I just found out WHY my Social Security got Denied.

When Social Security requested my medical records from my Primary Doctor's office to prove I have a disability they only sent copies of Lab Reports. No copies of reports from Physical Therapy, no Doctor's Summaries describing my limitations, no other back-up documentation. Just lab reports. And all the lab reports show is that I have liver and kidney problems, but those don't amount to a disability.

:grr:

I don't think my doctor knows that her the staff fucked this up. I don't think she realizes that they only sent lab reports.

I only found out because my lawyer requested my records and that's all they sent him.

Also, my insurance company that should be providing my Long Term Disability Insurance requested my records and I just spoke to them to find out what the hold-up is. They are my last hope for any kind of income at all. They say that they didn't receive any kind of substantiating documentation either so they are sending another request on Monday. I have to Make Sure my doctor gets on the staff's case to send EVERYTHING.

:grr:

I can't believe that some administrative staff person fucked up my social security case by being lazy and not copying my entire file. :cry:

Jesus, Thom. Your luck with this is just...absent. How unfair.

Unfortunately, I should be used to bad stuff happening to me by now. :(

That he didn't review your records before they were sent to SS is unconscionable.

Yes, the physician's office screwed up, but your lawyer should have caught that, corrected it, and sent the proper (and complete) medical record to SS.

office to the Social Security office, unfortunately. :(

Otherwise, yes, I would have had my medical records go through him before they went to anyone.

Still, I agree, the lawyer should have had some way of catching this and correcting it.

or, at the very least, he should have gotten a copy when the clinic sent them to the SS - and he should have caught that error and flagged it immediately.

As I said, he's in over his head, and is not giving you competent representation.

This is unconscionable, the stuff that malpractice cases are made of.................

if it goes through the long, dragged-out ALJ process, then you get more in back benefits (a year or 2 more, possibly), so he makes more $$$$ - it ain't necessarily in his financial interest for you to be allowed quickly.

It sounds like this is a relatively easy fix....:hug:

But, given that it's a health clinic, and pretty bureaucratic, maybe not. We'll see. I'm going to try to see if this is a systemic problem or one person. And I'm going to see if I can get it fixed.

I know it's too late to fix what happened with my social security hearing, but I can sure as hell make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else.

I find these types tend to respond better to the lawyer type ...

I'll have my lawyer write them a letter and demand that the problem be fixed. I'm sure they'll jump when there is a threat of a lawsuit.

I'd hate to have to sue them for screwing up my social security case. I hadn't even considered that until you mentioned this.

If they fix this problem then I won't. Accidents happen.

But definitely the lawyer is there if they become stubborn and he becomes a necessary tool to get this fixed.

supposed to be a backup.

He's the one who should be getting the records - yes, you requested them, but you should have had them sent to him, he should have reviewed them, and upon discovering that they were incomplete, should have immediately contacted the clinic.

Whatever your lawyer sent to SS was nonsense. He's incompetent.............................

They have to be sent directly from my doctors. If they come from me or from my lawyer then they are assumed to have been tampered with according to what the insurance company told me. We cant' be in the middle. :(

I'm asking around to find out if he might really be incompetent, but he has a sterling reputation. He has been in business doing Disability and Elder Law locally for 30 years and I'm not hearing anything bad.

The problem is that I sent the initial claim to SS, the medical documentation came from the doctors, and the initial SS reviewer was an administrative person not a trained medical or legal person, so my lawyer hasn't been involved yet at all.

And he had a doctor telling him he'd need a wheelchair and would be bedbound(He has MS, and no, none of that has happened, thank goodness)It sounds like you have a good lawyer, but you shouldn't have been denied.

I think you'll eventually get approved, but what bullshit!!

Here to hoping for a speedy solution:hug:

the records should have gone from your lawyer to SS - if I left that impression, I apologize.

But he should have reviewed the medical records that were sent - if he had, he'd have seen that they were incomplete.

I agree with kath's assessment - it's in his financial interest to let it drag on for you, as he'll gain a larger percentage of your back money.

The problem is that you have a lawyer and he's done nothing, is that right? Does he even have a file on you?

