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Obesity qualifies you for disability, and all the related benefits, including surgery

So many people have insurance exclusions or lack of financial resources to get approved for WLS. But It can easily and successfully be argued and given approval if you follow Social Security guidelines.

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I qualified as disabled for other reasons, mostly relating to PTSD because of a savagely abusive childhood and multiple suicide attempts & hospitalizations. But in all that shame and depression, all that feeling worthless, I never thought about a surgical cure for obesity. I was a thin adult most of my life, and gained weight after giving birth, which I was able to lose through Weight Watchers. But of course, I gained it back because I wasn't addressing the underlying issue.

I remember the insults and mockery from people who had known me as thin, including jealous siblings who wanted me to fail, but I was conditioned from childhood to believe I was worthless. Some of you may have had the kind of mother I had, where you couldn't say one public thing about a success you'd had without being told to shut up and quit bragging, then adding a list of your flaws for good measure.

Let me say it took a long time to understand my mother's motivations. Many years later I accumulated a number of anecdotes from her mother and siblings and realized how hard they hammered on her to believe she was ugly. She was, by the way, a natural beauty, with legs a movie star would envy. But man, did her detractors do everything they could to shut her up. She'd known my father since primary school and he got his hooks into her good, making sure she did everything to pleasure him and once in a while, rewarding her with something like a mink bolero to keep her attention.

But what had happened was, in 1941 after Pearl Harbor, they both began to race against time to get married before he was called up. He needed legal approval from his parents; curiously, girls could marry at 18, but boys couldn't marry until they were 21. Anyway, they got married and while they waited for the war to heat up, she became pregnant with the first of her 8 children and gave birth in late 1942.

She was tied to the children, the housework, the farming, canning, picking berries in the commercial fields to put in the rainy day can, obedient in every way women were supposed to be in those days. In the meantime, my dad traveled for a living and had many girlfriends in many towns, which I found out much later.

My mom believed that it was her sex appeal that kept their marriage together, or that she had to be sexy in order to keep his attention. Physically, I resemble my mom and she noticed that as she was watching me grow up. So she did everything she could do to wipe out my self-esteem.

That's a simplified version of the story, but it's MY story, and it was enough for me to recognize all the attention I got when I was thin, and how little I got when I became obese. This trajectory led me into a decidedly self-destructive life. Nuff said about that.

I thank god for the kindly doctor who just offhandedly suggested I should have WLS because I was 100 pounds overweight. This is where my knee-jerk obedience to authority figures came in handy.

My obesity led to my disability and numerous health problems, including pre-diabetes. Because of that doctor, because he understood Social Security's rules, he was able to write the letter that saved my life.

For anyone here who is frustrated about the process, do you know you can go to a Social Security office and tell them you have a debilitating disease that is standing in the way of your very existence? You can. And if they say no, there are more steps built into SSA approval that will move you forward, and if you stick it out and get a Social Security case manager to help you, you can win.

The hard part is admiting you have a disability. That's just like the alcoholic who has to admit he's powerless over alcohol. If we weren't powerless over our eating disorder, we'd all be thin. Res ipsa loquitur."The thing speaks for itself."
 
So many people have insurance exclusions or lack of financial resources to get approved for WLS. But It can easily and successfully be argued and given approval if you follow Social Security guidelines.

View attachment 5560

I qualified as disabled for other reasons, mostly relating to PTSD because of a savagely abusive childhood and multiple suicide attempts & hospitalizations. But in all that shame and depression, all that feeling worthless, I never thought about a surgical cure for obesity. I was a thin adult most of my life, and gained weight after giving birth, which I was able to lose through Weight Watchers. But of course, I gained it back because I wasn't addressing the underlying issue.

I remember the insults and mockery from people who had known me as thin, including jealous siblings who wanted me to fail, but I was conditioned from childhood to believe I was worthless. Some of you may have had the kind of mother I had, where you couldn't say one public thing about a success you'd had without being told to shut up and quit bragging, then adding a list of your flaws for good measure.

