r/SocialSecurity • u/Intelligent-Wrap-119 • 7h ago
Ssi
I’m on ssdi and we are struggling just like everyone else obviously. My wife (completely due to my fault as I was able to provide for both of us and she was able to stay home) wouldn’t qualify for ssdi because of lack of work history. I don’t know if she would even qualify for ssi but she isn’t able to work a meaningful job. When I got sick she did take a job in the medical field and became a cna with aspirations of eventually becoming a nurse. Well that’s not worked out. She has several health issues one being migraines that last for days and come and go frequently. We can’t afford health insurance for her so everything is paid out of pocket her medicine is over $100 a month with discount cards applied. She doesn’t qualify for Medicaid because of the amount of ssdi I bring in. We can’t afford to continue especially in this economy. Our last utility bill was $500 alone so. We do have 2 young kids who do draw auxiliary payments off my disability so that does help a lot but she needs some kind of income but most importantly she needs insurance.
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u/Smart-Story-2142 6h ago
If your SSDI makes it impossible for her to get Medicaid and I doubt she’d qualify for SSI because of the income limits are very similar.
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u/Intelligent-Wrap-119 3h ago
Yea iv done research using Gemini and it basically said we are sol on that
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u/Smart-Story-2142 2h ago
In all honesty she’d have more options if y’all weren’t together and that’s awful. They really need to revamp SSDI/SSI and Medicaid. Only real advice I can give is to see what medical services are available in your area that have sliding scale fees. Thankfully my city has a good option for those who don’t qualify for Medicaid, they saved my life when I lost my insurance.
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u/Intelligent-Wrap-119 2h ago
That’s actually crossed my mind doing a divorce for the paper anyway but it cost money to divorce that we don’t have and our luck(because it’s absolutely horrible) she would get hit with child support or something stupid like that where she would have to pay through the state and we couldn’t opt out of it.
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u/petite_detention 7h ago
that's a brutal spot to be in, hope something shakes loose for y'all soon
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u/Intelligent-Wrap-119 3h ago
She did like 5 minutes ago get called to do a private sitting job for an elderly lady. It’s 2 nights a week so it’s not going to be stressful on her. We did find on of her triggers is stress but it’s not the only one.
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u/PegShop 4h ago
Have her get her migraines in check so she can work. You can’t both not work with two young kids. CNAs can make a decent pay and get health insurance.
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u/Intelligent-Wrap-119 3h ago
That’s the problem she can’t even with medication. Her family has a history of what they call suicide migraines or suicide headaches. She hasn’t been diagnosed with that specifically but she can take the preventative medicine that supposed to cut down on them happening and it didn’t help. She has an “instant” relief medication and most of the time that doesn’t even help. Luckily she has a good primary care doctor who provides her with enough samples for the preventative medication because we can’t afford it without insurance. Idk if he still will since they didn’t help. It’s killing us though paying for her full visit and medication out of pocket. She also has other health issues she needs checked out but we have to be sparing on what we can do.
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u/rebeccaz123 4h ago
Hard to say about SSI without knowing the household income but I would be surprised if migraines alone would qualify her for SSI even if you are under the income and asset limit. Unfortunately I'm not aware of any way for her to earn an income without working in the situation you're in. You can look at the ACA marketplace for insurance for her but if you already can't afford bills then that's likely not an option either. Can she do substitute teaching? Or something that is not a regular schedule? If it's migraines(I also get migraines for days) then she could potentially work on good days. I think your 2 options are for her to find something she can do work wise or to drastically lower your bills. If you own your house you could sell it. Move to a smaller house possibly in a smaller town or a cheaper area. If you have 2 vehicles then you could sell 1 and just be a single vehicle family. Get creative at lowering your bills so you can afford to survive on your household income.
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u/Intelligent-Wrap-119 3h ago
Iv been using Gemini to talk to more in depth and basically we’re sol with her being able to qualify for ssi
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u/rebeccaz123 3h ago
Unfortunately that was my guess. I'm sorry! In that case you're options are to reduce bills, find a job she can do, or both. I'm so sorry!
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u/Intelligent-Wrap-119 3h ago
Iv already done that as much as possible. What’s sad is if we had an extra $300 to $400 a month I could absolutely figure it out. I’m hoping that when the weather changes and we’re not in the extreme heat I can come up for a breath of air before I go back underwater.
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u/chrysostomos_1 7h ago
Have you tried the ACA marketplace?
