My husband died in 2013. I was 58. I began getting survivor benefits at age 60.
I had applied for disability in 2012 and had been denied over and over,final denial Dec 2015
.
I recently reapplied for disability benefits and was approved in May 2017....
-- disabled Date listed as Dec 2015..
{ Which I do not understand the approval date the same as the last denial date.}

Should my benefits go up ?
Also
should social security have to pay my medical bills that came Dec 2015 to present?

I was hospitalized Nov 2016 and had a 60,000.00 bill.. The hospital wrote off a percent . I am still accountable for 14.000.00
Thank you

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

You will only be eligible for the higher of your widow's rate or your disability rate, not both, so your total benefits will only go up if your disability rate is higher than what you've been receiving as a widow.

Social Security won't pay your medical bills, but you will qualify for Medicare coverage after you've been entitled to disability benefits for 2 years (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/disability/dapproval4.html).

Best, Jerry