Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Guide

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If you accept a inability, you may qualify for Medicare. Check out our Medicare and Disabilities guide for information.

Applying for social security disability insurance can exist a daunting process. Subsequently all, there are rules and regulations that are confusing to nigh people. However, if you're in need of SSD benefits, you lot probably don't desire to spend hours researching what social security inability benefits are.

That'due south why we've put all the relevant data in one place. At that place's a lot of twists and turns when information technology comes to SSDI, but we'll try and make a smooth ride.

COVID-19 and Social Security Disability Insurance

Currently, all Social Security offices are closed to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic. If y'all receive SSDI checks by mail or direct deposit, you lot volition continue to get your payments. If you lot demand to contact someone nigh your SSDI benefits, do not become to your local Social Security office. Instead, visit the Social Security Administration's website at SSA.gov.

What is Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)?

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) pays benefits to people who cannot work because of sure disabilities or medical weather condition. SSDI is funded past FICA Social Security payroll taxes. Workers earn SSDI by accumulating enough piece of work credits throughout their working life. In society to qualify for SSDI, a person must be under 65 years sometime and accept a qualifying severe disability every bit designated by the Social Security Assistants (SSA).

Also, federal law has a very strict definition of disability that requires the medical condition be ane that'due south expected to last one full year or more, or effect in decease. Social Security does not grant benefits to people with partial or short-term disabilities.

There is some confusion about the difference between SSDI and SSI (Supplemental Security Income), so permit'due south clear up that confusion next.

What is the difference between SSI and SSDI?

SSI eligibility is determined based on age, disability and available resource, while SSDI is based on a person's inability and piece of work credits.

For almost people, medical requirements that will allow you to receive inability payments are the aforementioned for both, and disability is determined using the same procedure. Both SSI and SSDI are managed by the Social Security Administration too.

SSDI

SSI

Eligibility Determination

Disability and work credits

Historic period, inability, income/resources

Medicaid/Medicare Benefits

Eligible for Medicare after 2 years

Qualified for Medicaid

Waiting Flow

5 months

1st of the month afterward approval

Payout Determination

Location and monthly income

Record of earnings

The nearly notable deviation betwixt SSI and SSDI is that SSDI is only available to people who have accumulated enough piece of work credits, while SSI is bachelor to low-income individuals who have not accumulated enough piece of work credits or who have never worked. In improver, SSDI is based on your work history, but SSI is strictly based on a financial situation of considerable demand.

Additionally, SSI benefits begin on the kickoff of the calendar month that a social security inability application is submitted and approved, but for SSDI there is a 5-month waiting period. People who qualify for SSI can as well receive Medicaid benefits.  Afterward receiving SSDI benefits for two years, a disabled person will be eligible for Medicare benefits. The amount of SSI benefits depend on where a person lives and what their monthly income is, while SSDI benefit amounts are dependent on a person'due south earnings record.

How to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance

In that location are three means to use for SSDI:

  1. You can apply online Online.  As function of this process, y'all volition need to print and review SSA'south Developed Inability Checklist.  It volition aid you get together the data you need to then complete the Disability Benefit Application.
  2. Over the phone by calling 800-772-1213.
  3. In person at your local Social Security role. Find your local office here.

SSDI application process

As soon as you lot get disabled, yous should apply for SSDI benefits. There is a five month delay from the fourth dimension you apply until the time you receive your first SSDI payment. By and large, it takes three to five months to process disability applications. In addition, if your Social Security Disability application is rejected for any reason, yous will experience farther delays if you decide to get through a multi-step appeals process.

Later applying for disability benefits, the Social Security Administration will evaluate your employment history, length of piece of work history and current piece of work activity to determine if it meets their basic work requirements. Should these requirements exist met, the awarding will be sent to your state'due south Disability Determination Services (DDS) function to evaluate the medical case and application.

If the claim is approved, a letter will be sent with the approval information, amount of monthly benefits and date effective. In full general, monthly greenbacks benefits are paid until y'all are able to work again on a regular basis.