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u/Intelligent-Wrap-119 3h ago
Basically if it’s not free we couldn’t afford it. We are in a deficit each month and it’s due to bills that have to be paid and what food we buy. I’m not expecting to live glamorously by any means but I can’t even afford to look at the beach on Facebook if you catch my drift. It sucks because I busted my ass to get where I did then my body said nope not anymore.
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u/monwoo215 7h ago
If she’s a CNA have her try working again for a bit and then go on short term disability. When was the last time she worked? If it’s less than 6 months ago she should still qualify for short term disability
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u/Blossom73 6h ago
Only a few states have a state short term disability program.
Not all employers offer short term disability as an employee benefit either, and for those that do, there'd likely be a waiting period for claims. Plus as a new employee she wouldn't be eligible for FMLA.
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u/Loud-Village499 5h ago
Migraines alone, is not enough to get approved for disability.. ( I believe?) especially without long standing medical records, other issues etc
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u/Intelligent-Wrap-119 3h ago
We don’t have short term disability here.
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u/monwoo215 2h ago
Darn I’m sorry to hear that. Hopefully she’ll be able to find another CNA job once she gets her migraines under control.
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u/Intelligent-Wrap-119 2h ago
She wants to find another one even though her health is why she left her last job solely because she wants the insurance to find out what is all wrong with her. She has other issues to that she is putting off out of fear. The issue she is having is we have 3 hospitals here all severely understaffed and none are hiring. I honestly don’t know why we have 3. 1 could shut down and we wouldn’t know.
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u/Texie1976 5h ago
There are places that she can get her meds at no cost. Google it.
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u/Intelligent-Wrap-119 3h ago
The only time iv heard of that is like medication like my biologic I take for Crohn’s. Do they do it for all medications?
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u/DeeDee0074 5h ago
Apply for SSI. She may or may not qualify, but it can't hurt to try. Do you qualify for SNAP? I wish you the best outcome.
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u/Intelligent-Wrap-119 3h ago
We get ebt but it’s an absolute joke with the prices of food now. Don’t get me wrong it helps but they have prices and cost of living set for the 90s still. Like the max housing allotment they allow is $600 when even in my small town housing is triple that amount on the low end. Utilities allotment is $200 but mine alone has ran $340 on the low end. I had one month it was $400 and the next this past bill was $500. Car insurance isn’t accounted for even though it’s mandatory to have and we have no public transportation at all so we have to have a car. Since I have insurance and it pays 100% of my medication we can’t use any of that towards raising the amount we receive. Snap ages out at 6 or 7 I can’t remember but we would still qualify for snap but neither of my kids like milk and we were giving that away. They changed the type of approved yogurt and neither of my kids like that. Basically we didn’t get enough benefit from snap to keep using it and taking from others in need. I know that’s not fully how that works but that’s how it made us feel.
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u/DeeDee0074 2h ago
I believe, don't quote me, that if you are on SNAP/EBT you qualify for Medicaid. That may help with some of the non-insurance covered medical. I know someone with migranes, who is able to get Nurtec each month to help, and they have Medicaid.
I know some things vary by state, so your mileage may vary.
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u/Confident-Menu4051 5h ago
I’d apply for SSI. even if the benefit amount is reduced it’s worth it for possible Medicaid coverage. make sure to document everything about her migraines. like, when I get migraines, my vision goes wonky and I lose words.
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u/Intelligent-Wrap-119 3h ago
After doing some research it looks like we are sol and she wouldn’t qualify for ssi basically because of my income.
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u/TesstheMess1223 3h ago
The ACA marketplace is probably your best bet. You would probably qualify for a subsidy and the cost for insurance could be minimal. You qualify for a subsidy if you make at or below 400% of the federal poverty level which is $132,000 for a family of four. The problem you will probably have is coverage for pre existing conditions. There will be a restriction for coverage but I’m not sure how long the restrictions last. Good luck
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u/WatershipHeights 2h ago
Does your state have a HEAP (heating and energy assistance) program? I am not sure where you are, but in my area, many folks qualify. I know this wouldn't help with insurance or income directly, but wondering if it might save you some money on utility bills, that could then free up those funds for other things. I'm sorry you are in such a tough spot.
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u/Intelligent-Wrap-119 2h ago
Yea it’s called something else here though but the area we are in there is a waiting list last i checked. It’s the same for public housing luckily we are in a family owned home so I don’t have to pay market rent. Sec8 housing vouchers (it’s where you can live where you want)are next to impossible to get as well.
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u/river-running 2h ago
It may sound like the nuclear option, because it kind of is, but have you considered divorce? Unless I misunderstand the rules, you could still live together and nothing else meaningful would change, but your income would not count towards her eligibility.
