Do you qualify for Disability Benefits

Disability Benefits Available through the Social Security Administration

The Social Security Administration offers two different programs that may provide funding sources for people with disabling medical conditions: the Social Security Disability (SSD) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.

Both programs require that the disabled person establish, through competent medical evidence, that he/she is disabled. Disability is defined as the:

Inability to engage in substantial gainful activity, by reason of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment(s) which can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.

In simple terms, this means that to be found disabled you must prove three elements:

1. You can’t work
2. Because of an accident of illness, and that
3. Your illness, and disabling conditions have lasted, or are expected to last, for at least one year.

Generally, the older you are (especially over 50, 55 or 60) the less education you have, the more physical your work has been, and the less transferable your work skills, the easier it is to obtain benefits. At times, however, age doesn't matter at all. For example, if your disability is based on emotional problems, such as depression, then none of the above factors come into play. Bottom line - if you honestly believe you can't do a full time job and your doctor supports your application for disability, you should be successful.

Do you qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits?

SSI eligibility is based on disability and income/resources - that is, a disabled person is entitled to receive these benefits if his/her household income and assets fall below a certain level, regardless of whether the individual ever worked. If eligibility for SSI is established, the program entitles the patient to Medicaid, and other social services administered through the state's Department of Public Welfare. SSI benefits are only available to the disabled individual and not family members. Read more about SSI...

Do you qualify for Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits?

In order to qualify for SSD benefits (disability benefits based upon your earnings record), in addition to meeting the medical requirements for disability, you also must have worked 5 out of the 10 years (20 out of 40 quarters) prior to the start of your disability. If you were younger than 31 at the time your disability started, the work requirement is reduced. For example, if you became disabled at age 23, you would need 6 quarters (a year and a half of work) to qualify for benefits. A quarter of coverage is equal to earnings of $920.00 for 2005. Someone who is disabled prior to age 31 needs to have accumulated 1/2 the number of quarters between the age of 21 and the age at onset of disability, but not less than 6 quarters. Read more about SSD...