Shirley Uber Caretaker's Case

Mrs. Shirley Uber Caretaker came into our office to discuss her potential disability claim. Mrs. Caretaker is a 56 year old widow, and has a steady work history of 40 years. She was married for 37 years before her husband passed away from a massive heart attack. After her husband’s passing she went into a deep depression. She states that she often feels suicidal and there are days when she will not even get out of her bed. (Kucourses.com, 2016) Dr. Prime, her primary care physician spends fifteen minutes, of her monthly doctor visits, to discuss her mental health issues. He also prescribes her anti-depressant medication and has filled out the necessary paperwork for her to receive a handicap sticker. Mrs. Caretaker was also instructed to use a walker or cane to aide her in walking. (Id.) At the age of 49, she started having significant pain in her knees and was advised that she needed two total knee replacements. When she was 55 and
working as an LPN at a local hospital, she fell. During the process of the fall Mr. Caretaker was reaching for something to stop herself, unfortunately this action caused a filing cabinet to fall on top of her. After the fall she started having pain in her upper and lower back, which is the approximate locations of where the filing cabinet landed on her. (Id.) Mrs. Caretaker stated that she is unable to sit for more than 30 minutes at a time or to stand for more than 30 minutes at a time. She can only walk for 10 minutes at a time. If she dies more than what is listed is causes severe pain. She currently is under the care of three doctors; Dr. Robert Prime, Dr. Teresa Knees, and Dr. Thor Lumbar. She has an income of $1400 a month that is earned by watching two of her grandkids after school. (Id.)
The allowed income to be able to receive disability benefits is $1040 a month. Mrs. Caretaker currently has an income of $1400 a month. This puts her over the allowed income by an amount of $360 a month, this would cause her to be immediately denied for disability benefits. (Disabilityapplicationhelp.org, 2016)
When she had her accident at work (the fall) she never received Worker’s Compensation or unemployment insurance benefits. Her employer instead put her on Short Term Disability for six months. After that period of time Mrs. Caretaker was unable to return due to her inability to perform her work duties. She was awarded Long Term Disability through her employer’s insurance provider. (Kucourses.com, 2016)
Currently Mrs. Caretaker is covered under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), which is due to expire soon. COBRA does not cover all of her medical expenses and at this point she cannot afford to pay for the two MRI that her doctors said she needs.
The apparent impairments that Mrs.
Caretaker has involves her musculoskeletal system and her depression. Musculoskeletal systems problems include pain that affects the muscles, ligaments, tendons, and bones. The causes of the pain can include damage from wear and tear of daily activities, trauma to the areas, falls, fractures, sprains, and dislocations. (WebMD, 2016) Depression is considered a mood disorder that can cause persistent feeling of sadness. It will also affect how you feel, think and behave. Normal day-to-day activities can become troublesome to complete and many have the feeling that their life is not worth living. (Mayoclinic.org, 2016)
Mrs. Caretaker’s work history is 40 years steady. Her jobs have included much physical work. The patients that she cared for needed help with their daily activities. These activities include getting in and out of bed, getting on and off the toilet, and showering. Her long history of physical work could very well be a contributing factor to her musculoskeletal
problems.
To do a complete analysis of Mrs. Caretaker’s case additional information is required. Medical records from all three of her treating physicians need to be obtained. Any and all paperwork concerning her fall and subsequent Short and Long term disabilities. It would also be very helpful if Mrs. Caretaker could provide us with her tax records, check stubs or an earnings report from her last employer, and any medical bills that she has in her passion.