What, exactly, has he done for you, because I'm getting confused now......................

:(

I'm calling around to speak to the lawyers you recommended to find out what they would be doing differently.

You should have had a lawyer from the beginning.

Binder and Binder are real pros. I have no doubt that they'll give you excellent representation...

social worker (as someone else suggested), a disability advocacy/assistance group, Legal Aid, or some such?

Red tape and incompetence are maddening beyond the pale, when LIVES are st stake especially.

but it's a clinic primarily for non-english speaking, low-income people in NYC. So the staff isn't the greatest or best that you could find. :(

There is no way the doctors could know everything that the staff are doing, or not doing, so the only way to catch this is after the fact.

This totally sucks. And it really is horrible when people's lives are affected by this shit.:(

But at least now I know where the problem is, and maybe I can prevent other people from going through this.

Oh my god.

Unbelievable. Your Doctor has some work to do, methinks.

I hope she gets right on it, and has the complete file sent!

And what a burden on you, sweetie...

This should resolve quickly, I'm hoping.


:hug:

even though it's too late late to fix the situation with social security.

I'm very glad I started making phone calls and digging to find out the situation with the insurance.

And, I'm very glad that as a project manager I knew basically where to dig and what questions to ask.

I'll be PMing you shortly. :hug:

Thank you! :loveya:

:loveya:

That's maddening. Any chance you could get a copy of your chart? Legally doctors have to give it to you if you so request. Then at least you'd have something to fax Social Security if they continue to drag their feet.

But Social Security won't accept it from me. Records in a case HAVE to come from a doctor directly to make sure I haven't tampered with them for my own benefit.

He made an appointment to file, took his medical records with him and within 5 wks he was approved. :shrug:

I hope you get this straighten out soon.

in my MIL's case, the same thing happened basically. When her doctors sent the SS doctor her case file, he only sent information on her health status up until 2004(when she retired from Tyson), anything from 2004 to present wasn't sent, which includes a majority of the documentation about her health/physical capabilities.

Stay strong, and keep jumping on your doctors office to send to proper documentation. My wife has been doing a lot of jumping, and so far it hasn't been going all too well, but we are dealing with IHS doctors so its going to take some time. :sigh:

send the file electronically.

Instead they manually print out everything, and because printing out everything gets tedious and boring they decide "oh well, I don't think they really need everything. I'll just skip all this stuff here."

Just send the whole electronic file and the problem wouldn't exist at all. :(

and send all the documents a person is requesting, not just what they want to but all requested documents? :banghead:

I hope you get this straightened out.

And the software they use divides the information into separate files. So they have to to click on separate files and choose to print all of it. If they don't choose to print everything, if they decide that saving time by only printing certain parts will be okay, then we get screwed.

But if they just export the entire file folder into one electronic file, and email that, then the person at the other end would get everything. But for some reason they don't want to email medical records.

They want to send it in the mail. So everything has to be printed, so everything takes time to print, so someone gets bored, so that person cuts corners. :(

Good lord they need to encrypt their emails with something like Zix VPM. It's very frustrating to ask for an entire record and they only choose to send what they think is relevant.

:mad:

:(

I bet a lot of really horrible outcomes are the result of really stupid shortcuts, and people just not knowing what the hell they are doing when they try to save some time. :(

I hope as you do that your experience makes a difference for that clinic's patients in the future.

I wouldn't mind the excuse to come to New York :D


:hug:

Picket the social security office? :)

I'd love to be able to do something, especially if it would help. But I really don't know what would do any good.

Nothing get's federal employees jumping like the idea of an internal audit.

I'll mention this to him and get his opinion on it. :)

If he thinks that it could help then I'll definitely do it. If he thinks it will be seen as harassing the system then I won't.

They may only take complaints from within the agency. But it's worth a try if you feel like their work has been shoddy.

What a nightmare ! Bunch of incompetent idiots! Damn!...:hug:

get by. :(

"Even the gods themselves strive in vain against stupidity."

:hug:

:)

I wish I could have found this before it affected my social security hearing.