The amount of a Social Security Disability Benefits is based on average lifetime earnings. The first do good will exist paid for the sixth full month later on the date the disability began.

Those who take received disability benefits for two years volition receive Medicare coverage automatically after that time period.

Additionally, sure family members might besides qualify for benefits based on the applicant's work, but it's important to annotation that other government benefits may be afflicted.

Information needed to apply for Social Security Disability benefits

Processing claims for disability benefits can accept anywhere from three-5 months. Gathering required data prior to filing a claim may expedite the process. You will need the following data to apply online:

  • Social Security number (or permanent resident card if you lot are not a U.South. citizen)
  • Bones spousal information
  • Basic information for any children nether the age of xviii or those who became disabled before the age of 22
  • Military machine service, education or preparation
  • If you are self-employed, business organisation type and total cyberspace income
  • If you are not self-employed, name of employer, start and end dates of employment, total earnings for the past two years
  • Direct deposit information
  • Medical information including atmospheric condition, doctors, hospitals, clinics at which you've received examinations, tests, treatments, etc.
  • Names, dosages and information of all medications
  • Employment history for the fifteen years prior to becoming disabled

To utilise over the phone or in person, you lot will demand the bulk of the in a higher place equally well as:

  • Medical records already in your possession
  • "Medical and Job Worksheet – Developed," which can be institute here.

Inability awarding starter kit

To assist you lot in creating your awarding, Social Security has developed a Inability Starter Kit that provides information well-nigh the documents and information that you lot will exist requested to provide.  Because an application can be complicated and lengthy, this is a good place to start and to keep you lot organized. The kit also explains how Social Security'due south disability programs work and what decision-making processes are used to determine your eligibility.

Social Security offers two kits, one for adults and another for children. The adult Disability Starter Kit can be establish here. And the child Disability Starter Kit can exist establish here.

Determining disability eligibility

After yous've applied for SSDI, the federal regime will have to determine if you run into the work requirements necessary to receive benefits. Piece of work requirements look at both contempo work and the duration of your work.  If you meet both, the severity of your disability will then be adamant.

SSDI work requirements

One of the major factors for disability is whether or non you accept had recent employment and accept worked long enough to qualify for social security disability insurance.

The federal government answers this question by determining a person's Social Security credits. Credits are basic units of measurement that determine whether a worker is insured under the Social Security program.

The number of work credits you need to meet the work requirements for inability benefits depends on your historic period on the engagement you became disabled.

Younger workers may qualify with fewer credits, merely generally a worker needs 40 credits to qualify. 20 of those credits must be earned within the final 10 years earlier becoming disabled.

What is a Quarter of Coverage (QC) or Social Security Credit

A credit, legally termed a Quarter of Coverage (QC), is essentially a building cake or guess of accumulated work based on full yearly wages or cocky-employment income.

The credits allow the Social Security Administration to determine if a person has put in enough time to receive benefits.

One credit is given when a certain amount of coin is earned. In 2020, $i,410 in wages equals 1 credit.1 You can receive up to four credits per year.

Annotation: the earnings Social Security uses to summate your credits are only earnings on which you lot pay Social Security taxes as indicated on your tax return. Involvement on savings or investments practise not count toward earning a credit.

What does "contempo employment' mean?

According to the SSA, yous must complete a certain corporeality of work during a adamant time frame in order to meet the "recent work" requirements. The time frame takes into business relationship the age at which you became disabled.

Fourth dimension frames are based on the calendar quarter in which you turn a certain age:

  •  First Quarter: January 1 – March 31
  • 2d Quarter: April 1 – June xxx
  • Tertiary Quarter: July ane – September 30
  • Quaternary Quarter: October 1 – Dec 31

Next, to make up one's mind the amount of piece of work that must be completed, follow the chart below:

If you go disabled...

