How Long Can I Get Disability Benefits?

There are a few things that any experienced SSI/SSDI attorney will say to you. First, most claimants who get approved are able to keep their benefits after each sequent review of their claim. Second, it's more difficult to ascertain that someone has had medical improvement if he or she was approved for disability benefits through an administrative law judge (ALJ) hearing as opposed to being approved at the initial claim or reconsideration appeal levels.

There's a reason for this: ALJs have more flexibility in formulating their decisions than disability benefits examiners, which means that many individuals who received their disability approvals at the ALJ hearing may not really have been awarded disability under the rules and guidelines used to make decisions at the state disability agency (DDS, or Disability Determination Services). Even though a claims examiner might not agree that a recipient is disabled, unless there's proof of medical improvement in the medical record, disability benefits cannot be continued -- except in specific exceptions.

Other Reasons Benefits May Be Discontinued

There are other reasons you might lose your disability benefits, dependent on whether you have SSDI or SSI. While nobody is assured a lifetime of disability benefits, in all likelihood, once a person has been awarded disability benefits, they will continue to get disability benefits until the age of retirement, at which point their benefits will change from the disability category to the retirement category. That said, if you try to keep your benefits by not informing Social Security whenever your condition has improved or when you begin earning an income, you may be accountable for repaying disability overpayments.

For a complete examination of your case, whether you could lose your payments, or if you need to report a change in income or condition, contact Kassin and Carrow and get the answers that you need!

Can You Qualify for Both SSDI and SSI Disability Benefits?

Some people who are eligble for SSI get a modest amount of Social Security disability benefits, if they worked. Making an application for both benefits is called a "concurrent claim."

In particular circumstances, you can collect SSI and SSDI at the same time (called "concurrent benefits"). This takes place when a disability applicant is approved for Social Security Disability (abbreviated as SSD or SSDI) but gets merely a low monthly payment. (A low SSDI payment can be brought on by not working a great deal in the past few years or making low wages.)

Qualifying for SSI

To qualify for an SSI payment in addition to an SSDI payment, your unearned earnings must be less than $721 per month. The SSI income limits are relatively confusing, however; this limit is greater in certain states, and if you are working and making some cash, another limit is applicable. The SSI program also offers asset limits.

If your revenue and possessions are low enough to be entitled to Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and you worked long enough in a job that paid taxes into the Social Security system to qualify for Social Security disability insurance (SSDI), it is not unlikely you'll receive both types of benefits at once. (However, remember your SSDI payment is included in determining your eligibility for SSI. Quite often, your SSDI payment is going to be so high you simply won't be considered for SSI.)

Monthly Payment of Concurrent SSDI and SSI Benefits

You will not get a higher monthly combined benefit than you would under the SSI program by itself. Your SSI payment will be lowered by your SSDI payment to suit the absolute maximum SSI payment. If your SSDI benefit is underneath the current SSI monthly payment amount and you qualify for SSI, you'll receive an SSI payment. Simply put, if your SSDI benefit is below the set maximum per month, you are able to receive both SSI and SSDI benefits at once.

How You Apply for Concurrent Benefits

Whether you apply for SSI, SSDI (often known as SSD), or both, the Social Security office will choose whether your claim is concurrent, depending on your income and assets. The category of your claim will make no difference as to the way the claim is processed. In other words, an SSI claim will be completed in much the same way as an SSDI claim. The same definition of disability and the same disability review process is used for both programs.

The Benefits of a Concurrent Claim

The benefit to getting SSI when you are collecting a lower monthly SSDI benefit is that the SSI payment will lift up your benefit up to the maximum per month.

The benefit to having the capability to collect SSDI when you're eligible for SSI is that you may be eligible to get on Medicare as an SSDI recipient (although you must wait two years from when your SSDI eligibility begins).

In contrast, SSI recipients are eligible for Medicaid alone. Although Medicaid does provide payment for more services than Medicare, more physicians acknowledge payments from Medicare, so it may be much easier to find a provider.

Kassin And Carrow are ready and willing to help you receive all of the benefits that you deserve, whether SSI, SSDI, or both!

Is My Child Eligible To Receive Disability Benefits?