Let me say it took a long time to understand my mother's motivations. Many years later I accumulated a number of anecdotes from her mother and siblings and realized how hard they hammered on her to believe she was ugly. She was, by the way, a natural beauty, with legs a movie star would envy. But man, did her detractors do everything they could to shut her up. She'd known my father since primary school and he got his hooks into her good, making sure she did everything to pleasure him and once in a while, rewarding her with something like a mink bolero to keep her attention.

But what had happened was, in 1941 after Pearl Harbor, they both began to race against time to get married before he was called up. He needed legal approval from his parents; curiously, girls could marry at 18, but boys couldn't marry until they were 21. Anyway, they got married and while they waited for the war to heat up, she became pregnant with the first of her 8 children and gave birth in late 1942.

She was tied to the children, the housework, the farming, canning, picking berries in the commercial fields to put in the rainy day can, obedient in every way women were supposed to be in those days. In the meantime, my dad traveled for a living and had many girlfriends in many towns, which I found out much later.

My mom believed that it was her sex appeal that kept their marriage together, or that she had to be sexy in order to keep his attention. Physically, I resemble my mom and she noticed that as she was watching me grow up. So she did everything she could do to wipe out my self-esteem.

That's a simplified version of the story, but it's MY story, and it was enough for me to recognize all the attention I got when I was thin, and how little I got when I became obese. This trajectory led me into a decidedly self-destructive life. Nuff said about that.

I thank god for the kindly doctor who just offhandedly suggested I should have WLS because I was 100 pounds overweight. This is where my knee-jerk obedience to authority figures came in handy.

My obesity led to my disability and numerous health problems, including pre-diabetes. Because of that doctor, because he understood Social Security's rules, he was able to write the letter that saved my life.

For anyone here who is frustrated about the process, do you know you can go to a Social Security office and tell them you have a debilitating disease that is standing in the way of your very existence? You can. And if they say no, there are more steps built into SSA approval that will move you forward, and if you stick it out and get a Social Security case manager to help you, you can win.

The hard part is admiting you have a disability. That's just like the alcoholic who has to admit he's powerless over alcohol. If we weren't powerless over our eating disorder, we'd all be thin. Res ipsa loquitur."The thing speaks for itself."
You are truly amazing. I thank you for sharing so much of yourself on this forum! I am doing what has become normal, up for hours while my family sleeps. I feel like, a cat, as naps are my bestfriend.
 
So many people have insurance exclusions or lack of financial resources to get approved for WLS. But It can easily and successfully be argued and given approval if you follow Social Security guidelines.

View attachment 5560

I qualified as disabled for other reasons, mostly relating to PTSD because of a savagely abusive childhood and multiple suicide attempts & hospitalizations. But in all that shame and depression, all that feeling worthless, I never thought about a surgical cure for obesity. I was a thin adult most of my life, and gained weight after giving birth, which I was able to lose through Weight Watchers. But of course, I gained it back because I wasn't addressing the underlying issue.

I remember the insults and mockery from people who had known me as thin, including jealous siblings who wanted me to fail, but I was conditioned from childhood to believe I was worthless. Some of you may have had the kind of mother I had, where you couldn't say one public thing about a success you'd had without being told to shut up and quit bragging, then adding a list of your flaws for good measure.

Let me say it took a long time to understand my mother's motivations. Many years later I accumulated a number of anecdotes from her mother and siblings and realized how hard they hammered on her to believe she was ugly. She was, by the way, a natural beauty, with legs a movie star would envy. But man, did her detractors do everything they could to shut her up. She'd known my father since primary school and he got his hooks into her good, making sure she did everything to pleasure him and once in a while, rewarding her with something like a mink bolero to keep her attention.

But what had happened was, in 1941 after Pearl Harbor, they both began to race against time to get married before he was called up. He needed legal approval from his parents; curiously, girls could marry at 18, but boys couldn't marry until they were 21. Anyway, they got married and while they waited for the war to heat up, she became pregnant with the first of her 8 children and gave birth in late 1942.

