I'm asking about this on behalf of one of my friends. She was born with a disability and began drawing SSI a few years ago. Her dad began drawing SSDI last year. She still lives with her parents and has a disability therefore she was able to draw off of his disability. So her SSI was dropped and she now draws SSDI. She received a $200 increase in her check, BUT her insurance was greatly affected. Before she had 100% medical coverage and didn't have to pay a premium. Now that she has SSDI, she is having to pay $100 for her insurance and from what she understands it's not going to pay for a lot of things. She said she was better off with the SSI and full medical coverage and would like to see if there may be some way that she can change it back. She's now on medicare and I've heard some people say they cover pretty well, but she says that it doesn't look like it does from the papers and booklets that she's received.

She is also looking into moving out on her own and would like to know if that would affect her drawing off of her dad. She also wants to know what are some questions that she should ask concerning the insurance and living on her own...like what different kinds of assistance can she check into other than food stamps? She is going to the Social Security office on Monday, but wanted to know a little about this before she goes.

By Karen~admin on Sunday, October 5, 2008 - 07:15 am:

Bumping up.........sorry, no information for you, but maybe someone else will have some.

By Ginny~moderator on Sunday, October 5, 2008 - 09:33 am:

I think the Social Security office is one of the best places to get that information, but I would also look around for some organization that provides advocacy and assistance to disabled people. Unhappily, a lot of times the people in the SS office are overworked, those on the front line (and that's who she'll see) are not familiar with all the intricacies of the law, and, sadly, some of them just don't care and will give a rote answer rather than taking the time to try to help. An advocacy organization will know the fine points of the laws and regulations, whether what she wants is possible, and how to help her work her way through the system.

I find it appalling, by the way, that a cost-of-living increase in SSI or SSDI removes people from Medicare or Medicaid insurance because their income has suddenly, and not by any action of theirs, become too high. Seems to me those regulations should be required to go hand in hand, so that when a cost of living increase comes down, the eligibility levels are automatically raised so that people whose sole income is SSI or SSDI stay eligible for Medicare or Medicaid.