@A MyMSTeam Member

You stated in your post that MS is an automatic approval in the state of Georgia. With all due respect the SSA criteria for disability eligibility does not vary from state to state nor does having DX of MS mean an automatic approval even in the state of Georgia.

Individuals who have multiple sclerosis are evaluated under section 11, the neurological section of the Social Security Disability List of Impairments. MS is specifically given consideration under impairment listing 11.09 but that doesn't mean automatic approval.

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A MyMSTea...

@A MyMSTeam Member :

Perhaps you mean SSI and SSDI ? Not SSD and SSDI .

There are two different forms of SS Disability. SSI ( Supplememtal Security Income) and SSDI (Social Security Disability Income)

SSI ( Supplemental Security Income) Supplemental Security Income pays benefits based on financial need because the individual did not work long enough to have paid into SS for the qualified time to be able to apply for SSDI SSI is a fixed monthly rate and for 2018 the Individual maximun payment is $700.00.

SSDI ( SSDI (Social Security Disability Income) pays benefits to the eligible individual if they are "insured," meaning that you worked long enough and paid Social Security taxes for the required period of time which I believe to be 40 quarters.

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A MyMSTea...

I live in North Carolina and what I found is if you have good documentation with your neurologist it makes it much easier. National MS Society page has pretty good information on how to apply. I found that the North Carolina MS Society page has a handbook of what exactly you need to do in order to get approved questions answers is pretty good. My neurologist is dr. Freeman and he's at Raleigh neurology and he helped put the hand out together with the North Carolina MS Society to help people with multiple sclerosis who were having a hard time getting on disability. I did mine on the phone which shocked me that I could actually do it on the phone and the process was started it took a little while but not too bad they called me a couple times I had to have my eyes looked at by neuro ophthalmologist but other than that it did come through. So don't lose hope just call your neurology and start getting the documentation. I hope this helps

The judge decides when you became disabled. I was finally approved in Nov. 2016. The judge determined I became disabled Nov. 2015. So I got 12 months of back payments, right? Wrong, the 1st 5 months are kept, so my 12 months all of the sudden were cut down to 7. Then when the law firm took their cut I got a whopping $6,378.75 for waiting 3 years 8 1/2 months before finally getting some financial help. A total insult, while they automatically got their money from my paychecks for over 20 years. Making me wait that long for such a trivial amount of money. I almost became homeless through no fault of my own. An awful system if there ever was one. Well that is the garbage service I received from our government. But what about the so-called dynamic private sector? They did nothing but help to destroy my life. The credit industry is allowed by law to destroy your credit. They block your access to capital. So you cannot circumvent the other awful industry that helped to destroy my life-the "healthcare" industry. They are only concerned with making money from your disease. So you're not allowed to have umbilical-cord stem cell therapy in this country. In essence you are not allowed to get better as it would take away from their bottom line and power. Such a bullshit country we live in where your worth is measured by how much money someone can make off of you. If money cannot be made from you, you are worthless.

Hello all, Maybe my situation is a bit different but the process for applying for and being approved for SSD was very smooth. I was diagnosed in 1992 and worked as long as I could and had to quit in June 2016 at 58 years old. I had been seeing the same MS doctor since 1994. There was a lot of paper work to fill out and a truly believe the most important aspect of the entire process was my case manager at the MS Clinic. She helped with filling out the forms. The entire process took about six months and I received back pay for the six months my application was in process. I kept a log of all communications with the MS Clinic and the Social Security Administration so I always knew where I was in process. Persistence and due diligence definitely needed in this process. Good luck!!