Social Security disability insurance, more often simply called SSDI is a Federal Government program that provides certain benefits to those people who have yet to reach retirement age but find themselves suffering a physical or mental disability and as a result cannot earn a living.
How to qualify:
SSD law is that which establishes the bar over which individuals must jump if they expect to be granted disability benefits. The law demands that the applicant has to have worked for so many years and accrued a specified number of work credits. The maximum number of work credits that can be earned in a year is four; from this the number of years an applicant must have worked to claim benefits is computed.
As noted, the number of credits that an applicant must have to meet the standard for qualification is dependent upon the age of the individual when he or she became disabled. A person who becomes disabled between the ages of 21 and 24 needs six credits which indicates he or she must have worked and contributed to FICA for one and a half years. Conversely, a person who becomes disabled at the age of 50 must have 28 credits hence seven years of work, five of which must have been in the last 10 years.
Having sufficient work credits is one thing; SSD law also demands that the physical or mental disability claimed meets the criteria that are laid down by Social Security in their blue book. Benefits will only be granted to those who are severely disabled and the disability is expected to last for more than a year or result in death.
Approval for benefits:
Once your application has been approved, either on the first submission or after a successful appeal your benefits will begin five full months later.
In the greatest majority of cases the applicant’s initial application will be denied meaning that an appeal will have to be made. This being the case, the applicant may be looking at 18 months or more. When the application is finally approved the payments are backdated to the sixth month after the onset of the disability.
Once the back-payments have been received the claimant can expect a check every month. The monthly payments continue until such time that the beneficiary can return to work; the beneficiary will be subjected to periodic checks by the administration to ensure that your disability is such that you still cannot perform any meaningful work.
SSD law is very strict and difficult for a layperson to understand. Coupled with the fact that most applications are denied and the law is so complex it makes sense to work with the SSDI Attorney Near Morris.
