Woman with rare condition told she can work 30 hours a week
Oct 5, 2021 17:43:24 GMT 7
itsmylife08 likes this
Post by bear on Oct 5, 2021 17:43:24 GMT 7
Woman with rare condition denied Disability Support Pension, told she can work 30 hours a week
Disability advocates say the system is hopelessly flawed.
Imagine being at risk of collapsing into unconsciousness at any time but being told you are fit enough to hold something close to a full-time job.
Key points:
• There are 750,000 Australians on the Disability Support Pension
• Advocates have savaged the eligibility requirements, which have locked some applicants into years of "hell"
• A Senate inquiry is reviewing the adequacy of the system
That is the predicament that 'Ronnie', who suffers from a rare condition called tachy-brady syndrome, has found herself in.
It means her heart can beat too fast, too slow and be interrupted by long pauses.
"I am just bedridden — I can't do anything," Ronnie said.
"I can't take phone calls or do text messages, I get blurry eyes as well … and it is random."
Five cardiologists deemed Ronnie unfit for work but, despite this, she was denied the Disability Support Pension (DSP) for four years.
The tables turn
Before 2012, a medical diagnosis was all that was required for a person to move from what was then the Newstart program to the DSP.
After that, a functional assessment process using impairment tables was introduced.
That spread the level of impairment across separate tables, making it harder to qualify.
In addition, a person's condition must be fully treated or stabilised — meaning that it is permanent and cannot be improved through professional care.
Ronnie said although she was extremely unwell she was knocked back every time she applied and told she could work 30 hours a week.
Ronnie said she tried to put the hours in so she would be approved for government payments.
"It has been hell — I was just so desperate," she said.
"I was trying to do the 30 hours like they were telling me I had to do, but unfortunately I was getting sicker and sicker."
Mid North Coast Legal Centre disability law solicitor Kylie Hyde said another hurdle for DSP applicants was finding a doctor who understood the wording needed to fit the criteria.
"It is actually not that based on your condition — it is based on the impairments to your function and a continuing inability to work as a result of those functional impairments," she said.
"It is getting the medical evidence around that that causes a lot of people to falter and not meet the criteria."
Kicked off after 13 years
A Queensland woman, who did not want to be identified, told the ABC she was kicked off the DSP after being on it for 13 years.
She suffers post-traumatic stress disorder and fibromyalgia.
"What happened is I was reviewed in 2016 and it was literally a couple of months after a suicide attempt, so my review was done quite poorly," the woman said.
"I missed my interview and my pension was cancelled — I was no longer eligible.
"So that took me on a two-year journey to try and get it back.
"That journey took my mental health to a whole new level.
"Ironically, I ended up qualifying for mental health because my mental health kept getting worse and worse and worse because of the fight."
After repeated calls for a review, a Senate inquiry was announced in May 2021 into the purpose, intent and adequacy of the DSP.
In its submission, the Australian Department of Social Services talked up the DSP assessment process.
"Decisions on medical eligibility for all DSP claims are informed by assessments undertaken by Services Australia, who employ qualified health and allied health professionals," the department said.
"This process ensures that claimants who are manifestly eligible for DSP are identified early in the process, so their claims can be fast-tracked."
It also said the process reduced red tape and claim assessment times for people who were clearly ineligible for DSP.
In Ronnie's case it took a trip to a tribunal to confirm that the assessors got it wrong.
While she had a win by eventually getting the pension, her story does not have a silver lining.
Ronnie got a pacemaker last year to improve her daily life — and it was then she was given five years to live.
"I am at risk of heart attack and stroke every single day," the 54-year-old said.
"Just fighting every day to stay alive."
www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-05/woman-with-tachy-brady-syndrome-ineligible-for-dsp/100512472
Disability advocates say the system is hopelessly flawed.
Imagine being at risk of collapsing into unconsciousness at any time but being told you are fit enough to hold something close to a full-time job.
Key points:
• There are 750,000 Australians on the Disability Support Pension
• Advocates have savaged the eligibility requirements, which have locked some applicants into years of "hell"
• A Senate inquiry is reviewing the adequacy of the system
That is the predicament that 'Ronnie', who suffers from a rare condition called tachy-brady syndrome, has found herself in.
It means her heart can beat too fast, too slow and be interrupted by long pauses.
"I am just bedridden — I can't do anything," Ronnie said.
"I can't take phone calls or do text messages, I get blurry eyes as well … and it is random."
Five cardiologists deemed Ronnie unfit for work but, despite this, she was denied the Disability Support Pension (DSP) for four years.
The tables turn
Before 2012, a medical diagnosis was all that was required for a person to move from what was then the Newstart program to the DSP.
After that, a functional assessment process using impairment tables was introduced.
That spread the level of impairment across separate tables, making it harder to qualify.
In addition, a person's condition must be fully treated or stabilised — meaning that it is permanent and cannot be improved through professional care.
Ronnie said although she was extremely unwell she was knocked back every time she applied and told she could work 30 hours a week.
Ronnie said she tried to put the hours in so she would be approved for government payments.
"It has been hell — I was just so desperate," she said.
"I was trying to do the 30 hours like they were telling me I had to do, but unfortunately I was getting sicker and sicker."
Mid North Coast Legal Centre disability law solicitor Kylie Hyde said another hurdle for DSP applicants was finding a doctor who understood the wording needed to fit the criteria.
"It is actually not that based on your condition — it is based on the impairments to your function and a continuing inability to work as a result of those functional impairments," she said.
"It is getting the medical evidence around that that causes a lot of people to falter and not meet the criteria."
Kicked off after 13 years
A Queensland woman, who did not want to be identified, told the ABC she was kicked off the DSP after being on it for 13 years.
She suffers post-traumatic stress disorder and fibromyalgia.
"What happened is I was reviewed in 2016 and it was literally a couple of months after a suicide attempt, so my review was done quite poorly," the woman said.
"I missed my interview and my pension was cancelled — I was no longer eligible.
"So that took me on a two-year journey to try and get it back.
"That journey took my mental health to a whole new level.
"Ironically, I ended up qualifying for mental health because my mental health kept getting worse and worse and worse because of the fight."
After repeated calls for a review, a Senate inquiry was announced in May 2021 into the purpose, intent and adequacy of the DSP.
In its submission, the Australian Department of Social Services talked up the DSP assessment process.
"Decisions on medical eligibility for all DSP claims are informed by assessments undertaken by Services Australia, who employ qualified health and allied health professionals," the department said.
"This process ensures that claimants who are manifestly eligible for DSP are identified early in the process, so their claims can be fast-tracked."
It also said the process reduced red tape and claim assessment times for people who were clearly ineligible for DSP.
In Ronnie's case it took a trip to a tribunal to confirm that the assessors got it wrong.
While she had a win by eventually getting the pension, her story does not have a silver lining.
Ronnie got a pacemaker last year to improve her daily life — and it was then she was given five years to live.
"I am at risk of heart attack and stroke every single day," the 54-year-old said.
"Just fighting every day to stay alive."
www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-05/woman-with-tachy-brady-syndrome-ineligible-for-dsp/100512472
