Just got off the phone with Social Security and found out that I likely don't qualify for my infant daughter's SSI disability support because I make $400/month more than the supposed maximum allowed.

My daughter has a congenital heart defect, chromosomal disorder and several other health issues to work through

She has been hospitalized since birth and has been on breathing support for most of her first 8 months of life,

Even though I made all the "right" decisions for our family's safety and financial security:

Scrimped and saved to have a good emergency fund

Got a secure union job that fights for regular pay raises and COLA adjustments

Don't own a car, bike and bus for all travel

The absolute cheapest rent I can find for an acceptable one-bedroom apartment

Live in a city with access to a children's hospital for my daughter's multiple health needs and specialists she will need for the rest of her life

Piled on to the fact that my wife and I have no family financial support because I grew up out of extreme poverty and my wife is an immigrant with her whole family also impoverished.

Any Hexbears experienced with this process? Was told I could possibly appeal after getting a probable rejection letter in the mail.

    • Quimby [any, any]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I think that may not necessarily be the case. Here it says that deemed income is used to determine if you qualify for SSI as the parent of a disabled child, and deemed income is the adjusted income mentioned before. https://www.ssa.gov/ssi/spotlights/spot-deeming.htm

        • Quimby [any, any]
          ·
          2 years ago

          oh, that is a good reminder that OP should also look into state benefits, if this hasn't already been explored. some states may have more generous benefits and entirely different thresholds too. it is total bullshit, of course, how opaque this all is.

          @BGDelirium