Do you guys have advice for SSI?

[powertool4]

Sorry, long post but i really can use the help. Took all the energy I have to type this.

For those of you who got approved for SSI in the USA, it would really help if you can tell me what additional I need to do NOW before applying to make sure I have the BEST chance of getting approved.

I've already been denied once, but I never followed thru after the initial rejection because I assumed I'd never get it.

Background:
- ME/CFS would be considered moderate-severe to severe.
- I am 32, I was completely disabled at 21.
- The chronic fatigue started at 18 during college but I was not fully disabled at the time.
- 9 out of past 10 years, I lived with my parents and they have fully supported me physically and financially.
- There was 1 year (2015) where I thought I was able to work again and was frustrated with my situation so I got a job, moved out to the city, and started working. I lasted 10 months before I crashed and relapsed HARD and it caused permanent degradation because my health has not recovered to the state before then.


Questions:
1) That 1 year of work (2015) really complicates things. Did my disability start at 21 or did it start in 2015? Because Social Security might look at it like, well you were good enough to work in 2015 so you weren't disabled.

But I was definitely disabled at 21 and the 10 months of work was very difficult and not sustainable and ended up doing permanent harm to me. After 10 months of work, I crashed HARD and was bedridden for a full year.

If anything it should demonstrate that I tried to push thru despite being advised against it to attempt to work and not get SSI.

I am going to put 21 because the bulk of my medical records and doctor visits were around that time. It was already assumed I have CFS because by 21 I was dealing with fatigue for 4 years during college already.

I do not have much of medical testing in the past 5 years though. I have a blood test from UCI Emergency room in 2016 when I relapsed from work. ER said it was normal and gave me a CFS handout and a bill for $2000.

My most recent doctor (Gastro) wrote a letter to my employer about my chronic health that was preexisting before work, and he did the short term disability for me at the time.

As many of you experienced, I jumped from doc to doc and tried functional medicine private specialists, etc. and when their treatment didn't cure anything... you kind of move on to another doctor hoping their treatment would work etc.

So there is no CENTRAL doctor.

Should I find a new CFS specialist strictly for the purpose of SSI support, or go with the one that wrote the letter for me 3 years ago?




2) Would these medical records be sufficient?
age 18-21 - Family doctor records of fatigue, neurological weakness. Ordered MRIs and scans.

age 21-23 - blood tests numerous times from UCLA, Cedar Sinai, private clinics, 2 emergency room visits.
Neurologist with head MRI checking for MS.
Allergist checking for immune dysfunction and allergy test
Pulmonologist - Lung function test to check for defect in breathing
Neurologist - told I was anxiety which is not total bullshit. told me to start exercising
ENT - checking for throat for lymph and tonsils, etc.
Neurologist - check for myasthias gravis using a nerve conduction study and EMT(?)
Full hormone work up including testosterone, cortisol, VitaminD, B12, etc.
Thousands of dollars of Functional Medicine/Alternative testing like gut bacteria and health, vitamin testing, porphyrin tests, etc. etc.
3 private Functional Medicine doctors who have acknowledge my condition, tried various supplements, suggestions. Ultimately was not able to help me.
UCLA, Cedar Sinai internist said something was wrong but unable to know what. I was in a wheelchair at the time.
2 Gastroenterologists - checking for celiacs, candida, SIBO testing twice, hpylori testing, elimination diets.

age 27 - Doctor wrote letter to parent's insurance about preexisting condition. Was able to get on parent's insurance

age 29 - blood test from UCI ER from relapse
Same doctor wrote letter to employer regarding my sudden crash for short term disability.




I don't have much in the past 5 years because well... nothing's changed in the world of CFS and my health. I've just been managing.

The medical testing nearly caused me to be bankrupt so I cant go thru that again. Thanks for reading

 

[Zebra]

Hi, @powertool4!

I have been through this process and worked with a lawyer for over a year who taught me quite a bit.

I would like to respond to the questions and concerns you raised above, but I am in major crash mode, both physical and cognitive. I will check back in on your thread (maybe next week) and if you are still looking for guidance, I will reach out.

In the mean time I am going to send you a link and a PDF that might be useful to you as you gear yourself up for reapplying. They outline the type of medical records you need to build a case.

