how do we get help? ssi/disability questions

[mamaw01]

my son has 3 cf children. they own nothing. they have tncare health ins for the kids. thats all. the mother stays at home to care for the kids. dad works and makes $6000. a monthe when he can work. two of his kids just spent 2 weeks in the hospital. he had to miss work to help care for them and his other 2 children. they were denied disability 2 yrs ago . what is he eligible for to help provide for three cf babies?
the medical bills and supplies are enourmous. does anyone have advice for him. thank you

 

[coltsfan715]

I would tell him to talk to his childrens doctors office and see if they have a social worker he can talk too. I ended up not getting disability until I was over 18 but when I did apply the social worker at the hospital/drs office is the one who helped me get everything started.
If he has already applied for disability for his kids I would ask the social worker how to go about filing an appeal. I filed an appeal on my own when I was denied the first time - the appeal went through without a problem and I was approved. The whole process - from my first application through my appeal and when I was approved and received the first check was almost a yr.

A social worker could definitely help though - if they can't help they could probably put you in touch with someone who can.

Also he could talk to someone with the CF Foundation. I knowin Florida there is a thing called CF Abilities and it requires an application and drs evaluation, but it is basically a program that once you are approved it helps CF patients pay for things like some meds that aren't covered, gym memberships to maintain health, I have even heard of it covering air filters for cars and things like that. Maybe the local chapter of the CF Foundation would know if there is something like that where they live - I know I heard about it through our CF Foundation Chapter in town.

Hope you find help soon,
Lindsey

 

[LisaV]

If by TNCARE you mean the Tennessee's Medicaid plan also known as TENNCARE, and you are sayin you are being terminated or loosing coverage then you are not alone. There have been serious changes to the Medicaid program in that state. For legal assistance with that you can contact Tennesse's Legal Aid center (see <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.tennlegalaid.com/Home/PublicWeb/TennCare/">http://www.tennlegalaid.com/Home/PublicWeb/TennCare/</a> ) .

If there are additional problems, then the CFF in the state is is the only contact I can think of (as others have said).

 

[julie]

All 3 children have CF and they applied for disablity and were denied? (just making sure I read it correctly).

If your son is interested in pursuing SSI for the children, I am more than happy to help him (or you if you prefer to contact me) get some information and give him advice on how to tackle the application.

The only thing... with him earning $6000 a month- he is WAY over the threashold for SSI income, even in a family of 5 where 3 have CF and might "medically" (but not financially) qualify for SSI. I can't recall (but will look into it) if they take deductions off the income for out of pocket medical expenses. There are ways that a child can qualify for SSDI off of a parent or grandparents social security retirement record. SSDI isn't at all based off of the income of the family so that might be beneficial to your family.

Feel free to email me if you/your son is interested. I see you are new and probably have no idea who I am. I just read my post and it sounds like I am trying to sell you something (which I'm not), so hopefully some other members can vouch for my assistance and that it's legit.

my email is division902@hotmail.com

 

[anonymous]

There is a free CF legal line that you can call to get advice about these sort of issues. We went to the family education day at our CF hospital and the keynote speaker was an attorney from Texas who has CF. I have the number at home if you would like it.
Thanks,
Helen