We received a letter today from the Social Security Administration telling us that we are now ineligible to get Supplemental Security Income; and the kicker, the letter claims that we have been ineligible for 27 months, which more than likely means we will have to pay back over $9,000.
The SSA have moved the goal-posts, we were operating under the impression that we were allowed $5,000 in assets, the received letter states that we have over $2,000 in assets; so are ineligible for SSI benefits. The worst thing of all is that our Medicaid (health insurance) for our autistic son is directly linked to his SSI benefits. I’m so fucking angry right now that I am physically shaking!
There is no way in hell we can afford to pay for the case management and therapies out of pocket; case management is $30 for every 15 minutes, therapy is $95 per 30 minute session. I don’t know where to turn next; we will for sure burn through the $2,000 we have in savings, which was being saved for emergencies such as repairs to the car or to make up shortfalls on bills and rent.
Yes, we have had a fair amount of money come through our accounts but it hasn’t remained in our accounts for long, we’ve spent that on clearing debts to improve our financial standing, trying to build a better life for ourselves, vacations and paying for therapies for our son that isn’t covered by insurance or Medicaid. One thing is for sure; we don’t have any spare money to pay back over $9,000, we will definitely appeal this decision, especially as they claim we have $2,000 in our checking account, it’s true that just under $2,200 does go through our checking account each month, but every penny of that gets spent on monthly expenses such as bills, rent, and groceries.
What makes me so angry is that after fighting an 18 month battle to get our son diagnosed with autism in the first place, with healthcare professionals labeling him as quirky and wouldn’t refer us to a specialist and taking another two years to get him setup with all the therapies he needs, now in one fell swoop; we have lost everything. I’m angry because it’s another case of the system failing people in need, our hopes for our son to grow up and have a relatively independent adult life is severely diminished without the counseling and therapy sessions he received until today.