Maximize Your Benefits With Effective Legal Representation
After becoming disabled, you rely on Social Security Disability Benefits (SSDI) to help you pay your bills. However, the regulations for receiving them can be complicated since certain stipulations can affect your total benefit amount.
Before you jeopardize your Social Security Disability Benefits or violate SSDI regulations, let our Disability Lawyers provide guidance about receiving other forms of disability benefits.
Before we delve into various benefits and their impact on SSDI, it’s important to first establish why Social Security Disability benefits exist in the first place: to help disabled workers replace their monthly earnings after their accident or the onset of their health condition.
The program’s benefits, however, come with limitations–including how much income a beneficiary can receive. These limitations can be affected by other programs and benefits and can impact whether or not a person qualifies for Social Security Disability benefits and how much they will receive.
Workers’ Compensation is a form of employer-paid insurance that’s designed to help cover your expenses if you become injured on the job or contract an illness while involved in job-related activity. Workers who become partially or completely disabled due to job-related circumstances can be eligible for different levels of disability payments.
If you receive both Social Security Disability benefits and Workers’ Compensation disability benefits, the amount of your Social Security Disability benefits can be reduced.
Public disability benefits are payments you receive because of disabling medical conditions that are not job-related. These benefits can be paid by a federal, state or local government entity. Some examples include civil service disability benefits or state and local disability benefits that are part of a retirement plan.
If you receive both Social Security Disability benefits and some forms of public disability benefits, the amount of your Social Security Disability benefits can be reduced.
However, certain public disability benefits do not count against your Social Security Disability benefit calculations. Some examples include:
Private disability benefits are payments or settlements you receive from private, non-government-related sources. Some examples include pensions or private insurance policies.
Unlike the other programs or benefits listed above, private disability benefits do not affect your Social Security Disability benefits.
At times, your Social Security Disability application may take months or even years to be approved. Because of this delay, the Social Security Administration will likely owe you back pay benefits from this period of time. These benefits may be issued all at once in a lump sum payment.
Lump sum disability payments can also affect your monthly Social Security Disability payments. Be sure to inform the SSA of any lump sum disability payments or settlements.
Now that we know what programs and benefits affect Social Security Disability, you can find out how your benefits will be reduced.
The general rule from the Social Security Administration basically says that if you receive Workers’ Compensation disability benefits or public disability benefits along with Social Security Disability benefits, your combined amount cannot exceed 80% of your average current earnings before you became disabled.
Here’s an example scenario:
In this scenario, your Social Security Disability benefits will be reduced by $500 per month.
In the real world, understanding the actual SSDI benefits you qualify for is more complicated due to many more variables involved, along with each person’s situation being unique. This is why you deserve the personalized attention Disability Lawyer Sam Earley and his team provides.
As a seasoned Social Security Disability lawyer, Sam regularly helps disabled persons like you navigate the complicated bureaucracy and regulations of the Social Security Administration in order to maximize the benefits you deserve.
As we have shown, it’s possible to receive Social Security Disability benefits while also receiving other disability benefits. However, there are complex rules that can cause your Social Security Disability payments to be reduced.
Let Georgia Social Security Disability Lawyer Sam Earley help you decide which benefits are best and how to receive the largest amount possible under the law. Sam also provides assistance for when it’s time for periodic medical reviews and other evaluations of your condition that relate to your benefits. Contact our Social Security Disability Attorneys today for seasoned and practical assistance with your disability benefits.
You may qualify for both Social Security Disability benefits and other forms of disability assistance, but you need an experienced Social Security Disability attorney to help you navigate the complex regulations of the system. Call our Georgia Social Security Disability attorneys at 770-881-7171 or complete our contact form to get the legal help you deserve.
