Catherine Burrows understands firsthand the frustration that dealting with the Social Security Administration can bring.
For a single person living on a fixed income, meeting their own basic needs can prove challenging. However, families with dependent children living on fixed incomes are often faced with the decision of which basic needs they should even attempt to meet. Should they choose life saving medication or paying the rent? Should they choose buying groceries or keeping the electricity on? Of course, they need the medication, but they also need food and shelter – and basic utilities. Even though Social Security Disability Insurgence (SSDI) benefits are something of a safety net for people who have become disabled and can no longer earn an income, they aren’t always sufficient to keep disabled households afloat during times of financial crisis.
Catherine Burrows of Orange County, Florida was faced with making some of these hard choices recently. Her son is 14 years old and suffers from a seizure disorder. His anti-seizure medication prescription costs $400, which was being paid for by Medicare until Burrows lost those benefits recently. Burrows had been working full time and her income put her over the income limit for her son to receive SSDI or Medicaid. Just as she received a notice from the Social Security Administration (SSA) alerting her that her son’s benefits had been denied, Burrows was diagnosed with lung cancer and had to quit her job. The SSA told Burrows that she had to go through the appeals process to get the benefits reinstated, but Burrows contacted her local media station because she said she cannot wait that long for assistance. If she paid the rent, she would have no money left for the medication. If she bought the medication, they would be facing eviction due to falling behind on the rent.
“It’s very frustrating. This is my child’s life,” Catherine Burrows told WFTV.
WFTV journalists contacted the SSA on Burrows’ behalf, but were also told she would have to go through the appeals process to get her son’s benefits reinstated. The journalists contacted the makers of her son’s anti-seizure medication and the manufacturers donated a 30 day supply of the medication to Burrows’ son. The Florida Department of Children and Families is trying to get Burrows’ son’s medical coverage reinstated while the SSDI appeal goes through the SSA system.
“I’m just hoping, praying with the Lord, it will get better,” Burrows said of her situation.
In 2009, the number of applications for disability insurance surpassed the three million mark for the first time in the history of the program. This reflects an increase of twenty-seven percent across the country. Officials claim one of the reasons for the surge in applications is a shaky economy.