And here's some food for thought based on my experience:

As your medical records are somewhat old, and quite disperate in the eyes of an SSDI medical examiner, I think you should consider getting on the wait list for the best CFS specialist near you.

Getting that diagnosis stated and documented in your medical records, by an expert, and perhaps even trying a "treatment" or two, will be essential documentation for the SSDI medical analysts.

Web Link:

https://www.disabilitysecrets.com/medicine-medication-prescription-drugs-chronic-fatigue.html

Link to PDF I previously posted on PR:

https://forums.phoenixrising.me/attachments/64-063-pdf.33159/

 

[powertool4]

Hi @Zebra,

Thank you. I've been feeling hopeless but more so feeling like there's no escape. I cannot work, my ME/CFS is severe, my parents are retiring and running out of money, there is literally nothing I can do. I watched myself get older and more degraded in the past 10 years. So I'm hoping to get approved for SSI.

The problem is, everything on lab tests show normal. I haven't done a tilt test but blood tests are normal, I don't have elevated EBV titers (I dont think?). It's astounding how nothing will show up but I cannot even walk out the door and stand for a few minutes without suffering for it.

The reason I haven't continually and regularly saw a doctor is because all specialists told me, well there's no cure you just have to manage. It costs my parent a full day off, my physical exertion and money to go to the doctor.

There is no cure, no new diagnostic testing so I've been told I have a severe form of CFS by multiple doctors around 2012 and left it at that.

Now that I want to apply for SSI, they are saying that records need to be newer? I would think a history for 10 years of physical records is better than every month for only 12 months. But anyway...

it looks like I have to find a specialist, tell them I need to build a case for CFS and go see them regularly (At least every 2 months) for about a year documenting my vitals, my stamina, all my symptoms and limitations and if there is any change. And have them write a letter for me and apply after I have those documentations.

Which means I probably cant apply for another 12 months minimum? Also means the CFS specialists in my area are out of network and super expensive it will cost me over $1000-2000 (not including parent's time off) for the visit fees.


I'm hoping people will say that I have a case based on the current doctor's letters I have but doesn't look like it.

I have a chronic fatigue specialist and GI doctor write that I have a long standing chronic illness that includes GI symptoms, chronic fatigue, and have been disabled and will be disabled for quite some time. He wrote this in 2012, again re-certified in 2016 and also again for short term disability.

I thought this paper trail would help but it looks like I still have to do recent regular doctor visits within the past 12 months.

Any suggestions, advice, lawyer recommendations, etc. I'm all ears.

I'm in Los Angeles so maybe if your attorney was really good I can call him. I know attorneys have co-reps in different cities that can go to hearings

 

[powertool4]

I've been seeing mostly out of network functional medicine doctors because they seem to be well versed at least in this type of condition but they are very expensive and usually far.

My last doc was great but visiting him is an all day affair.

Has anyone been able to work with a regular, conventional GP like at one of those network hospitals such as kaiser, etc. that doesn't know much about CFS but is willing to support you with specialists?

I am thinking it may be better for routine documentation to find a good open minded GP who's specialty is just family medicine/general medicine but willing to help with the disability process.

 

[gbells]

SSA requires that you see a MD for at least six months. They have to support your claim for disability and be well versed enough in CFS to keep good notes and write a good letter. Here is some good info:

https://howtogeton.wordpress.com/20...security-ruling-for-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/
https://howtogeton.wordpress.com/sample-disability-letter-for-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/

Be sure to ask the MD early on if they will support your disability claim. You don't want a hostile MD.

SSA will want to see that you have been complying with your doctors recommendations and that your fatigue and problems aren't improving.

CFS isn't an automatic qualifying illness so you'll need to prove that you are disabled. I've seen people keep pain and symptom diaries.

If you are rejected after the first two paper hearings you'll need to get a lawyer to have any chance of winning.

 

[powertool4]

Thank you. I have been reading that blog for a while and my head is starting to hurt. But it's very helpful.

I have a period of 8 months where I worked full time. I crashed so hard I was bedridden for a year after but because the social security limit for "unsuccessful work attempt" is only 6 months... It means that social security would not consider me have been disabled before that?

I was in serious bad shape starting age 22 but had a small temporary improvement to work for 8 months which did not work out obviously.

But because of that period and the earnings, it looks like my disability onset is now 2016, not 2009.


