neighbor who deals with a number of serious health problems. These health problems may be severe enough to impact their ability to work and do everyday activities. As a result, they may decide to apply for SSI / SSD, in the hopes that they will receive government assistance to cover medical needs.According to Social Security Online, SSI is supplemental security income. It is a system that assists people who are not disabled but at least 65, as well adults and children with disabilities. In both cases, an applicant has to be in a limited income situation to qualify for the benefits.However, after all the paperwork is completed and all health documentation is sent in, disappointment may follow. The applicant, with multiple serious health problems is denied benefits and has to go through a lengthy appeal process. What is the point of this appeal process, other than to hold off a person’s much needed medical treatment that they need help paying for?Most people can do everyday activities without a problem. Yet it is a different story for others to do the same activities. There are some people I know who fit this particular situation due to a variety of health problems impacting their lives. Among them, there was a pattern of getting denied government medical assistance despite the fact that they have legitimate reasons to apply.When someone is able to document that he or she has multiple health problems, maybe even one that is potentially fatal, why deny the assistance? If one of the health problems someone has could lead to death, that person should not have to wait through an appeal process. The appeal process seems like a danger to people in that situation because they could die in the meantime.If someone who legitimately needs SSI / SSD applies and gets approved the first time around, he or she will get what is needed. It could very well be a case in which death was prevented just in time, as the person finally begins medical treatment.There are many stories of people holding off in getting medical attention because they can’t afford it. Complicating that is when the health problems keep a person out of work, so employer-offered health insurance is not an option. With no steady employment and medical expenses building up, and he or she is in a limited income situation.Therefore, the government needs to help people who so obviously need the help, rather than make them wait long as they appeal a rejection. After all, this is not about someone simply not wanting to work and just trying to get government assistance. With full documentation of multiple severe health problems, that should be clear to anyone who handles an applicant’s paperwork.Denying these benefits to severely unhealthy people is similar to the elderly and their concerns of Medicare being cut. If Medicare is cut, the elderly would feel like the government doesn’t care about their health. If SSI / SSD continues to be denied to people with multiple serious health problems, the same attitude is shown by the government.This is in no way blaming a particular political party, since healthcare and everything within it has been difficult to solve for a long time. Yet I hope that healthcare as an overall issue, and the particular problem with SSI / SSD, will be solved in the near future.The government should change the system so that people with full documentation of multiple serious health problems will get approved. They should not need to go through an appeal process to prove any further why they need the benefits. People who have multiple serious health problems should be approved for these benefits on the first try.This is especially because a person’s doctor would be involved in the process of getting all the medical documentation together. In my opinion, a doctor’s authority on this matter should be respected more by those who deny someone potentially life-saving benefits.
