SSI and head banging moments, I thought ins co's were bad, SSI is worse!

[Satori]

So I finally got the SSI approval letter in the mail almost 2 months after they told me dd was approved. The backpay has to go into a dedicated account and can only be used to pay for things related to the approved disability. Well dd has 2 major disabilities, each needs different things. The letter did not any where tell me which disability or combo of got her approved. So I call up SSI and ask them and they tell me to ask her Dr because they can't tell me. umm... yeah, I know one file says she's severely disabled, no clue what the other says and I don't really care (really, as long as he writes her scripts I don't care). I shouldn't have to track down Dr's and ask them when YOU are the ones who decided she was approved! They even sent us for a separate eval and THAT Dr never even sent a copy of the eval to our Dr when they were supposed to (she told us before we left dd would qualify). So all I could do was leave a msg for her case manager what ever who despite 5 calls over 2 weeks never returned a single call and let dd's file sit on her desk for 6 weeks before doing anything so now I have to deal with the dedicated account crap because it pushed us out to 6+ months which means large enough back pay to require the account and I need SSI's permission to use the money And get this, its REALLY screwed up, you can use the back pay to pay for movie tickets and TV's but not day to day things like rent and food yeah, its that messed up.

I know it will get used but it just annoys me that they tell me what I can use the money on while they sat around for months and months making a decision and no I can't use it to pay for stuff incurred while waiting for a decision. Whatever..

[~cassie~]

That sucks. How do they even know what you spent the money on?
Our son does get SSI and has since he was 6 mths old and they have never asked for any verification as to where the money went. We have used it for hotel bills and gas money for his specialist appts several hours away and in really tight months we have used it for groceries. Sorry you got a crappy worker, ours is great. Maybe they can let you switch case workers?

[Lindsay1234]

Our experience is the same as Cassies. They havent asked for proof or anything but ours goes to buying things like gas (for appts), med supplies, etc. I also used it for getting her things like a carseat because she needed one with wide sides and a easily removable cover.

Our worker said we can even spend it on utility bills and rent because its something to keep dd2 warm and dry!

Can you get another worker?

[Satori]

I can use the monthly check for bills but the back pay is whats being limited and I have to keep receipts for a yearly audit for the back pay.

[~cassie~]

Wow, I wonder why it would only apply for the back pay? I guess since it is such a large amount, but it sucks

[youngwife]

We are finding ourself in this position as well. I have a question..

Is the local office at liberty to determine what's eligible? This seems quite subjective!

[Eyelet]

Regarding back pay... My son has been receiving SSI for 9 years and also received back pay after he was initially approved. I was never asked what the money was used for or had to account for anything, either for back pay or monthly payments. I'm not sure if my experience is typical. My only requirement is that I have to send them pay stubs every month to make sure our income still qualifies.