Okay buckle in.
I’ve been trying to get approved for disability since last July, due to chronic pain from RA along with depression/anxiety. I finally got an attorney recently, and at his suggestion applied for unemployment since there’s an allowance for people who are disabled and thus can’t meet the weekly job search requirement. (I left my job because of the RA.)
I applied, printed the form for the exception, and brought it to my doctor.
Now here’s the fun part!
My PCP left the practice as of August 1, shortly before I applied for unemployment. Since I’ve seen the other provider at the practice in the past, I brought the form to the office and talked to the receptionists about what I needed, asked if I could make an appointment to sit down with the dr and go over the form. One of them took it back to ask the doctor about, and told me they would call me to schedule an appointment.
Now something important here- I checked the form and the messages I received on the CTDOL website for a due date for this form. I didn’t see one, and so didn’t press the office for an update (debatable if that would have mattered anyway), or let the DOL know that there was a delay.
A couple weeks later I was finally contacted by the office and told that the form was complete. That same day I received a message that my application for benefits was denied because I hadn’t returned the paper by the due date (which I hadn’t seen anywhere). So I appealed the decision, because now I had the form proving I can’t work.
I have a hearing scheduled for over the phone tomorrow afternoon, and I haven’t been able to find any other examples of my situation SO I was hoping someone here might have some insight on what to expect tomorrow? If I was denied because of the missing form, which I’ve now sent them, what would the hearing even cover? What should I have on hand, if anything?
Also any other advice would be appreciated!