SSI makes monthly payments to individuals with low income and limited resources who are 65 or older, or blind or impaired. Your child younger than age 18 can qualify if she or he meets Social Security’s definition of disability for kids, and if his or her income and resources fall inside the eligibility limits. The amount of Missouri's SSI payment is distinctive from other states since some states add to the SSI payment.

When it is decided if your child may get SSI, they consider your child’s income and resources. We also look at the income and resources of family members living in the child’s residence. These rules apply if your child lives at home. They also apply if he or she is away at school but comes back home from time to time and is susceptible to your control.

If your child’s income and means, or the income and resources of family members residing in the child’s household, are greater than the total authorized, they'll deny the child’s application for SSI payments.

SSI rules about disability:
Your child must meet all of the following requirements to be considered disabled and therefore allowed SSI:

The child ought not to be working and earning greater than $1,070 per month in 2014. (This earnings amount usually changes each year.) If he or she is working and earning that much money, it will be found that your child is not handicapped.

The child will need to have a physical or mental condition, or a mixture of conditions, that causes “marked and severe functional limitations. This means the condition(s) must very greatly limit your child’s activities.

The child’s condition(s) must have been debilitating, or be anticipated to be debilitating, for a minimum of twelve months; or needs to be likely to cause death. If your child’s condition(s) leads to “marked and severe functional limitations” for a minimum of twelve continuous months, it will be found that your child is disabled. But if it doesn't trigger those limitations, or doesn't cause those limitations for at least twelve months, it will likely be found that your child is not disabled.

The process and qualifications can be complex and frustrating to have to go through in great detail. Visit the offices of Kassin and Carrow and see what we can do to help you receive the benefits that you need!

What's The Five Month Waiting Period On Social Security Disability?

Disability claimants who are approved to receive Social Security disability insurance benefits (referred to as SSDI, SSD, and Title II disability benefits) are subject to a five-month waiting period before Social Security owes the claimant disability benefits. This means that the Social Security Administration (SSA) will withhold five months of an accepted claimant's benefits before commencing monthly payments (or, more likely, before determining back payments owed to the claimant, since it takes so long to get a disability approval). 

Exceptions to the Waiting Period

SSI claimants who've been approved to receive disability benefits aren't subject to the five-month waiting period. SSI claimants will be qualified to receive their very first payment on the first of the month after they submit an application for disability (but they will likely receive the first few months' payments in SSI back payments, since the SSA takes no less than a couple of months to grant disability benefits).

If you were approved for SSDI benefits, went back to work, stopped getting benefits, and then become disabled again, you won't need to wait five months to get benefits, provided no more than five years has passed between your first onset date of disability and the second. This is called expedited reinstatement.

If you are trying to get benefits as the child of a disabled employee, your application isn't at the mercy of any waiting period.

When the Waiting Period Starts

The five-month waiting period starts on the claimant's established onset date (EOD) of disability. (This is the date that the SSA states the claimant became disabled.) Hence the date of entitlement to Social Security benefits (when the claimant will be owed a monthly payment) does not start until five months after the EOD.

For more great information about SSI and SSDI benefits, call Kassin and Carrow today at 1-800-273-8380!

What Is the Difference Between Social Security Disability (SSDI) and SSI?

The main difference between Social Security Disability (SSD, or SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is the fact that SSD is available for workers who've accumulated a sufficient number of work credits, while SSI disability benefits are around for low-income individuals who have either never worked or who haven't earned enough work credits to qualify for SSD.

While many individuals don't distinguish between SSI (Supplemental Security Income) and SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance), they are two totally different governmental programs. While both programs are overseen and handled by the Social Security Administration, and medical eligibility is determined in the same fashion for both programs, there are distinct differences between the two.

What Is SSI?

Supplemental Security Income is a program that's strictly need-based, as outlined by income and assets, and is financed by general fund taxes. SSI is called a "means-tested program," meaning it does not have anything to do with work history, but purely with financial need. To meet the SSI income requirements, you need to have less than $2,000 in assets (or $3,000 for a couple) and a very limited income.

Disabled people who are eligible under the income requirements for SSI are also able to receive Medicaid in the state they live in. Most people who are eligible for SSI will also qualify for food stamps, and the amount an eligible person will receive is based on where they live and the amount of regular, monthly income they have. SSI benefits will begin on the first of the month when you first submit your application.