Call me, please, or PM. (thinks have been a bit crazy around here, but settling down. I have been researching some stuff for you, will do more.) A new strategy may be called for.
Did they get the records from your rheumatologist? Those will be key.

Man, oh man, what a mess. But things WILL work out eventually.

and sent you my phone number. :)

I think it's disgraceful that you're being treated this way...as if you didn't have enough to deal with! :hug::hug::hug:
Maybe you should write a book about it...

and in so much pain that I can't think the rest of the time, I could probably write a few books on a few sick but humorous topics. :P

But those of us who have experienced the most bad shit have this fog we deal with. It's a defense mechanism so that we don't document all of it shit and scare everyone else half to death. :(

I hope this gets straightened out for you very soon.

:hug:

:hug:

I hope something gets straightened out enough that I can get by. I've got calls in to my doctor to straighten out the records, to the insurance company to straighten out the documentation supporting my claim, to my lawyer to see if we can get a re-review before the appeal.

I hope something works. :)

My friend's husband is on disability and it took 2 years to happen. However, when it finally came thru he got pay backdated from when he first filed.

The guy once pulled out 2 giant 3-ring binders filled with all his medical documention. Even with all of that (which he took to Kinkos and had them bind it into a book the could send off to them), they still found excuses.

Hang in there Thom - it will come thru and hopefully you'll get the back pay too!

:)

But it's a waiting game, and they can wait longer than I can. They only have to wait until I end up homeless and can't fight anymore. A guy in an electric wheelchair with as many heavy meds as me won't last a single week once my wheelchair breaks down or I can't refil my meds for even one month. :(

So I have to win this before things get that bad. They only have to wait until things do.

Will have to figure out the staircase but it's a start!

:hug:

You are such a wonderful person. Thank you so much for being willing to make that offer. :loveya:

I hope I never have to put out word that I need to find a place to go. But if it gets that bad, I will be very appreciative of any spare room I can borrow while I work things out.

will screw you up from time to time, and you have to make sure everyone knows what you need them to do. It's just basic human stupidity.

We keep written records of EVERY phone call, numbers names, dates and times, in notebooks. We have had people DENY we ever contacted or spoke with them, in one case leading to a fight over a bill that took 2 years just to get resolved....
Welcome to our healthcare and social security "system"....Sucks, don't it?

Good luck.

mark

FWIW - we now keep records like this on EVERY financial transaction.

Unfortunately, when I'm having severe migraines, or I'm disoriented or confused (and they still don't know what causes that) it becomes impossible for me to always keep the records I need to be keeping. I can't do it myself, and I don't have a secretary doing it for me. :(

I know this will bite me on the ass at some point, because the onus is on ME to follow up on everything and make sure everything happens, and I just can't do that level of work anymore. :(

If I could, I'd still be working.

to do - I did it when she was completely incapacitaied.

The best you can do is the best you can do, but do whatever you can to keep them straight - it really is a matter of life and death for you, and they don't care, period.

mark

You hang in there. :hug:

:hug:

I'm so sorry you are dealing with all this.

:hug:

:hug:

Once it gets in front of a judge I'm sure it will be.

In fact it might not even need to get that far. Apparently, once complete medical records make it to the administrative law judge's office, sometimes they approve some cases administratively right away without the need for a hearing just because they are obvious cases and they don't want them taking up space on the docket.

I'd like to be one of those cases. What are the odds? :)

WHY did they think only the lab reports were needed?

They've never dealt with disability claims before?
I seriously doubt that!

Appeal,appeal, appeal.

Get an attorney who requests ALL of your medical records and nothing less.
Make sure he/she is a shark ( you need a shark dealing with the SSA)
who will bug the crap out of them until they provide it.

Medical records are the key element here.
They make or break getting SSI.

Good luck, Thom.
Hang in there.
I've been through this myself, when I applied for SSI for my son.
He finally got it.


:hug:

:hug:

I will be riding this as closely as I can. Hopefully this will go without any serious problems from this point forward.

I'm glad your son got approved. That has to be a relief. I'm glad that battle is over. :)

Do you want to throttle the staff person, or should I do it? Talk about a screw-up!!

volunteers to spend a few minutes "talking about this." x(

But my doctor now knows about it and is going to bring this up with the medical records department. We will see if that shakes things up and helps.

yeah, you almost have to follow people around and DO THEIR JOBS FOR THEM.

