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Terminally ill patient could be waiting two years for federal disability approval

The fight to access disability benefits is getting harder here in Georgia.

ATLANTA — The fight to access disability benefits is getting harder here in Georgia with wait times for even critical conditions increasing to more than two years.

All working Americans pay-in to the benefit but many are finding when they need to access it, they can’t even get through the process.

It's even harder for young people with disabilities, who say they can't get approved because of their age.

Even the experts, like disability benefit attorney Nancy Glenn, told 11Alive this is a difficult process.

No matter how severe the disability, people can expect to get turned down the first time they apply and the first time they appeal. It then can take years to get a hearing. 

That's time Heather Callahan-Williams, who works at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, says she doesn't have left.

The hospital is where she was first diagnosed with cancer at age 18 and returning there now to help kids in the same situation feels meaningful.

"It gives me a chance to make me feel like I am making a difference in people's lives. Because this is the place that saved my life as a kid," she said. 

When Callahan-Williams' cancer relapsed in 2020, doctors told her at just 25, her diagnosis was terminal. To make matters worse, she can't afford the medications that are keeping her alive.

"We don't know what to do. We pick and choose between rent and my seizure meds sometimes," she explained. 

Her car has been repossessed and her power cut off.

So, she applied for the federal disability insurance benefit to help. But when she applied on her own, she was denied.

Callahan-Williams' hired Nancy Glenn, who specializes in these cases.

"We filed her reconsideration in June and she doesn't have an adjudicator assigned to her case yet - so we don't even have someone we can call," Glenn explained, adding it typically takes about two months to hear back.

But Glenn explained that the wait times have stretched to two years, even in circumstances as desperate as Callahan-Williams'.

"Her objective medical file is over 3,000 pages. I have an entire file drawer that's just hers. So we are doing everything we can to say, 'hey, we think there's a compassionate allowance condition,'" Glenn said. 

Even though Callahan-Williams loves her job, her rapidly deteriorating condition makes it near impossible to work - the exact circumstance the disability benefit is designed for.

"I outlined one hospitalization after another. She's in the hospital at least every six weeks for several days. It's stunning how much she's in the hospital," Glenn said.

In between hospital stays, Callahan-Williams' is trying to prepare for the inevitable. But the medical bills she can't pay are making it impossible to enjoy what time she has left.

"My husband and I had to stop the end of life counseling because it was too expensive and I couldn't afford it," she said. 

Callahan-Williams' friends created a fundraiser to help cover their rent while the couple waits for benefits to come through.

Sadly, Glenn said, at this point, all they can do is wait.

She's confident if Callahan-Williams gets a hearing about her application she'll be approved. They just have no idea when that would be.

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