Been supporting a close friend as they work through the process of trying to get SSDI. It's been an ordeal, to say the least. They started their application in Nov. of 2021. It's been endless hurdles.
First one was their 1st psych review. It seemed to go well, until friend was denied. They requested their records & discovered that the psych evaluator wrote 14 pages of complete bullshit. Hence the denial.
Friend appealed. Everything takes weeks, if not months. Replies are glacial, communication contradictory or unclear. Many months later they were denied again. SS didn't tell them, so they didn't find out until after the 90-day window to appeal had passed. This is probably by design.
*All* of this is probably by design. I don't doubt that SS is understaffed like everywhere else, so I'm not going to fault them on that. The process is designed to be slow, humiliating, and as difficult as possible.
Friend is homeless now. I sometimes let them crash on my couch when they're in dire straits or need a shower or hot meal. They live in their car.
We've since learned that the psych evaluator who made up shit at the beginning is known for doing so. Said attorney sees her in court all the damn time. She's a total MAGA head who has quit her private practice; her career now consists of nothing but making up false documentation about ppl she evaluates so that SS won't have to pay anyone. She makes about $600 per person she evals, on the taxpayer dime.
She's done this again & again & again & there isn't any way to stop her. Friend filed a complaint, which SS kicked to the state offices because allegedly it "isn't in their jurisdiction" or some shit like that. State SS offices are indifferent. So she gets to keep saving them money. This is something our tax dollars go towards: paying SS evaluators to lie about potential benefit recipients so that the gov can hold on to SS tax money we've been paying into the system all our working lives.
The good news is that folks on the *state* level have actually been awesome. Friend managed to connect with counselors who connected him with social workers who have gotten him onto benefits programs like SNAP and Aged/Disabled/Blind cash benefits, so at least he isn't starving, and he has a little bit of money for things like gas or toiletries. He also got on Medicaid, so has been able to establish primary care & see a couple of specialists.
It takes months. I think he waited something like 7 months to see a neurologist. He has a TBI, which is why he applied for SSDI in the first place.
Incidentally, if anybody whinges at you about how great US healthcare is because it takes forever to see a doctor if you're in, say, the UK or Canada, please tell them to shut their goddamn piehole. It takes just as long to see a doc in the US. If you're poor, that endless wait might be measured not in months, but literal decades.
This entire process has been a stellar example of why I believe the US is *inhumane*.
Friend paid all his working life into Social Security. He is as entitled to receive benefits from it as anyone else who's paid taxes into it. He is EXACTLY the person SSDI was intended for. Yet he is unable to access the funds he is arguably entitled to because we have convinced ourselves, collectively, that the poor are thieves & undeserving.
The social, cultural, & religious belief that poverty is a sign of depravity & moral corruption dies hard. & yes, I say "religious" in there, because of the influence of Calvinism on the historic development of capitalism. The Protestant work ethic is fucking twisted.
I will continue to help my friend where & when I can. He'll definitely have a seat at my table anytime he needs it. I'm glad that at least the state-level folks are trying to help him too. & what's happening to him is exactly why my politics are radical. SS needs a complete overhaul, or some sort of progressive reform, or to be torn down & rebuilt from the ground up into something better.
@Impious_Jade Not sure where you are, but that sounds like fraud that should be reported to the state attorney general, or the Federal District Attorney.
@sfleetucker We're in WA state. Friend is focused on the process right now, just trying to save his own life, but if & when he does get some relief he's looking at trying to do some sort of disability activism. That route is a great idea & I'll let him know.
@Impious_Jade And it's falsifying federal records, so...
@sfleetucker Hmm, you got a good point right there! I don't know why we hadn't thought about that. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
@Impious_Jade Next step would be a class action if you can find other victims. it's one thing to deny, but to actively make things up is certainly actionable. :(
@sfleetucker Definitely. A significant challenge is that the class affected is incredibly vulnerable, especially financially, usually physically, and has trouble gathering the resources to spend many years of their lives on a draining legal fight. But, there is power in numbers, so I won't say it's impossible.
After the 2nd denial, they asked the clerk at the SS office what the hell to do. Clerk was fortunately sympathetic, gave them a new form to complete, and pointed them to the SS attorney's office directly across the hall. They should've had an attorney from the start, but at least they have one now.