Can you give me some answers on applying for disability in Kansas?

Disability is paid through Social Security and is a federal program. The individual states have nothing to do with it.

I do not know Kansas law, but I have a firm suspicion that they will not pay one single cent for her surgery. She must get insurance. You were correct to inform her that refusals because of pre-existing conditions are a thing of the past. Thanks, Obama.

Lot of help there Jake. Thanks.

Social Security disability is not an easy program to qualify for, but once approved one gets Medicare coverage. Call your local SS office to start the process.

Well, they finally called me back, @zenvelo, and according to the gal I talked to, one does not automatically get Medicare with disability, so we’re looking at other routes for the insurance side of it.

However, the gal I talked to seemed kind of dumb. She said she should apply for Obamacare insurance. I finally realized she meant that my daughter could try the exchange. However, since Brownback Asshole didn’t expand the medicare that will probably be an exercise in futility.

@Dutchess_III What else would you like to ask? I answered your questions in your OP.

I lived on SSDI for 9 years, and I helped guide a friend through the process.

I’m not sure I quite know how to read your thanks to me. On the surface it reads passive aggressively. And you need a comma after “there.”

“Brown back asshole”?

The governor of Kansas is Sam Brownback, and he’s doing the best he can to cut all social programs in the state.

And to throw science out of the school curriculum.

I think he thinks education is a social program. It’s been devastated under him. They’ve had to shorten the school year due to his budget cuts.

Unless the husband’s income is low enough to get Medicaid with ease, the best that can be hoped for is a payment arrangement, but those are uncommon unless you get admitted from the ER.

Is she at imminent risk of dying within the next few minutes? If not, then the hospital will probably want full payment before they even schedule an OR. Unless insurance covers 100%, which is unlikely, then someone will be prepaying the shortfall out-of-pocket.

The Social Security Administration runs a few different programs. First there’s the standard Social Security that pretty much everyone gets once they reach retirement age, but that’s not relevant to your daughter.

Secondly there’s Supplemental Security Income (SSI) which is administered through the Social Security Administration, but isn’t paid out of the Social Security Trust Fund. SSI is, more or less, a kind of federal welfare that can be granted to the disabled, but it’s not officially considered disability itself. SSI does not qualify you for Medicare. The amount you can receive for SSI also depends on factors such household income.

Finally there’s Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Unlike SSI, household income is not factored into how much you receive. Instead the amount is determined, like Social Security, via work credits and average monthly income when you were working. Collecting SSDI also qualifies one to be eligible for Medicare.

Fair bit of warning – if your daughter does apply for ether SSI or SSDI then she should be ready for a long, protracted process. Also, more likely than not, she will be rejected at first. But you’re entitled to several appeals. From start to finish the process can take up to a couple of years.

@Darth_Algar is correct. Your daughter will most likely be rejected at first, and then will have to apply, and it will take a few years for the approval (or I should say it can take a few years for the approval).

Also, I think you guys above that refer to Medicare really mean Medicaid. Medicaid, not Medicare.

@Darth_Algar Correct. Expect at least one appeal, and at least a year.

@jca I had to double-check to make sure of that one myself. Very common mistake!

This is depressing. I get so confused between Medicare and Medicade. Can’t they give them two dissimilar names?

@Hawaii_Jake Public education IS a social program.

@Dutchess_III

If need be you can also contact a Social Security/disability lawyer who can help (you’ll usually find at least a couple in the local yellow pages). There’s a whole subset of lawyers who specialize in these kinds of cases. For many it’s the only thing they do. Most will offer at least one free consultation, and most will take no money until you win your case (once the case is won they take a certain percentage, usually around 10% I think, of the awarded backpay), and if your case is ultimately unsuccessful then they take nothing (although they do lose sometimes most won’t take a case unless they’re pretty sure they can win it).

Disability attorney will take 30% of the retro but he will handle all the paperwork, the filing, etc.

I was on SSDI for 9 years. Your health insurance is determined by your income. My SSDI benefit was too high for Medicaid. After an initial 2-year wait with no insurance (before Obamacare), I got Medicare.

I don’t quite understand why she doesn’t simply go on her husband’s insurance.

We could debate education. Let’s not. I see it more as a necessity than a social program.

@Hawaii_Jake they’re working on that now, after I told them that the insurance company can’t deny them for a pre-exisiting condition.

Excellent!

I have a bad feeling, though, that the fact that it is a pre-existing condition is going to cost them one way or another.