We have experienced multitude of problems with my 26 year old disabled son’s SSI/SSDI benefits, Medicaid, and Medical Assistance. The following agencies continue to make unbelievable systematic errors time after time: Maryland Department of Human Services, Social Security Administration, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
My son has lived in the State of Maryland since September of 2017. He has received SSI since August 2014. He also receives SSDI disability benefits under his disabled father's record. In the state of Maryland, he automatically receives Medicaid as well because he is an SSI recipient. Maryland Department of Human Services denied him Medicaid for approximately a year because for some bizarre reason they had his old Illinois address in the system. After months of writing letters and phone calls, we finally got the problem corrected.
My son’s Medicare premiums are also supposed to be covered by the state of Maryland. Unfortunately, his medicare premiums was taken out of his SSDI check for two years now. From September 2017 through September 2019, the $135 monthly Medicare premium has been taken out of his SSDI check. The only time his Medicare premium was picked up by the state of Maryland was June 2018, July 2018, August 2018, September 2018, and October 2018. Therefore, he is owed in excess of $2,000. This is probably related to the issue in the above paragraph.
Even worse, we just received a letter from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services claiming the he owes them $542.00 for Medicare Premium. So if he does not pay this bill, he will lose his Medicare.
To make matters even worse his SSDI check was cut this month because Social Security Administration claims that he was overpaid $20,000 in 2008. This overpayment was already resolved in December 2009. I still have the SS letter from December 2009. We appealed and sent all supporting documentation to Social Security Administration. Social Security Administration lost his appeal form despite the fact that we resubmitted the appeal form three times within the 60 day requirement. They still suspended his benefits anyway.
As you can see, we have been experiencing all these issues. This is gross incompetence on the part of many agencies.
Hi,
I'm sorry to hear about all of the problems you've been having.
My only area of expertise is Social Security benefits, so I can't give you any advice about Medicaid's rules. The agency administering Medicaid determines whether or not they can pay a person's Medicare premiums.
If you filed a timely appeal with Social Security with regard to the overpayment they say your son owes, then you should be entitled to receive a determination on your request. If the paperwork was lost, then you'll likely need to be persistent in pursuit of the appeal. You may also want to consider filing for waiver (forgiveness) of the overpayment (https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-632.html).
Best, Jerry
