Get the Disability Answers You Need and the Legal Help You Deserve
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits provide much-needed income for over 57 million Americans. But how do you know who qualifies for them? Let Disability Lawyer Sam Earley explain everything you need to know about who qualifies for these benefits in order to help you start a successful SSDI claim.
In order for someone to know who qualifies for Social Security Disability benefits, they need to first understand why these benefits exist in the first place.
The United States government provides financial help in the form of Social Security Disability benefits for those who have become disabled and/or are otherwise unable to work due to certain medical conditions.
Social Security Disability has its origins in the Social Security Act of 1935, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law. However, it took another two decades for the modern “Disability” provision in Social Security Disability Insurance to come into existence with the 1956 Amendments to the Social Security Act.
Since then, more than just the disabled have come to qualify to receive benefits. These include widows, widowers, or surviving divorced spouses of deceased workers as well as disabled children aged 18 and over or those who became disabled before age 22.
Along with having a medical condition that is approved by the Social Security Administration (SSA), there are also two basic requirements to qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance.
The first requirement involves establishing a record of the length of time you have worked and paid into Social Security. The second requirement has to do with the type/condition of injury or disablement you have incurred.
We’ll provide more clarity on these two requirements, since understanding them will help you know who qualifies for Social Security Disability benefits.
The first requirement for SSDI involves a specific aspect of your work history, specifically how many “work credits” you have accrued over the years. You have sufficient work credits to qualify for Social Security Disability benefits if:
You have worked at a job or jobs that provided them with a history of payments into the Social Security Program. This can be for an employer or as a self-employed individual who paid self-employment taxes. This earns work credits that apply toward Social Security Disability benefits payments.
The number of work credits needed to qualify depends on the age when you became disabled. The basic guideline is typically 40 credits, 20 of which were earned in the last 10 years ending with the year you became disabled. However, other rules may also apply for younger workers to qualify with fewer credits.
The second requirement for SSDI benefits has to do with your specific disability. Not every medical condition will qualify. Rather, it must meet the following stipulations:
You must have a medical condition that meets Social Security’s definition of disability. In part, that definition requires the following:
If you are not currently working because of your disablement, the following questions will apply:
It’s important to note that if you are working in the current year and your earnings average above a certain level, you cannot be considered disabled.
There are also specific qualifications that apply if you are legally blind, the widow, widower, or surviving divorced spouse of a deceased worker, there are also qualifications that apply in order for you to receive benefits.
In addition, there are specific requirements that must be met for SSDI benefits to go to disabled children, those who are receiving benefits when they reach 18 and are disabled, or for adults who become disabled before reaching age 22.
If you aren’t sure if you qualify or if you simply need assistance applying for SSDI benefits, then let Social Security Disability Lawyer Sam Early help. Contact us today to receive the answers and guidance you need with your SSDI case.
Someone who is disabled doesn’t automatically qualify for Social Security Disability benefits. If their application is rejected, it is often due to one of four common reasons.
The first reason has to do with a lack of medical records that show the person is disabled. These records should include therapies or treatments, visits to medical specialists, or other medical testing that shows the person is truly impaired to the point where they can no longer work. If they lack these records, they will likely be denied SSDI benefits.
Another reason a person doesn’t qualify is because they lack employment documentation. As mentioned above, having enough work credits is one of the two primary requirements to receive SSDI benefits, and these credits only come from having a documented history of work which include W-2 forms, pay stubs, and tax records.
One other common cause of disqualification for SSDI benefits is due to the medical condition not being one that disables a person. Afterall, this program exists to help disabled people who cannot work, not to supplement the income of a person with a health condition who is still able to work.
Finally, a common reason applicants are denied benefits has to do with their failure to follow medical instructions, such as ignoring a doctor’s advice or refusing to do prescribed therapies.
If your application was rejected, then let an experienced disability lawyer like Sam Earley help. Our legal team will examine your case and identify what is missing in order for you to get approved.
Determining your eligibility for Social Security Disability benefits involves meeting specific requirements and making important calculations. Our Social Security Disability attorneys are happy to help you with these matters, along with answering your questions about specific situations or circumstances and how they could affect your Social Security Disability benefits eligibility.
By now, you can see that there are specific requirements, steps, and information that needs to be included for a Social Security Disability Insurance application to be approved.
Instead of wasting time and risking a denial, team up with Georgia Disability Lawyer Sam Earley to help you determine if you meet the requirements for Social Security Disability benefits. We’ll provide experienced legal guidance as we review your work history and record of Social Security payments to determine your eligibility, along with helping you collect the appropriate medical records to verify your disabling condition for an SSDI case that gets quickly approved.
If you believe you may qualify for Social Security Disability benefits, call our Disability Lawyers at 770-881-7171 or complete our contact form. You’ll receive the personalized service you deserve from a Social Security Disability attorney who truly cares about helping people.