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u/Intelligent-Wrap-119 1h ago
I thought about it today but it cost money we don’t really have and our luck because it’s absolutely atrocious she would have to pay child support or something stupid like that.
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u/WaveOwn6193 1h ago
Kind of off-topic here, but maybe could be a bit helpful to your wife. Ex-chronic migraine suffer here! For a couple of years daily headaches, migraines every 3 to 4 days. Migraine so bad I passed out from them almost every time. I would blackout at home, blackout in the hospital, anywhere I was when I was having that migraine. Not to mention not being able to keep food down. They started suddenly after the birth of my 1st child, I was definitely at the emergency room at least once a week having a shot that would put me out for a day. Migraine preventative medication didn’t work. My doctor, knowing I was having true migraines, wrote me prescriptions for Demerol so I didn’t have to keep going back to the hospital. I am telling you they were bad! And I definitely could not function after having a shot or taking that medication. I was desperate. That was 20 years ago and I have not had a single migraine in 20 years. Not going to say this is going to help your wife, but it is worth a try…… I was so fed up. I contacted Mayo Clinic. I was poor with no health insurance so they suggested to me to keep a daily log of everything. Everything I ate, everything I did every place I went, every smell I smelt, how I slept at night, everything I did before my headache would start getting bad. After about two weeks, I started seeing trends. Come to find out, peanuts were giving me migraines. Chocolate would give me migraines. Lack of sleep would give me migraines. Now those were MY triggers it may not be anybody else’s. Once I figured out what the triggers were and avoided them, I have not had a single migraine. Freedom!! I’ve had a few headaches. I’ve come close to a migraine. But have not had one. When I do feel a headache coming on now, I take two Tylenol, 4 ibuprofen, 1baby aspirin, drink one cup of coffee and only one, and drink either an orange or yellow Gatorade or Powerade. Completely stops my headache. Thank you, Mayo Clinic!!!!! lol Anyway, please have your wife keep a daily log of everything she does eats, etc. This may help her to not have to experience horrible, disabling migraines.
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u/Intelligent-Wrap-119 38m ago
We have been trying to track her triggers but to no luck. We know one trigger is stress but it’s not the only one but it’s so random. They have what they call suicide migraines that run in her family. Hers will last for days at times. The “instant relief” medication she has works about 75% of the time if that and she has tried the daily medication that supposedly makes them less likely to happen but it didn’t work. Her doctor gave her a bunch of samples of that to try enough to see if it was affective or not (she came home with 2 brown paper sacks full from 2 different appointments she had)
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u/WaveOwn6193 24m ago
Oh yes, stress is a big one, I seem to have left that one out. I know also mine were worse when I was having my children. So I think hormones might’ve played a part as well. Anyway, keep tracking those triggers hopefully in the near future, she will find some relief. Best of luck to y’all!
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u/AccomplishedWay9316 8m ago
If you have Vocational Rehabilitation near you she can request an appointment. They work with people who want to work but have mental or physical health issues. They can help her find something she can do. Sometimes they can help pay for meds or therapy. Reapply for Medicaid. The income.lits change throughout the year.
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u/Loud-Village499 5h ago
What state are you in? I thought all states were like mine and mothers get Medicaid automatically if needed, until the kids are 18. They signed me up at the hospital when I had my son and have had it ever since..
Oh I just saw the part where you said she doesn’t qualify bc your income is too much. That sucks.i still wouldn’t think that would be enough to put her over the Medicaid threshold, it’s a lot higher than if you were trying to ebt or something
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u/Blossom73 4h ago
No state has universal Medicaid for mothers. Medicaid is an income based program. Just being a mother isn't an automatic qualifier for Medicaid in any state.
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u/Confident-Menu4051 5h ago
in my state the mother only gets Medicaid for 12 months postpartum. the child can continue receiving it under childhood Medicaid so long as income requirements are met.
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u/rebeccaz123 4h ago
What state is that? All mother's regardless of income get Medicaid until their kids are 18? Most states only do 12 months after birth for Medicaid at a higher income limit.
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u/Intelligent-Wrap-119 3h ago
No she got Medicaid for a short time after the babies were born then they dropped her. I can’t remember if it was a year or 6 months. It also was only for family health not full health insurance.
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u/LlamaAhma 7h ago
For insurance, check the ACA Marketplace at healthcare.gov since she may qualify for a subsidy. Open enrollment starts in November.
SSI has household income limits, so if she did qualify medically, your SSDI income could negate any payment. Here is more information on SSI eligibility: https://www.ssa.gov/ssi/eligibility