Most of my medical records are from 2009-2013.. stacks of papers. So they're basically useless!

It looks like I have to start documenting now and basically start over.

I won't have to do all the testing I did before because doctors can see it but I will have to find a doctor to check in with regularly like you said for at least 6 months.

Good call on asking them ahead of time if they will support me.

I will try a local family practice doctor who probably knows not much about CFS but ask if they have heard of it and are willing to be open minded and support me as my main gp.

My previous doctor who wrote my short term disability is too far but I will try to visit him a few times as well to keep a record.

I won't have fancy expensive tests like neurology scans and all that I did previously but they were all negative anyway.

I just plan on finding a good supportive doctor with lots of documentation about my limits.

I have been keeping a symptom and daily journal everyday for 3 years so it will help to update my doctor at each visit.

I just hope I find one soon.

Do you think 6 months is enough?


BTW are you the writer of that blog? Just curious

 

[gbells]

Yes I think 6 months is enough. The doctor will have to point out why you meet the CFS criteria, that you haven't responded to treatment and that your condition is expected to last one year or more.

Here's what SSA looks for from your doctor so you'll need testing, past or more recent, verifying positive diagnoses.

https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/documents/64-063.pdf

 

[PatJ]

This document focuses on children and adolescents but should also be useful for adults:
Medically Documenting Disability in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Cases
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2019.00231/full

 

[nyanko_the_sane]

Hi there @powertool4,

First and foremost have a doctor fill out an RFC report that shows you are physically disabled. If you can get it filled out by a specialist that would be best. The general rule is social security weighs current evidence more.

Make sure you have a copy of your doctors records including all the notes they write. I missed this detail myself, doctors can often get things really wrong, and this can come back to bite you. Review your records and have any errors corrected.

If you have cognitive issues, you can have Social Security order psychological testing on their dime. Make sure to write a narrative for the examiner about your cognitive issues and how they affect your life. This will make their job easier and help insure you get a report supporting your disabilities.

Even with all this you will be denied, and you have to appeal to provide more evidence. At this point you can have a friend or family member that knows your condition fill out a FUNCTION REPORT - ADULT - THIRD PARTY Form SSA-3380-BK.

Because social security looks at your age when considering your case, your appeal will likely be denied too. At this point you should hire a disability advocate to have on your side when you appeal to an ALJ. Having prepared notarized statements or letters from friends, family, or past employers should add some weight to your case.

The whole process can take upwards two to three years to see all the way through. So don't give up, keep on fighting for your right to receive SSI disability.

 

[gbells]

Hi there @powertool4,

First and foremost have a doctor fill out an RFC report that shows you are physically disabled. If you can get it filled out by a specialist that would be best. The general rule is social security weighs current evidence more.

Make sure you have a copy of your doctors records including all the notes they write. I missed this detail myself, doctors can often get things really wrong, and this can come back to bite you. Review your records and have any errors corrected.

If you have cognitive issues, you can have Social Security order psychological testing on their dime. Make sure to write a narrative for the examiner about your cognitive issues and how they affect your life. This will make their job easier and help insure you get a report supporting your disabilities.

Even with all this you will be denied, and you have to appeal to provide more evidence. At this point you can have a friend or family member that knows your condition fill out a FUNCTION REPORT - ADULT - THIRD PARTY Form SSA-3380-BK.

Because social security looks at your age when considering your case, your appeal will likely be denied too. At this point you should hire a disability advocate to have on your side when you appeal to an ALJ. Having prepared notarized statements or letters from friends, family, or past employers should add some weight to your case.

The whole process can take upwards two to three years to see all the way through. So don't give up, keep on fighting for your right to receive SSI disability.

Excellent comment Nyanko. My lawyer told me the same thing about SSA being biased against younger adults, especially men. I also noticed the judge was biased against claimants who were college grads because of student loan discharges. He spent about 10 minutes asking me about my college loans at the hearing. Then he ignored the disability employment expert and said I could work full time in a warehouse standing up, putting labels on boxes. What a joke.

SSA sent me to a psychiatrist when I was at five months with chronic pain. He didn't even entertain the possibility that I could have a somatoform issue and excluded that. He only did a one hour evaluation and said I was fine. A few months later I asked my counselor for a referral for psychological testing and was diagnosed with somatoform disorder and had definite problems with my cognition when doing memory testing. The somatoform disorder diagnosis secured the SSD claim when SSA denied the CFS claim.