Amount of Credits Needed

In or before the quarter you turn 24

6 credits or 1.5 years of piece of work over the iii-year catamenia before the inability started

In the quarter after you turn 24 but before the quarter you plough 31

Credits for half of the years betwixt your 21st birthday and the quarter you became disabled

In the quarter you turn 31-42

twenty credits

At 42-62

Credits that equal your age subtracted by 12.

At or after 62

40 credits

Notation: Blind applicants typically practise not have to satisfy the recent work examination

Case: John becomes disabled at 29 and is no longer able to work. John adds up the years betwixt his 21st and 29th birthday- 8. John and then halves that number to determine the amount of credits needed to qualify for SSDI- 4. Considering yous tin merely earn iv social security credits a year, John and then multiplies his year number, 4, past four. John needs 16 work credits to qualify.

Determining employment duration

You must have worked long enough in the federal regime's optics to receive Social Security Disability Benefits. Work does not demand to autumn inside a certain time period. Below is a sample of ages and the boilerplate amount of work needed to authorize.

Historic period You Become Disabled

Average Years of Work Needed

Before age 28

i.5 years

Age xxx

2 years

Age 34

iii years

Age 38

four years

Age 42

5 years

Age 44

five.5 years

Age 46

6 years

Age 48

6.5 years

Age fifty

vii years

Age 52

7.v years

Age 54

eight years

Historic period 56

8.five years

Historic period 58

nine years

Age 60

ix.5 years

Inability qualifications

SSDI pays only for total disability, not brusque-term disabilities.

According to the SSA, inability is based on a person's inability to piece of work. Their definition is very strict, merely you lot qualify if yous meet the following criteria:

  1. Yous cannot exercise the work that you once did.
  2. Social Security decides that you cannot accommodate to other forms of piece of work because of this medical condition.
  3. Your inability has lasted or is expected to last for at least ane year or to result in decease.

The reason why no short-term inability is provided through Social Security is because the federal government assumes that working families will have access to workers' compensation, insurance, savings and investments for support during short-term disability periods.

Once the Social Security Administration completes your employment evaluation, the awarding will be sent to the Inability Determination Services (DDS) to complete the disability assessment.

The DDS considers all facts in your case and inquires well-nigh your medical status: when it began, how it limits your activities, what medical tests have shown, and what treatment you have received.

Note: The DDS uses doctors and disability specialists in the state agency to request information from your doctors about your condition.

Social Security inability determination process

Social Security uses a 5-step process to determine if your inability is astringent enough to qualify for benefits.

Step 1. Current work status

Generally, Social Security will non consider you disabled if you are working and earning more than a specified monthly corporeality—in 2020, that amount for a non-blind individual is $ane,260 per month.2 (The Social Security Administration publishes the specified monthly corporeality each yr.)

If you're not working or earning less than the specified corporeality, the DDS will use steps 2-v to make a decision on your medical status.

Stride 2. Severity of condition

To be considered astringent, the disability must significantly limit the ability to perform basic piece of work activities—lifting, continuing, walking, sitting, or remembering—for at least 12 months.

If this qualification is satisfied, the DDS volition move on to step three.

Step iii. Is the status listed?

The Social Security Administration maintains a comprehensive listing of medical conditions and circumstances that automatically hateful a person is disabled.

For a list of Social Security'south bluish book of qualifying adult medical weather, click hither.

If the status is listed, you will be plant disabled.

If a condition is not listed, the DDS must decide if the severity is equal to a medical status on the list. If that is not adamant, the DDS will proceed to steps four and 5.

Step iv. Can you reasonably perform your previous work?

If your status is not on the listing and is not equally as severe equally 1 on the list, the DDS must establish that it prevents you lot from performing any of your by work. If that interference is determined, then the DDS moves on to step five.

If your medical condition does not interfere with your ability to practice the previous work, your qualification merits volition be denied.

Stride 5. Can you perform any other type of work?

The bureau will consider your age, teaching, past work experience, and whatsoever special skills you lot may have to determine if y'all can do other work than what you had previously. If y'all tin adjust to other work, you will non authorize for benefits.

