A 42-year-old Newton woman is almost out of medical supplies needed for dialysis. The Social Security benefits she has relied on for two years to pay for the supplies have been canceled. ...
Garner has had problems with her kidneys since she was a child. Two years ago the situation worsened.
"A doctor told me within five years I'd have be going on dialysis; five years turned into one month later and they put a catheter in," says Garner.
Diagnosed with the end stages of kidney failure, Dawn was forced to give up her position as a certified nurse's assistant. ...
She spends eleven hours each day on a home dialysis machine. The only way to pay for it is by drawing disability benefits through Social Security. This past month she learned the benefits were canceled. ...
According to the Social Security Office in Marshalltown, Dawn's husband received an inheritance when his father passed away in 2007; therefore Dawn was over paid more than $10,000 in benefits.
Dawns says the couple has been separated for over a year and the divorce will be final on September 12th.
This makes no sense to me either. I hope it can be sorted out soon.
10 comments:
It makes no sense because there's specific Medicare coverage for dialysis, isn't there? There should not be any impact upon Social security benefits.
Unless she was getting dialysis services via medicaid because she was getting SSI as an individual with an ineligible spouse and the spouses assets make her ineligible for SSI anymore.
She would have had to have been on SSI, which is a welfare program. In that case, the inheritance would affect benefits. It wouldn't affect true Social Security benefits, but most claimants don't truly understand what type of benefits they're receiving or the difference between the two types. And then it gets reported wrong and people get all riled up over incorrect information.
A lot of people confuse SSI and Social Security benefits. I've had people seriously argue with me over what type of benefit they are collecting.
Back in the day it was easy enough to find out; what color was the check and what day did it come? SSI was gold and came on the first and T2 was green and came on the 3rd.
Then came direct deposit and different paydays for T@.
This is a sad story but not as confusing as others above have already pointed out. There's a big difference difference between Social Security benefits and SSI, and an even greater difference between Medicare and Medicaid.
A few months ago posters here critized COS for his decision to spend money to educate the public on the programs that SSA administers.
That the so-called informed and educated media folks can't figure it out, convinces me that they're either lazy, or don't care.
It makes sense to me:
1) The reporter has no idea what he/she is talking about when it comes to benefits under Social Security;
2) The woman may have been on SSI not SSD and may not have reported that she and her husband were separated. If so, his assets would put her over the limit and she is out of luck.
However, for someone with End Stage Renal Disease who qualifies under Title II of the Social Security Act, the special provisions for Medicare coverage are contained in Section Sec. 226 of the Social Security Act. [42 U.S.C. 426-1]. Yes there are rules which need to be met. And it is sad that often some people do not meet the criteria.
The worst part is the bad press from reporters who don't do their job properly and get the information about eligibility and get the correct information from the people they interview!
Hon. Joyce Krutick Craig
U.S. Administrative Law Judge (Ret.)
American journalism--never let the facts get in the way of a good story--that's why newspapers are going broke and people are turning to the internet to get their information.
Judge Craig is right. Furthermore, every Regional Office has a Public Affairs Staff to handle inquiries from the press and others. The Public Affairs staffers entire reason for being there is to provide clear and accurate information to reporters and others inquiring about our programs and policies. They should have been all over this news article, and somebody in the local SSA store ought to be on it ASAP. You know, ESRD claims are straightforward and since the documentation is minimal, it would be the quickest fix for the time being. But, the main thing is having someone to do the job. If the Des Moines office is like a lot of shops elsewhere, that might not be so easy under today's conditions. It's too bad that this article can't be followed up with one explaining "The Rest of the Story". But, that's not the reporter's job, it's RPAO's. Sigh.
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