Switching from UI to SDI for upcoming craniotomy surgery - urgent timeline questions

wait til after surgery. u dont qualify for disability until ur actually disabled which means after surgery.

The previous advice isn't completely accurate. You should apply for SDI just BEFORE your surgery, not after. Here's why: 1. Your disability begins the day you become disabled (your surgery date) 2. SDI has a 7-day waiting period where you won't receive benefits 3. If you wait until after surgery, you'll be dealing with recovery while trying to complete paperwork You can submit your SDI claim up to 9 days before your disability begins. Your doctor needs to complete the medical certification portion confirming your surgery date and expected recovery timeline. Keep certifying for UI until the day before surgery, but on your last certification, you should indicate you were available for work for the days before surgery but not available starting your surgery date. Be honest about your availability.

I went through this exact situation last year with a different type of surgery. Here's exactly what you need to do: 1. Continue certifying for UI benefits until right before your surgery date 2. You can file your SDI claim online up to 9 days before your disability begins 3. When you certify for your last UI period, be truthful - mark that you were able and available to work for the days before surgery, but not for any days after 4. EDD will automatically stop your UI claim once you submit your disability claim 5. Your doctor will need to complete the medical portion (they use form DE 2501) listing your surgery date as the beginning of disability 6. The 7-day waiting period starts on your first day of disability (surgery date) One important tip: Make sure your doctor's office is familiar with completing EDD paperwork. Some medical offices can take weeks to submit their portion, which delays your payments.

I transitioned from UI to SDI last fall and the process was a NIGHTMARE. Took almost 6 weeks to get my first disability payment because I couldn't get through to anyone at EDD when there was a problem with my medical certification. I ended up using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual EDD representative - they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/1X-mEsLtbmQ?si=1hcSq3KFtCr4oAmd. Totally worth it when you're dealing with surgery and need to get your benefits sorted out quickly.

Hey, just wanted to wish you good luck with your surgery. Brain surgeries are scary (my mom had one), but the medical technology today is amazing. Don't stress too much about the EDD stuff - it'll work out.

MAKE SURE you get the DE 2501 form completed by your doctor WITH THE CORRECT DIAGNOSIS CODES! That was my biggest mistake and caused a 5-week delay in getting paid. Also, EDD SDI is NOT the same as State Disability Insurance even though they use the same acronym sometimes which is SO CONFUSING!!! Just make sure you're filling out the right forms for California state disability and not some private insurance thing. And don't make the mistake I did - when you're still on UI, you have to certify that you're ABLE TO WORK, so don't say you're disabled until your actual surgery date or they'll say you committed fraud and maybe make you pay back benefits!!!!

One more important thing: when you file for SDI, you'll use the same EDD login you use for UI (your Benefit Programs Online account). But you'll need to register specifically for SDI Online within that account if you haven't already. Also, prepare for your weekly benefit amount to potentially change when switching from UI to SDI. SDI is calculated differently - it's approximately 60-70% of your base wages during a specific base period. Your weekly SDI amount might be higher or lower than what you're currently receiving from UI.

The 7-day waiting period means you won't be paid for the first 7 days of your disability claim. So if your surgery is on April 15th, you wouldn't receive benefits for April 15-21. Your first payment would start with April 22nd. Regarding your question about your doctor - yes, make sure to tell them to include: 1. Specific diagnosis codes (ICD-10 codes) 2. Estimated recovery time (be realistic about the 6-8 months) 3. Any work restrictions during recovery 4. The exact surgery date as your disability start date You might want to call your doctor's office a few days after your surgery to confirm they've submitted the medical certification. This is often the biggest delay in getting SDI claims processed.

Thank you all so much for the advice. I've made a checklist based on everything you've shared: 1. Continue UI certification honestly until surgery 2. Apply for SDI about a week before surgery (April 8-9) 3. Register for SDI Online through my existing BPO account 4. Make sure my doctor submits the DE 2501 with proper diagnosis codes ASAP after surgery 5. Understand there's a 7-day waiting period where I won't get paid 6. Follow up with my doctor's office to confirm they submitted paperwork 7. Keep that Claimyr service info in case I need to contact EDD directly Is there anything I'm missing? This has been incredibly helpful during such a stressful time.

My sister had craniotomy last yr and it took her nearly 9 months to recover enough to work again but she had issues with her benefits the whole time. The EDD keeps sending her paperwork to reconfirm she was still disabled. Make sure ur doctor is willing to keep filling out forms every month or two becuz EDD will require it for long term disability cases. My sis got so frustrated with the whole system.