July is Mental Health Month, intended to help raise public awareness and knowledge on important issues related to mental health and to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health symptoms, diagnoses, and treatment. Unfortunately, most people who suffer from mental health conditions do not receive the help that they need. We are doing our part to help promote resources and information that could be helpful to those who suffer from various mental health problems – whether a veteran or civilian, adult or child. Our law firm takes great pride in helping people who suffer from mental conditions, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and more. There are many resources and benefits available, including insurance, monetary benefits, and treatment available to help people manage and treat their symptoms. Our goal is to help individuals whose mental health conditions interfere with their daily lives, or ability to work so that they can focus on what matters most: treatment and healing. The last thing someone with mental health conditions should have to worry about is the financial burden caused by the inability to work from severe symptoms.
For our July Case Spotlight blog, we are featuring a recent win by attorney Erika Riggs granting Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits and desperately needed Medicare insurance for her client. In February of 2020, Mrs. Riggs received a phone call from a man who needed help and didn’t know where else to turn; he told Erika that he had been approved for long-term disability (LTD) benefits through his employer, but becoming unable to work at the age of 50 with worsening health problems, he was not sure how much longer that benefit would last or whether he would qualify for SSD benefits while receiving LTD benefits.
Attorney Riggs explained his rights, and reassured him that he would have a strong case for SSD and could even collect LTD benefits while awaiting his decision and approval; she immediately got to work on his application. Her client suffers from severe degenerative disc disease in both his neck and back (or cervical and lumbar spine), as well as degenerative joint disease in his knees, chronic pain syndrome, diabetes, and coronary artery disease, having experienced 2 heart attacks. He had always worked and was nervous about receiving the benefits he needed and still supporting his family. Due to his worsening health problems, and inability to work, as a result, he admitted he began feeling depressed and was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. He had been in treatment, and even in rehabilitation services to try to feel better. Erika encouraged him to keep up with his treatment, reporting all symptoms and even medication side-effects, and she worked with him and his doctors to obtain all supportive documents quickly.
In order to help her client receive an award of SSD benefits as soon as possible, Attorney Riggs and her team at Disability Law Group worked quickly to expedite the process, even ensuring the medical evidence relating to his LTD claim was received right away and submitted to Social Security before a decision could be made. Medical Source Statements, and examinations concerning a person’s mental and/or physical health symptoms and limitations, can be especially helpful for LTD and/or SSD cases as they help to confirm what specific work-related limitations an individual has. In just 5 months, Erika and her client received the news that the client was approved for SSD benefits and was able to collect a lump-sum back pay benefit as well as his future monthly benefit and Medicare coverage he needed to continue with critical treatment.
If you or someone you know are suffering from depression or any mental health condition, contact us today for your free consultation. Our attorneys and staff specialize strictly in disability benefits, and we will fight to help you win every benefit you deserve. Whether you were already denied and need to file a request for reconsideration or an appeal, or if you would like help from the very start, contact us today and speak with one of our attorneys to understand your rights.
