Disability Hearing

DH had his disability hearing today. I’m amazed, but it sounds extremely hopeful. Apparently there were statements from numerous doctors regarding the fact that he can not function on his own, and if he was required to live independently, he would likely require a group home.

So…..it sounds like….DH made "too much" money last year at his security job. But what that means is, that if the judge finds that DH is/was disabled, he would still get the back pay, and he would be "on disability" but he would not receive any payments until/unless his income went down (i.e., he starts working less or loses his job).

Apparently the attorney made it sound like the back pay is almost a sure thing (it would be about $18000 for us!) and then if he loses his job, he could just fill out an application to have his benefits redetermined and he would be getting about $1400/mo!!!!!!!

I’m still not confident. I’ll believe it when I see it J

But DH told me that the attorney told him "in two to four weeks, things will be a lot better for you guys…." And that she (the attorney) was very confident and said that everything went exactly as she wanted it to…..and that this particular judge "likes" when a person keeps trying to work despite their disability……

This would be potentially triply good news, because where DH is working, they have a "point system", where if you are late, you get 1 point, if you call in on a weekday, you get 1 point, if you call in on a weekend or a holiday, you get 2 points, and when you get to 10 points, you are fired. Yesterday, DH called in to work again….and that makes 9 points. So….potentially, if he gets fired, we might not be completely "up a creek".

And also….I had just decided that I was going to raid my 401k from my previous job to pay a couple of things off (like the engine) (and the $1400 hospital bill from last year’s hospitalization for DH)….I know it’s a bad idea, but things are so very tight right now that there is no other way I could ever pay for these things. I really did not want to take that tax hit, but didn’t see a lot of alternatives short of bankruptcy….and I don’t want to file bankruptcy on bills that are local—does that make sense? Like the 4-wheeler loan, that’s with a local credit union….and the hospital bill….with a local small-town hospital….I just couldn’t stand the thought of hurting my local economy in any way (but hurting a big bank isn’t so personal….I guess…-).) For the most part, I really felt like the 401k was the best route, even if I had to rob from my future.....

Now I think I’m gonna wait 2-4 weeks and see what happens……