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Disability Benefits in Danger

A new rules change dramatically increases the likelihood that disability benefits will be terminated.
A new rules change dramatically increases the likelihood that disability benefits will be terminated.

Andrea Williams had a panic attack when she opened her mail earlier this year. Her hands were shaking even before she tore into the envelope from the Social Security Administration (SSA). The letter inside informed her that, according to SSA, she was no longer disabled and would no longer receive disability benefits, including Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) and Medicare.

Andrea is one of thousands of American citizens who are unable to work because of severe, chronic health problems who can expect to receive these notices in the coming year. This is because SSA wants to cut $2.6 billion dollars from SSDI and its sister program Supplemental Security Income (SSI) by changing the rules they use to terminate people like Andrea, who have depended on the disability safety net for years.

Six years ago, Andrea was diagnosed with a rare, debilitating disease of the muscles called myositis. She had trouble lifting her head, she couldn’t pick up her newborn baby, she couldn’t climb stairs, she couldn’t even lift her arms enough to wash her hair. For months she went back and forth to the doctor saying, “I feel like I’m dying.” It wasn’t until she was referred to a specialist and ended up in the hospital for a week that she was finally diagnosed.

Myositis causes chronic pain, disabling weakness, and extreme fatigue. Treatment has helped Andrea, but she has lost too much muscle tissue that she will never regain. She can’t stand for any length of time, she drops things, and the brain fog from her medications makes it difficult for her to think. Her doctor told her she would never work again. When she applied for SSDI benefits in 2016, her application was accepted on the first try, which almost never happens.

“I’m scared to death,” she says. “My biggest fear is not having the medications, and I already can’t afford the doctors.”

An “Explanation of Determination” letter like the one Andrea received is a notice an SSDI or SSI recipient gets when they have been identified by SSA for “Continuing Disability Review” (CDR). This is the agency’s review process to see if beneficiaries are still medically eligible for the program. After this review, if SSA believes the person no longer meets their criteria for disability, their benefits are terminated.

A medical CDR is done at least once every three years, unless the SSA expects your medical condition to improve sooner. Those who have a medical condition that is not expected to improve undergo a CDR every seven years.

A rules change that took effect earlier this year, however, dramatically increases how often a person must undergo a CDR review. This change adds a new category for those whose condition is “likely to improve.” Hundreds of thousands of people now in less frequent CDR categories will be moved into this new category to be reviewed every two years.

This new rules change is especially disturbing because it targets people like Andrea who have chronic conditions that flare up unpredictably. Those who are approaching retirement age and those with mental illness are some of the other people this rules change aims to remove from benefits.

If you get one of these letters, the first thing you need to do is notify Social Security that you want to appeal this decision. To appeal, you need to submit a Request for Reconsideration form within 60 days of receiving the notice of denial of benefits. If you want to continue receiving benefits while your case is being decided, you will need to submit this form withing 10 days of the denial, and you need to specifically ask that benefits continue. Be aware, however, that if your case is unsuccessful, SSA can require you to return the overpaid benefits.

Andrea has followed this advice and is awaiting a response from SSA. She is hopeful that, with the support of her doctors and her patient advocate, her appeal will be granted and she will once again be able to sleep at night.  

For others like her, Andrea offers this advice:

“You have to reach out and get some help from someone like a patient advocate,” she says. “You have to have your medicine. You have to see your doctors. You can’t take no for an answer.”

CSI Pharmacy has patient advocates who can help you navigate this and other health care access challenges. We offer this service regardless of whether you are a CSI Pharmacy patient.

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