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.
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.
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.
@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.