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[LiberalEsto]

8. A woman I know lost her mother, for whom she was the caregiver

Then she lost the home because her siblings decided to sell it and split the proceeds,
Then she lost her job and health benefits.
One of the neighbors took her in, or she would have been homeless.

Her untreated diabetes got worse because she couldn't afford medical care.
She could no longer see to drive, and couldn't see to fill out the forms to apply for SSDI. Another neighbor helped her fill out the forms. Her brother and sister wouldn't lift a finger to help her, or take her in.

Social Security rejected her because they thought she could still work as a cashier or bank teller.
They ignored the fact that her vision was so poor that she couldn't tell a dollar bill from a twenty. The neighbor, a retired lawyer, helped her appeal, and after more than a year of hassles she finally just started receiving it.

Now she's getting treatment for her eyes, but it's likely that the lack of early medical care cost her most of her eyesight permanently. They're trying to salvage what little sight she has left. And her diabetes has been brought under control, for the most part.

If it weren't for her wonderful neighbors, she could have ended up blind and homeless, or dead from additional diabetic complications.

Had she been able to get SSDI when she initially applied, she could have gone to the eye doctor sooner and been able to retain a little more of her eyesight.

She certainly didn't CHOOSE to collect SSDI -- she ended up desperately needing it in order to survive, through no fault of her own.