HIV + Guys and Disability

[orlandoneg]

I understand that being HIV+ doesn't immediately qualify anyone for Social Security Disability benefits, especially since medications are making it "easier" to manage the illness. But, I'm curious if anyone here has qualified for disability benefits (either Social Security, or via private disability insurance) since becoming HIV positive.

The reason I ask is that if I should ever become poz, I would take some comfort in knowing that I wouldn't have to worry about staying employed full-time and taking care of my health issues.

Lastly, if any of you are HIV+ and on disability, how manageable are your personal finances? I appreciate any insights you may have.

[Pig Bottom]

I had a friend who did qualify for Social Security Disability but only because he was diagnosed with Aids, and not just HIV, he is okay now and I think undetectable and still gets SSD. He has Medicare and I think that covers most of his medical expenses, but he has trouble making ends meet.

I have another friend who is working and he doesn't make that much but I think he qualifies for free HIV Medication, I think he used to get health services through the Ryan White act. I think he has a lot of trouble when he first got insurance through work and it being a preexisting condition and getting a lot of extra bills for lab blood work and doctors bills and medication copays.

Edited January 30, 2012 by Pig Bottom

[chipozfun]

I have been getting SSDI since mid-2003 and I think I was diagnosed with Aids about 1999. The thing it is get very hard to get it now because of how much longer can live with this handicap. But you have remember that no matter what they won't start paying you till have not been able to work at all for the past 6 months. I got a blood clot in my leg and my doctor after 3 months would not give a wild guess on when he would let me go back work, so just for the hell it applied for it figuring I would get turned down.

I had many friends try to get it and waited 3 months to be turn down and have to get layers to fight for it. They all after 9 months to a year did get it with back pay and I was 100% sure I wouldn't get it (I sorta didn't want it any how I was grossing around $1000 a week and SSDI was going to pay me almost half that) Well 45 days after I gave them my paper work i got a call saying that I was approved and I could not believe all my a friends had to fight for theirs and didn't. They all could not believe i had no problems plus to make things worse was once they knew how much I was going to get a month I'm lucky they didn't kill me. I got twice the amount they did.

[Randy]

I tested poz in June of 97. I now have ADIS and have developed a seizure disorder. This was more then a year and half ago. Good Luck GET AN ATTORNEY.

[BarebackJimmy]

The Social Security admin told me that I'm simply too healthy to get Disability or SSI. Also, since I spent so many years being Self-Employed [and somehow failing to pay my taxes] I can't get SS at all unless I go back to work somewhere, anywhere, for three more years. The shit they don't tell ya when you're young will catch up with ya :-(

Yes, 'simply' being Poz doesn't get you SSI, or many 'benefits' at all.

One good one though, is a Federal program called Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA). I get the impression that for some reason the US Govt doesn't really want to see homeless people with AIDS living out on the street.

I don't have all the details [see govt site for details lol] but for me and a couple of other Poz guys in town, if our income falls below a certain amount, they pay ALL of your rent, up to a certain amount. Additionally, I was recently told that being in the HOPWA Program gets you further ahead if you apply a for Section 8 Housing Voucher [sect 8 is a program that many US landlords will accept since they're not only guaranteed to get their rent each month, but if/when a tenant trashes the apartment, Section 8 pays for most if not all of the repairs.

Having an income that is now exactly ZERO Dollars a month, I also get a whopping $200 in Food Stamps. That may not go all that far for some people, but it feeds me AND my two cats [as long as they eat People Food LOL, the govt won't pay for pet food]

There are even programs that'll help with or pay all of your utility bills. Now if only they'd pay my Internet Bill, I could be said to have it made.

Hopefully, telling of my little 'errors in life' can help someone, someday. Good luck to all :-)

[ked239]

As usual, when I see posts like these, I am relieved to live in the UK. We do have pretty strict conditions on the new employment and support allowance, and I only know one guy who is eligible for that in relation to HIV, as he'd developed AIDS in the early 1990s, but with all treatments, tests, medication etc being free, there's a lot less to be worried about than in the US.