I also had a friend write a detailed letter that helped. SSA ignored a letter from my mother which lacked detail but put weight on the friend's letter which mentioned my messy house which showed I had problems keeping up with the housekeeping. Who knew messiness could be such a boon!

One problem with the appeal process is that it take so long. You can expect it to take a year for an appeal to be reconsidered. I was able to shorten that process by writing a letter to SSA mentioning that it was a financial hardship for me not to have insurance and that I was thinking of suicide. I also criticized the judge as being biased by pointing out that he had unfairly said I was noncompliant with antidepressant medication for using Sam-E supplement instead of meds while he ignored the fact that I had tried seven different antidepressants with a psychiatrist.

It also helps to write to your congressional representatives asking for help, especially if they are democrats. SSA will flag your case and treat it with kid gloves when they think you are grilling them and they might be held accountable. And they send you back to the same judge who issued the denial for the appeal. You could tell the judge was covering his ass when he write the favorable appeal and I won the case. The lawyer said I was lucky.

I wonder whether having used a CFS expert instead of an integrated MD would have mattered given the amount of bias you get. The judge was very biased against my MD and called him not credible. He also said his own experts were not credible but placed heavy weight on the expert psychologist PhD from a major university center.

When all was said and done it took four years to get the disability award.

 

[nyanko_the_sane]

Hi @gbells! You have some great tips here!!

It also helps to write to your congressional representatives asking for help, especially if they are democrats. SSA will flag your case and treat it with kid gloves when they think you are grilling them and they might be held accountable. And they send you back to the same judge who issued the denial for the appeal. You could tell the judge was covering his ass when he write the favorable appeal and I won the case. The lawyer said I was lucky.

This is a great idea, and bonus points if your representatives are already familiar with ME/CFS.

I wonder whether having used a CFS expert instead of an integrated MD would have mattered given the amount of bias you get. The judge was very biased against my MD and called him not credible. He also said his own experts were not credible but placed heavy weight against the expert psychologist PhD from a major university center.

Advocates do say you should get an evaluation from an ME/CFS expert, but you also need to get more than just a form letter from your doctor. This is tricky to do since these doctors are so busy.

 

[gbells]

>He also said his own experts were not credible but placed heavy weight against the expert psychologist PhD from a major university center.

That should say, which is corrected above, that the expert psychologist's opinion was given the most weight. I doubt I would have won without it and probably wouldn't be able to survive without the SSD disability award.

 

[powertool4]

Excellent comment Nyanko. My lawyer told me the same thing about SSA being biased against younger adults, especially men. I also noticed the judge was biased against claimants who were college grads because of student loan discharges. He spent about 10 minutes asking me about my college loans at the hearing. Then he ignored the disability employment expert and said I could work full time in a warehouse standing up, putting labels on boxes. What a joke.

SSA sent me to a psychiatrist when I was at five months with chronic pain. He didn't even entertain the possibility that I could have a somatoform issue and excluded that. He only did a one hour evaluation and said I was fine. A few months later I asked my counselor for a referral for psychological testing and was diagnosed with somatoform disorder and had definite problems with my cognition when doing memory testing. The somatoform disorder diagnosis secured the SSD claim when SSA denied the CFS claim.

I also had a friend write a detailed letter that helped. SSA ignored a letter from my mother which lacked detail but put weight on the friend's letter which mentioned my messy house which showed I had problems keeping up with the housekeeping. Who knew messiness could be such a boon!

One problem with the appeal process is that it take so long. You can expect it to take a year for an appeal to be reconsidered. I was able to shorten that process by writing a letter to SSA mentioning that it was a financial hardship for me not to have insurance and that I was thinking of suicide. I also criticized the judge as being biased by pointing out that he had unfairly said I was noncompliant with antidepressant medication for using Sam-E supplement instead of meds while he ignored the fact that I had tried seven different antidepressants with a psychiatrist.

It also helps to write to your congressional representatives asking for help, especially if they are democrats. SSA will flag your case and treat it with kid gloves when they think you are grilling them and they might be held accountable. And they send you back to the same judge who issued the denial for the appeal. You could tell the judge was covering his ass when he write the favorable appeal and I won the case. The lawyer said I was lucky.