Make them write a mea culpa to insert in your file!

copied and reviewed my own medical records. Yes, that would have been so much easier in the long run. :(

I don't know that an apology of any kind would really do any good though. That would be just one more piece of paper they won't copy. x(

I've had do go through the same hoops with my doc. I've had to ride his office constantly to get the correct documentation sent to SS and LTD. It's maddening. Hang in there. I wish you the best outcome ASAP.

request a copy of my medical records I'm going to request a copy too. And if I don't like what they look like I'm going to raise hell until I get the full copy I need, and then I'm going to see if I can hand deliver the complete copy to where it needs to go.

That is the total pain in the ass way to do this, but if I must then I must. x(

If the amount of your LTD is contingent upon the amount of "other income," including SS, you receive, it is to their financial advantage to ensure that you get all the income from other sources that you're entitled to. Hence, many LTD companies routinely refer claimants to advocacy firms that can expedite the process and run interference for you. Can the HR department at your most recent (past) employer give you any assistance or info you may be lacking?

BTW, I second the idea (downthread) of using the clinic social worker for help. SS claims ought to be a routine part of what she/he does.

benefits as an attorney would. Definitely talk to your LTD company.
Also, agree that it would be worth checking w/ your past employer.

Man this is so fucking dumb, that there are no other words for it. Get on that doctor's case. This is abysmally stupid.

The doctor has nothing to do with medical records, but she can ride their case. So I'm asking her to make it her responsibility to help me fix this.

:thumbsup:

Did the doctor's staff know they were supposed to send the entire file? It's possible it was just an awful case of poor communication and/or incompetence on somebody's part.

I hope everything can be appealed and it works out in the end for you.



:hug:

the release of partial information, so I don't know how they could have thought they should release a partial file. It looks like the form is for releasing all or nothing.

But releasing only partial information seems to be the default. If they receive a release form, and it doesn't have notes requesting a bunch of specific extras then only send the labs.

:shrug:

Thank you. I hope that at the end of all of this it somehow works out. :hug:

:hug: for you for the snafus!! :grr:

Is there a social worker at the clinic you go to? I would enlist his/her help in being an advocate for you with the SSA. They could help make sure that all your records are sent in.

As someone who used to help cancer patients get their disability straightened out, it really bothers me that this has happened to you. I remember taking whole files (lab reports, clinic notes, radiology reports, whatever) and faxing them to whichever agency. My motto: inundate them with paperwork so that they don't dare question the claim. ;-)

I really hope for your sake this gets resolved as quickly as possible. :hug:

I'll have to talk to him and see what he can do to help. :)

Thank you. :hug:

If your lawyer doesn't keep copies of records, he or she isn't going to be able to help you build a defense.

upon information being transmitted from one office to another, if it is at all humanly possible, walk
it through yourself, or entrust it to someone who can.

You are entitled to copies of your medical records. If you know that certain reports are required,
then you know to check the information that is being transmitted.

After the fact, this is no help. But it might be helpful to either you or someone else in the future.

I have become convinced that it is not reasonable to expect people to do anything right the first time.
Don't ask me why--don't get me started. I just expect that if I need something to happen, I walk
it through the system. And I'm not referring to only medical records.

Good luck getting this straightened out.

:hug:

:grr:

Holy crap.

be held accountable.

Have yo been to the local SS office, (not a phone call), and discussed this with a supervisor?

Ombudsmen can help as well in situations like this, they work for you in breaking down some of the "barriers", many of these are more perceived that actually "written in stone". Errors happen all of the time, but take the case # and letters to the doc and have them resend the documentation you need. It may not break down walls, but they can't say you didn't try to rectify the problem.

Go to SS website and read about how these things are dealt with and any appeals process involved.

Once again, it is their rules and you doctors office that put you in the bind, it is no fault of your own, and there must be recourses...:pals:


On edit: you can start here at this website to get geberal info:

http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/questions.html

Don't panic...there are always options...:)