She was tied to the children, the housework, the farming, canning, picking berries in the commercial fields to put in the rainy day can, obedient in every way women were supposed to be in those days. In the meantime, my dad traveled for a living and had many girlfriends in many towns, which I found out much later.

My mom believed that it was her sex appeal that kept their marriage together, or that she had to be sexy in order to keep his attention. Physically, I resemble my mom and she noticed that as she was watching me grow up. So she did everything she could do to wipe out my self-esteem.

That's a simplified version of the story, but it's MY story, and it was enough for me to recognize all the attention I got when I was thin, and how little I got when I became obese. This trajectory led me into a decidedly self-destructive life. Nuff said about that.

I thank god for the kindly doctor who just offhandedly suggested I should have WLS because I was 100 pounds overweight. This is where my knee-jerk obedience to authority figures came in handy.

My obesity led to my disability and numerous health problems, including pre-diabetes. Because of that doctor, because he understood Social Security's rules, he was able to write the letter that saved my life.

For anyone here who is frustrated about the process, do you know you can go to a Social Security office and tell them you have a debilitating disease that is standing in the way of your very existence? You can. And if they say no, there are more steps built into SSA approval that will move you forward, and if you stick it out and get a Social Security case manager to help you, you can win.

The hard part is admiting you have a disability. That's just like the alcoholic who has to admit he's powerless over alcohol. If we weren't powerless over our eating disorder, we'd all be thin. Res ipsa loquitur."The thing speaks for itself."
I have applied for disability a couple of times and was denied even with an attorney. I was born missing my L-5 and S-1 so that was my first back surgery in 2015 and have had 4 more since. I have type 2 diabetes, hypertension and high BP, sleep apnea and the list goes on...not to mention I was 208 lbs and 5'1. I'm only 54 so in order to qualify for Medicaid in Texas is to have a child under 18 without disability. As much as I love Texas it sux lol
 
I'd get a doctor's letter and then retain an attorney through one of the supportive groups that don't charge for the service. Usually when an attorney is in the picture, the agency takes notice and a lot of care to make sure they're not violating your civil rights, and pursuing a necessary medical procedure IS a civil right. Good luck. Don't give up.
 
In Seattle we have an organization called Attorney Referral which is an arm of the American Bar Association. You can always call your local Bar Association in your state to get a referral. We also have two other groups that specialize in housing and disability.

Nationwide, you can call 211 and you'll be connected to peers and experts, and that is also a free service.

As I mentioned earlier, I was urged by my doctor/surgeon to have bariatric surgery and he wrote a letter to the Federal Government branch that specializes in approving or denying surgery, and that request was subsequently approved.

But I'd start with dialing 211 and see if you'll be given referrals, or passed on up the line.

You can also check at the hospital where you think you'll have your surgery. Ask them if they have a program that underwrites part or all of the surgical costs. I remember reading about this long ago, and when I had my surgery, I didn't pay a dime. I had Medicare, Medicaid, and the hospital program paid the balance, including two years of after-care to make sure I was okay.

Additionally, and this isn't going to be available to everyone, my hospital is a campus of the University of Washington Medical School. So there were interns and medical students who wanted to be involved, and that couldn't happen unless I got the surgery.

After I reached my target weight, I was sent to plastic surgery because I wanted a panniculectomy. I was examined by a group of doctors who had seen others whose skin bag sagged down to their knees. So they told me I looked fine and didn't need that drastic step. Over time, I realized they were right, because my pannis shrank a lot on its own and by working out at the gym and at home, my old figure mostly came back.

I know a lot of people suffer great problems with loose skin after surgery and go for the plastics. You can actually read their stories in this group's archives. A lot of them get the surgery. Some of them go through a great deal of pain because of the loose skin, and pain is something doctors pay attention to and seek solutions for.

As I said originally, it's worth asking.

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