If you are considered unable to practice other work, your application for benefits will most likely be approved.

Expedited SSDI application process

To expedite new disability claims, the following initiatives have been created:

Compassionate Allowances:

Social Security makes allowances for people to receive benefits rapidly if they suffer from medical conditions that are then obvious that they easily meet disability standards.

Compassionate Allowances quickly place diseases and medical weather that autumn nether the Blue Book of Impairments with minimal medical information. This allows Social Security to speed up the procedure of helping people obtain benefits in the shortest amount of fourth dimension possible.

The list of Compassionate Allowances has been adult based on public hearing held by Social Security, forth with input from medical and scientific experts and the National Institutes of Health.  Currently allowances include disabilities such every bit Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular disease, organ transplants, schizophrenia, and others.

A full listing of Compassionate Allowances tin exist constitute here.

Quick Disability Determinations:

Sophisticated figurer screening is used here to identify cases that have a high probability of allowance.

Highly-seasoned denied social security disability application

It's mutual for applicants to be denied. In fact, just about 1 in 3 applicants are initially approved for SSDI benefits. The ii main reasons for denial are unremarkably a lack of work credits, or that applicants do not see the criteria for disability.

If you have been turned downward, you do have the correct to go through a Social Security Disability entreatment procedure. Either you lot or your designated representative can file a "Asking for Reconsideration." Your initial entreatment volition so be turned over to Disability Conclusion Services, who will thoroughly review your file.

If yous are denied over again, you tin can proceed to the adjacent level of appeal which is to appear in front of an Administrative Constabulary Guess. An Administrative Police force Judge volition conduct a hearing in which all of your medical records and testimony will be heard before the guess renders a decision in the form of a written notice.

If yous are still denied benefits, so you have a final appeal step you can take: filing a lawsuit in U.S. district court. Yous will need an attorney for this step if y'all oasis't already retained i. This tin can be an expensive and time consuming option, and as a upshot, less than i% of disability claimants take their cases to this level.

Family unit eligibility and children with disabilities

Sure family members may exist eligible to receive inability benefits on your record including a spouse, a divorced spouse, children, a disabled kid and/or an adult child who was disabled earlier the historic period of 22. Each beneficiary's charge per unit depends on the number of family members receiving benefits on your record besides as the amount you receive.

The maximum amount each family member is eligible to receive is 50 percentage of the disability rate. The total payment to an entire family, even so, is capped and is not based on other personal financial situation factors.

Disabled Children

Disabled children under the age of eighteen are eligible for benefits every bit beneficiaries of a parent who has earned enough work credits nether Social Security.

If a child is disabled earlier the age of 22, he or she is likewise eligible for disability benefits under a parent'southward record if the parent is deceased, collecting retirement, or collecting disability themselves. The following stipulations apply:

  • The person must be unmarried, historic period xviii or older, and have a disability that started earlier age 22
  • The person cannot have 'substantial' earnings as determined by Social Security
  • The person must meet the definition of disability for adults

People who are blind or have low vision

If yous are blind or have low vision, Social Security offers several adjustments to disability benefits to accommodate the boosted difficulties associated with loss of sight.

These accommodations include being able to work toward Social Security credits after you become blind, delayed benefits that will increase if y'all go along to piece of work without receiving disability benefits and a higher monthly salary cap.

Social Security Disability work incentives

Special rules brand it possible for those receiving SSDI benefits to go dorsum to work while continuing to exist paid the monthly benefits. This is for those workers whose disability is not life threatening and take some capacity to piece of work.

3 incentives are offered by SSDI for people attempting to go back to work: trial work catamenia, extended period of eligibility, and expedited reinstatement.

Trial work catamenia

A trial work period allows yous to examination your ability to work. You are able to receive your full inability as long as your work activeness is reported to the Social Security Administration and you continue to be disabled.

You must report your work to the Social Security Administration in gild to qualify.