[bjbottom]

Although I am not Poz, a number of friends in San Francisco, Chicago, and Milwaukee are. I know many that have AIDS that are on disability or receiving some type of assistance (medical and dental services, medications, housing or rent assistance, legal assistance, meals, transportation, etc). Generally, I have found that being HIV+ or having AIDS is not enough to receive SSI, SSD, or long-term disability insurance payments. It really depends upon your general health, medical conditions, income, employment status, your ability or inability to work, as well as where you live that will determine what benefits you might be eligible to receive. In other words, being HIV+ or even having an AIDS diagnosis will not ensure you Social Security disability benefits unless you are physically unable to work, but you may still qualify for a number of local benefits depending on where you live.

[rawTOP]

Keep working and make your own money to the extent you can. Too many of the guys I see who appear to be on SSI don't keep themselves busy with work. With all the free time they figure they'll just fuck all day - which leads them to PNP... And before long they're seriously addicted to meth. They sorta just waste away and die at that point (takes years, but too often it's a one way road). It's really sad. All they had to do was keep busy with work.

Now, medical benefits, food stamps, etc... That's all good... As is income support for guys who are so sick they can't work. But be careful with handouts that don't require you to work - it's better to be self-sufficient IMHO...

[masc4raw]

Keep working and make your own money to the extent you can. Too many of the guys I see who appear to be on SSI don't keep themselves busy with work. With all the free time they figure they'll just fuck all day - which leads them to PNP... And before long they're seriously addicted to meth. They sorta just waste away and die at that point (takes years, but too often it's a one way road). It's really sad. All they had to do was keep busy with work.

Now, medical benefits, food stamps, etc... That's all good... As is income support for guys who are so sick they can't work. But be careful with handouts that don't require you to work - it's better to be self-sufficient IMHO...

Totally agree with your statement. I was diagnosed full blown about 15+years ago. Today i am alive and well. Went from having 91 T Cells, KS, viral load well over 3mil. To being undetectable, T Cells well over 900, no other AIDS related issues.

When I was first diagnosed, I called some friends who were already living with HIV/AIDS and the first thing all of them told me was to quit working and go on SSI. Their reason, was that if I waited to after I started taking meds, I would not qualify since I was healthy once again.

So in comes my analytical mind: 1 I get healthy and now I can live countless years. What is the point if I can only make a living by what the GVT gives me? I am a gadget fan, and even 15+ years ago, when the gadgets were not as prolific as they are today, I did wander how i was going to buy them. 2. I like having control over my own doctors and my treatment. Currently I have friends that are still on meds that were given to us about 20 yrs ago. When I ask why they are still using those drugs, "it's why my doctor says I should take".

I have no doubt that had I taken my friends' advice I'd be dead by now. I instead lead a healthy life, do what I want to do, own my biz. Pay my taxes and not wait around for hand outs from Gvts agencies. Not all of us can be as "lucky" as I am, but we all have a choice to make it better. I also don't believe that everyone on SSI is doing it just because they are lazy, but let's face it, a lof them are doing it just for that same fucking reason. I have a friend that I recently reconnected with after many years and he is a prime example of gvt abuse.

[rawTOP]

I also don't believe that everyone on SSI is doing it just because they are lazy, but let's face it, a lof them are doing it just for that same fucking reason.

A few months ago I moved from a upper middle class neighborhood where almost no one was on public assistance to the middle of Harlem where "getting your own" / working the system is a way of life for many people. It's opened my eyes to the problem and now I see it more clearly even outside Harlem - for example in a fair number of the guys I hookup with. The Republicans have some valid points when they talk about abuse of the sytem - though I think they'd make a huge mess of things of they had half a chance - comments like Romney's "47%" comment show they see it as a bigger problem than it really is. Still, there is a bit of a problem with abuse of the system and things like drug testing for recipients of significant government assistance (more than medical and food) makes sense to me.