I wonder whether having used a CFS expert instead of an integrated MD would have mattered given the amount of bias you get. The judge was very biased against my MD and called him not credible. He also said his own experts were not credible but placed heavy weight on the expert psychologist PhD from a major university center.

When all was said and done it took four years to get the disability award.

Thank you all. I've been reading a lot and I found an SSD attorney named Jonathan Ginsberg on youtube who has tremendously helpful videos about the SSD process in general (though nothing specific to CFS).

gBells, do you mind me asking how old are you and if you're male or female?

Aside from your doctor's notes and psychological testing, did you have anything in the way of "objective" testing that is outlined in the guidebook? Like there are not many but 5-6 tests that are considered "objective lab tests" in the ssa guidebook for CFS which is swollen lymph nodes, etc. I think POTS/Tilt table is an objective test, as well as elevated EBV.

I'm glad you brought up the college loan situation. I have been slowly making a to-do of all the things I need to get together to have the strongest case possible.

I wrote down a little note to mention that if it gets to the hearing stage, to mention the fact that out of the 8-9 month period I was able to work in the previous 10 years.... I took all of that money and paid off more than $20k of my student loans. I paid every penny and didn't rely on SSI or anything and didn't blow it on fancy materialistic things. All of my loans are paid off now because of that and I used all my money doing so.
Maybe that will help with the judge not being biased against me for being younger and with a college education.


I spoke with an attorney's office and they told me what I expected. I need to get into the doctor's office now and at least see the doctor every 2-3 months for about 6+ months, which is about 2-3 visits. SOMETHING within the last 12 months is what SSI wants to see so I need to get that going now.

I also want to get a tilt table test done to prove on paper that I have POTS. I know I do because a simple standing test will show it but you need it documented. I'm not well enough to do this test but this one will help.

I'm not well enough to see a doctor right now but I hope by next month I can start seeing him regularly.


The attorney's office also said an RFC is not required. The SSA will subpoena the records but the doctor does not have to fill out anything. However, it does help if he does support you and writes a good letter for you, so I plan on asking for that.

 

[gbells]

@powertool4

>gBells, do you mind me asking how old are you and if you're male or female?

I was 38 when I applied for SSD. I'm currently 48 and male, non-trans.

 

[Zebra]

Hey, @powertool4!

As I promised a week ago, I am circling back to you and your thread and it seems like you don't need any help from me anymore!!! ;-)

Looks like many others were able to offer you opinions and advice, and it sounds like you got great guidance from an attorney.

I hope that you will soon feel well enough to leave the house and establish a relationship with a primary care doctor.

I think most of us can understand how hard it is to "store up" enough physical and mental energy to leave the house for a medical appointment, and then brace ourselves for the "fall out" from that seemingly small exertion.

Best wishes to you in all things!
Z

 

[renski]

Hi all,

Is there a state which is more likely to get social security disability approved, or doesn't it matter since it's a federal issue?

 

[powertool4]

Hi all,

Is there a state which is more likely to get social security disability approved, or doesn't it matter since it's a federal issue?

You can look up the approval rates by state as well as county. Texas is the lowest out of the country at around 30 something % approval. Every other state with the exception of a few others are mostly the same

 

[gbells]

I've already been denied once, but I never followed thru after the initial rejection because I assumed I'd never get it.

Many people get discouraged and give up. That's what they rely on. You have to stick with it. I was rejected three times then at appeal it was sent back to the lame judge who rejected my ALJ decision and he approved it because of the mental diagnosis by the psychologist.

The good thing is that with SSI you can reapply. Think positive. You don't know until you try. However, before the ALJ you need a disability attorney.

Did my disability start at 21 or did it start in 2015? Because Social Security might look at it like, well you were good enough to work in 2015 so you weren't disabled.

The start date doesn't matter except for back pay.

I do not have much of medical testing in the past 5 years though. I have a blood test from UCI Emergency room in 2016 when I relapsed from work. ER said it was normal and gave me a CFS handout and a bill for $2000.

You should have applied for charity care and had that bill covered.

s many of you experienced, I jumped from doc to doc and tried functional medicine private specialists, etc. and when their treatment didn't cure anything... you kind of move on to another doctor hoping their treatment would work etc.

