Disability Resources for Someone Who Needs a Wheelchair

An extraordinarily nice gentleman who heads the International Center for Disability Resources on the Internet forwarded a letter to me which he received from the adult child of a parent who is now in the hospital. This individual's mother is still hospitalized and will need a wheelchair. After I wrote my response, I realized that some of the information I included may be useful to disability claimants, so my response is posted here:


Mike,

If this person's mom (I can't remember if it was a man or a woman) hasn't filed for medicaid and disability, they may want to get that started. Regardless of the outcome, because it can take so long for a disability case to get through the system, it's often a good idea to simply get the ball rolling. If her application is for SSI disability, then, of course, medicaid will come with that assuming her claim is eventually approved. But it's still not a bad idea to file a separate medicaid-only application with the local department of social services anyway.

Typically, a medicaid claim (in this case, M.A.D, which stands for medicaid, adults, disabled) will be denied at the 90 day mark (there is a 90 day deadline on MAD cases which is usually called the drop date) if an approval has not been made on a federal SSI claim. In other words, a medicaid caseworker will simply ADOPT a disability approval, if an approval has been made. If an approval has not been made, the medicaid caseworker will be obliged to automatically deny the medicaid claim at the 90th day.

So why file a separate medicaid claim if an SSI approval has not been made? Because if a medicaid claim is denied, the claimant is still entitled to pursue a seaparate medicaid-only appeal track. And I have seen a number of people successfully get their medicaid before ever receiving disability benefits. It's been years since I was a medicaid caseworker, but there are a number of benefits that come with the program, including x number of doctor visits per year and x number of prescriptions per month. And there may be assistance for ambulatory aids such as walkers and wheelchairs, but I can't recall specifically. I do think they should check into this though.

Of course, all of this is moot if her disability application is, or will be, for title II social security disability (SSD) and not title 16 SSI. SSD recipients get medicare (the onset is 2 years after their established date of eligibility) while SSI recipients get medicaid.

You know, if they need immediate help regarding a wheelchair, maybe it would be a good idea to investigate what some charitable organizations might have. In the past, I've checked for various individuals with Urban ministries, catholic social ministries, and the salvation army. Also, I've often referred people to "Adult services social workers". Each county department of social services is a little different, but usually they will have a sub-department called Adult Services, and there you can find social workers who can point you to available resources and, sometimes, write referrals to local programs.

Hope that helps.


Tim






Additional information on Social Security Disability at www.disabilitysecrets.com











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