[masc4raw]

A few months ago I moved from a upper middle class neighborhood where almost no one was on public assistance to the middle of Harlem where "getting your own" / working the system is a way of life for many people. It's opened my eyes to the problem and now I see it more clearly even outside Harlem - for example in a fair number of the guys I hookup with. The Republicans have some valid points when they talk about abuse of the sytem - though I think they'd make a huge mess of things of they had half a chance - comments like Romney's "47%" comment show they see it as a bigger problem than it really is. Still, there is a bit of a problem with abuse of the system and things like drug testing for recipients of significant government assistance (more than medical and food) makes sense to me.

Fully agree with getting those people tested for drugs. On the other hand, then we enter into a very different area. For instance, say I was on SSI, as many of us know, our HIV drugs cause all sorts of issues with sleep and nausea. at least for a few of us, marijuana then comes into play. I have tried using marinol (sp) and the only thing I got out of it was the munchies and it tooks about 5 pills to get me there. So it woud not do anything to help me sleep. I would hate for those people who are like me and have trouble sleeping but find some comfort in pot. My doctor refused to give me prescription sleep meds. He told me to try Benadryl or something else. He is one of those that does not believe in over medicating, at all. He was kind enough to say, "i cannot approve of you using pot, but if does help, then by all means do it".

This is probably one of the best threads in a while. Thank you. It is good to see this type of the thread where we are more than just sex pigs.

[rawTOP]

Fully agree with getting those people tested for drugs. On the other hand, then we enter into a very different area. For instance, say I was on SSI, as many of us know, our HIV drugs cause all sorts of issues with sleep and nausea. at least for a few of us, marijuana then comes into play.

Good point. Though I would hope medical marijuana could be handled differently than other drugs. Here in Manhattan the DA is refusing to prosecute cases of pot possession when the quantities are small - he says it's a waste of his office's resources. But SSI is federal and the feds aren't so reasonable.

[AgentColby]

Keep working and make your own money to the extent you can. Too many of the guys I see who appear to be on SSI don't keep themselves busy with work. With all the free time they figure they'll just fuck all day - which leads them to PNP... And before long they're seriously addicted to meth. They sorta just waste away and die at that point (takes years, but too often it's a one way road). It's really sad. All they had to do was keep busy with work.

Now, medical benefits, food stamps, etc... That's all good... As is income support for guys who are so sick they can't work. But be careful with handouts that don't require you to work - it's better to be self-sufficient IMHO...

There are far too many men with HIV who are abusing the SSI system. If you are HIV+ and healthy, you should be WORKING. It is unfair to be taking SSI if you are capable of working a job. There are many people in this country who are actually disabled but are denied SSI. Far too many people are abusing this benefit.

My best friend is an HIV social worker and the things I have heard makes me angry. He tells me of the many HIV+ clients who walk into his door wanting to get SSI when there is nothing wrong with them and the people who truly need it are being denied.

Let's face it, being on SSI isn't paradise. The money you will receive barely covers living expenses and it forces you to accept other benefits to make ends meet.

[AgentColby]

A few months ago I moved from a upper middle class neighborhood where almost no one was on public assistance to the middle of Harlem where "getting your own" / working the system is a way of life for many people. It's opened my eyes to the problem and now I see it more clearly even outside Harlem - for example in a fair number of the guys I hookup with. The Republicans have some valid points when they talk about abuse of the sytem - though I think they'd make a huge mess of things of they had half a chance - comments like Romney's "47%" comment show they see it as a bigger problem than it really is. Still, there is a bit of a problem with abuse of the system and things like drug testing for recipients of significant government assistance (more than medical and food) makes sense to me.

I myself live in Harlem and living here has completely opened my eyes about the welfare system and find myself agreeing more with Republikkkans about welfare. I do believe in helping out those who are in tough times but our system enables people. I find myself seething at seeing young and perfectly healthy people abusing the system because they just do not want to work. Meanwhile I am slaving myself at the office for 10+ hours Mon-Friday so they can have a leisurely life?

I support having welfare and other assistants for those who need it but in many cases, there should be a deadline.