Yes. My experience is that functional medicine doctors drain your wallet until you're dry. There is no cure for CFS so all you get is expensive symptom treatment.

So there is no CENTRAL doctor.

Yes, you need to see a supportive, primary care MD for six months.

Hi there @powertool4,

First and foremost have a doctor fill out an RFC report that shows you are physically disabled. If you can get it filled out by a specialist that would be best. The general rule is social security weighs current evidence more.

Make sure you have a copy of your doctors records including all the notes they write. I missed this detail myself, doctors can often get things really wrong, and this can come back to bite you. Review your records and have any errors corrected.

If you have cognitive issues, you can have Social Security order psychological testing on their dime. Make sure to write a narrative for the examiner about your cognitive issues and how they affect your life. This will make their job easier and help insure you get a report supporting your disabilities.

Even with all this you will be denied, and you have to appeal to provide more evidence. At this point you can have a friend or family member that knows your condition fill out a FUNCTION REPORT - ADULT - THIRD PARTY Form SSA-3380-BK.

Because social security looks at your age when considering your case, your appeal will likely be denied too. At this point you should hire a disability advocate to have on your side when you appeal to an ALJ. Having prepared notarized statements or letters from friends, family, or past employers should add some weight to your case.

The whole process can take upwards two to three years to see all the way through. So don't give up, keep on fighting for your right to receive SSI disability.

Yes

Aside from your doctor's notes and psychological testing, did you have anything in the way of "objective" testing that is outlined in the guidebook? Like there are not many but 5-6 tests that are considered "objective lab tests" in the ssa guidebook for CFS which is swollen lymph nodes, etc. I think POTS/Tilt table is an objective test, as well as elevated EBV.

I didn't review my doctors notes. I didn't have POTS. However I did have swollen lymph nodes, history of EBV infection, fatigue, etc. Regardless, I wasn't approved for CFS because the judge didn't like that I could slowly walk a mile. He said I could work in a warehouse putting address labels on boxes. Right.

I took all of that money and paid off more than $20k of my student loans. I paid every penny and didn't rely on SSI or anything and didn't blow it on fancy materialistic things. All of my loans are paid off now because of that and I used all my money doing so.

that was a mistake. All you need is a letter from a doctor saying you're disabled and they would have been discharged in a disability discharge. The rub is that if you apply for disability and get rejected the loans reinstate. so you have to be persistant like Nyanko says. My mother had 15k in loans and she didn't even bother to try to get SSD. So her loans were forgiven but she has very low income.

I hope that you will soon feel well enough to leave the house and establish a relationship with a primary care doctor.

Definitely. You need to see them for 6 months and be very complaint about treatment recommendations. If you don't they will use that to disallow your claim.

 

[Foxglove]

There's a lot of good tips here and I don't have much to add.

This website has already been mentioned, but here's the specific page about not being able to get to the doctor:
https://howtogeton.wordpress.com/i-cannot-get-to-the-doctor-afford-pay-doctor-transportation/

But because of that period and the earnings, it looks like my disability onset is now 2016, not 2009.


Most of my medical records are from 2009-2013.. stacks of papers.

There are two reasons your onset date could matter. One, as has been mentioned, is back pay.

The other is if you plan to file for SSDI on your parent's earnings. This is called Disabled Adult Child benefit. You cannot do this unless you are single, or married to another disabled adult getting SSDI from a parent's earnings. (And aren't going to change to a marital status different from one of those.) And if you became disabled by age 22. Also your parent must be retired, disabled, or deceased.

If you meet these criteria, SSA may try to push you into this whether you want it or not.
https://sheriabrams.com/dont-forget-switch-ssi-benefits-disabled-adult-child-benefits/
https://maximizemysocialsecurity.co...rced-would-she-be-able-get-dac-benefits-again
https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/can-dac-opt-higher-ssi-or-half-their-fathers-disablity-benefit
(these websites informational, not recommendations)

Sorry for all the edits!

Third reason, two year wait period for Medicare. I think they will start counting from the date of disability onset. As many people don't get approved within two years, and some wait a while relying on savings, family, and/or part-time work, many people don't have an issue with this.

 

[gbells]

Good points. It shows you how adversarial the SSA is that they work to minimize their payouts instead of providing the maximum support possible. They are acting like a private insurance company instead of a government agency.