The Social Security Administration administers two basic disability programs. The most common ones are Social Security Disability Insurance, also sometimes called "SSDI" or "SSA" benefits, and Supplemental Security Income benefits, known as "SSI." The definition of medical disability is the same for both cases: the difference is in who is eligible and how they are paid.
Social Security Disability Insurance benefits are available to people who have paid a certain amount of Social Security taxes out of their wages over a certain period of time. Generally, you must have worked and paid Social Security taxes for five years out of the ten years prior to when your disability began. If you prove that you are disabled, the amount of money you will be paid monthly depends on how much you have paid into the system. Often, your dependent children will be eligible for benefits also.
If you have not yet filed a claim for disability benefits, you can get a copy of your earnings record, which shows what years you paid into Social Security and how much you will receive if you are found disabled either by picking up an Earnings Record Request at your local Social Security office or completing a request form online. If you have already filed your claim, you will need to get your earnings record directly from the local Social Security District Office. Your attorney should be able to help you obtain this document.
Benefits are also sometimes available to the disabled widow or widower of a person who paid over a certain amount into the system before he or she died. In order to be eligible for these benefits, you must be between the ages of 50 and 60, you must have been married to the spouse who paid into the system for at least ten years prior to his or her death, and your disability must have met Social Security's definition for disability within seven years of the date that your spouse died.
Supplemental Security Income benefits, or SSI, can be paid even if you haven't worked enough to be eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance. However, these benefits are "means-tested," meaning that you must prove that your income is below a certain level and that you do not have resources exceeding a certain level in order to be eligible.
Children can also receive SSI benefits if the family income and resources meet the requirements and if the child's disability is severe enough. The rules for children are somewhat different than for adults.
Disabled adult children benefits are available to a person at least 19 years of age, who can prove his or her disability began before age 22 and is continuing and whose parent is receiving Social Security Disability Insurance or Retirement benefits or died while receiving those benefits.