What Is SSDI?

Social Security Disability Insurance is financed through payroll taxes. SSDI recipients are viewed as "insured" because they have worked for a particular number of years and have made contributions to the Social Security trust fund in the form of FICA Social Security taxes. SSDI candidates must be younger than 65 and have attained a particular number of "work credits." After getting SSDI for two years, a disabled individual will become eligible for Medicare.

Under SSDI, a disabled person's spouse and children dependents are eligible to receive partial dependent benefits, known as auxiliary benefits. Nevertheless, only adults over the age of 18 can be given the SSDI disability benefit.

There's a five-month waiting period for benefits, which means the SSA will not pay you benefits for the first five months once you become impaired. The amount of the monthly benefit after the waiting period is over depends on your earnings record, like the Social Security retirement benefit.

Kassin And Carrow are ready and willing to help you with any needs you have with SSI or SSDI benefits. Give them a call right now and schedule a consultation.

Disability Benefits For Veterans

Veterans of the United States Armed Forces with issues connected to, or exacerbated by, active service can be qualified to receive veterans disability benefits. After the veteran has sent applications for benefits, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) assesses the medical evidence and determines whether the veteran is eligible for benefits. The VA then assigns the disability a rating level, which determines the quantity of monetary compensation the veteran will receive because of his handicap or disease.

Disability Ratings

To be able to be eligible for veterans disability benefits, specific criteria must be met. If the VA determines that a the veteran qualifies for disability benefits, it assigns the disability a rating to indicate the degree of the disability or disease. The disability rating represents the "average detriment to earning capacity" as a result of the disability or disease.

The ratings are assigned in 10% increments, starting from 10% to 100% handicapped. A higher disability rating indicates the veteran has a more severe disability, and subsequently receives a greater monthly compensation payment. For example, under the current rates for veterans without dependents, a 10% handicapped veteran is entitled to $123 monthly, a 50% disabled veteran is eligible for $770 per month, and a 100% (or entirely) disabled veteran is eligible for $2,673 every month. Usually, the compensation rates are subject to a yearly cost of living increase.

The law also provides for special compensation rates for many enumerated, more serious disabilities or injuries. Injuries like loss of a single hand or foot, blindness or severe injury to one eye, loss of ability to talk, and deafness, to name a few examples, are eligible for an increase of $96 every month per injury (maximum $4,667 per month) over the base compensation rate. Loss of both hands, both feet, blindness in both eyes, or a permanent bedridden state entitles the veteran to $3,327 compensation each month. The law also lists other disabilities that may merit higher, specific payments. Additionally, the statute enables the Secretary of the VA to approve higher payments for more serious disabilities if necessary, with a maximum of $4,667 per month.

If you are a veteran and you feel that you are entitled to disability benefits, call Kassin and Carrow today for a consultation.

What Does "Social Security Disability" Mean?

The definition of disability under Social Security differs from other programs. Social Security pays just for total disability. No benefits are payable for limited impairment or even for temporary disability.

"Disability" under Social Security is dependent on your inability to work. They consider you disabled under Social Security rules if:
•   You can't do work which you did before;
•   We determine that you can't adjust to other work due to your medical condition(s); and
•   Your disability has lasted or is anticipated to last for around one year or to result in death.

This is a rigid definition of disability. Social Security program rules assume that working families get access to other resources to give support during periods of short-term disabilities, including workers' compensation, insurance, savings and investments.

Along with meeting our definition of disability, you need to have worked long enough--and recently enough--under Social Security to be eligible for disability benefits.

Social Security work credits are derived from your total yearly wages or self-employment income. You can make as much as four credits annually.

The amount required for a credit changes from year to year. In 2014, for instance, you earn one credit for every $1,200 of wages or self-employment income. When you have earned $4,800, you have made your four credits for the year.

The number of work credits you will need to be eligible for disability benefits will depend on your age whenever you came to be disabled. Usually, you'll need forty credits, twenty of which were earned in the past decade ending with the year you become impaired. But, younger workers may be considered with less credits.

Having the appropriate attorney can greatly expedite the process of applying for disability. Kassin and Carrow would be honored to help you as you seek to get social security disability benefits. If you live in or near St. Louis or the Metro East Illinois area, contact them today.