During the trial period you tin can accumulate a maximum of nine months of work with any pay grade over a 60-calendar month period and however receive full benefits. A calendar month is considered part of your trial piece of work period if you earn more than than $910 (in 2020) or work more than than 80 hours if you are self-employed.3

Extended catamenia of eligibility

Following your trial piece of work menstruation, you lot will enter a 36-month extended menstruation of eligibility. It is in this flow that you tin piece of work and nonetheless receive benefits just equally long as your earnings are less than what Social Security considers 'substantial'. Social Security deducts what they consider 'work expenses' that are a direct result of your disability from your full monthly earnings. These 'work expenses' can range from prescription drug copays, transportation to and from piece of work, and specialized work equipment.

Expedited reinstatement

If you exceed the level of substantial earnings at a signal beyond the trial piece of work flow, your benefits will be stopped. However, you lot can receive expedited reinstatement that allows you to restart your benefits whatsoever time within the five years following your withdrawal if you are unable to go along working because of your condition. You lot will not demand to reapply.

SSDI FAQs

How tin I determine what my Social Security disability benefits amount will be?

There are several sources you can access that volition provide yous with a Social Security Disability Insurance benefits estimator. Two of them are located here and hither.

Tin I get SSDI dorsum pay?

Yep.  Lump sum SSDI dorsum pay is bachelor to claimants who are paid retroactively for those months from the time they became disabled, too known equally a disability onset date, and when they applied for SSDI benefits. In addition to SSDI back pay, people who apply for SSI may too receive retroactive benefits likewise.

When volition I receive my start SSDI payment?

If the Social Security Inability awarding is canonical, the first benefit will exist paid to you for the sixth full month later the date that the disability began.

Monthly disability benefits are wholly based on your lifetime average earnings covered by Social Security. You can receive an gauge here.

Are there SSDI income limits that might touch on my benefits?

Yes. A disabled person applying for SSDI may not earn more than $one,260 per month (in 2020) by working. However, there are no SSDI income limits on unearned income, such as those from investments, interest or a spouse's income. Blind applicants are exempt from this SSDI requirement.

I've heard that my SSDI payments may exist reduced if I receive other benefits. How does this happen?

If you receive other inability benefits such every bit Workers' Compensation, your benefits may be recalculated or reduced. This may accept place based on the SSDI index which is besides the same index used to compute all Social Security benefits. The SSDI index looks at average wage indexes and applies them to a beneficiary'south average current earnings.

How can I find out if I take a disability that volition qualify me to collect SSDI benefits?

Social Security bases many of their decisions about what qualifies as a disability based on information published in the Blue Book of Impairments. This Social Security Disability list of impairments details all qualifying medical conditions that run into the test for disability. While information technology is a comprehensive list, if y'all have a medical condition not listed in the Blue Book, you lot tin notwithstanding perchance authorize for SSDI benefits. As part of your disability application, you will need to submit copious data nearly your status, including medical records, doctors' statements and other related materials that will help to convince Social Security yous meet Social Security Disability Insurance requirements.

My status is not listed in the Blue Book. Can I still receive SSDI benefits?

While the Blue Book is a fairly comprehensive guide, past no ways does it contain every ailment or inability that could continue a person from working. If you have a status not listed in the Blue Book (i.e. Lyme disease, thyroid problems, narcolepsy, and many others), you lot can yet utilise for SSDI. The main thing to call up is that you volition demand to provide substantial proof that your status has rendered y'all unable to work.

Which states offering supplementary disability payment programs?

The majority of all disability payment programs are administered on the federal level, but there are five states that offer country-funded disability programs in addition to SSDI and SSI. Currently, those five states are California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island. They are intended to supplement, but not replace, federal disability payment programs.

Is there a phone number I can call to check on my SSDI application status or if I need more information regarding the plan in general?

For more information on any attribute of SSDI, contact the Social Security Assistants at (800) 772-1213.

There are likewise several online SSDI forums that provide back up and data for people who are looking for answers on a variety of subjects.

Eligibility Team

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