Securing Public Benefits for Sanila

Meet Sanila, an older adult who insisted that she was not receiving her full amount of public benefits. She was receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI), but the Social Security Administration (SSA) denied her coverage of retirement and Medicare benefits. She tried resolving the issue on her own, but was unsuccessful. That is when Sanila reached out to PSLS. PSLS learned that Sanila’s earnings record was missing five credits (quarters) of work to be eligible for Medicare and retirement benefits. PSLS advocated for Sanila and requested that the SSA find records of her past employment. We tracked down information for Sanila’s former employers, provided it to the SSA, and asked the SSA to "scout search" for any unmatched earnings that should have been reported on Sanila’s work record. The SSA was able to find and match enough of her missing earnings records that Sanila worked during those five quarters, and she was approved for retirement and Medicare benefits! However, during this time, Sanila received a notice that her SSI benefits were overpaid by more than $14K. So, PSLS jumped into action again to help Sanila draft documents to appeal and waive the overpayment. We also helped Sanila apply and be approved for the Medicare Savings Program, which now pays Sanila's entire Medicare premium each month. Thanks to PSLS’ dedication, expertise and high-quality legal services, Sanila received more than $20K in backpay of SSA retirement benefits, the full overpayment was waived, full SSI/SSDI benefits were restored, and she has the Medicare coverage that she was always entitled to!