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Frequently Asked Questions

 

1. What Is Social Security Disability Insurance ("SSDI")? Answer

2. What is Supplemental Security Income (SSI)? Answer

3. Can I Get SSI and SSDI if I am Homeless? In a Shelter?
YES. You do not need to have a home to get SSI or SSDI, only a way for SSA to contact you and pay your benefits (by mail or direct deposit). You can get SSI for 6 months out of every 9 months you stay in a public (government run) emergency shelter. There is no time limit on getting SSI in a private shelter. There are no limits on getting SSDI in a shelter.

4. I am disabled, but I have never worked. Can I get Social Security disability benefits?
Perhaps. You could qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSI is different from other Social Security Disability benefits because SSI requires that the claimant be poor and does not take into account an individual's work history or earnings record. SSI is available for disabled children and adults, though SSI is determined differently for both groups.

5. I am a Widow and Have Not Worked In the Last Ten Years, But I am Disabled. Am I Eligible for Social Security Disability Benefits?
Perhaps. There are a few ways you may be eligible. First, if you are over 50 and became disabled within seven years of your spouse's death, you may qualify for Disabled Widow's or Widower's benefits. Second, if you are over 50 and became disabled within seven years of your last check from mother's or father's benefits from Social Security, you might be eligible for Disabled Widow's or Widower's benefits. Last, if your earnings and possessions are low enough, you might be eligible for Supplemental Security Income regardless of your age, work history, or the date your disability occurred.

6. Can my children receive dependent's benefits because I am on Supplemental Security Income?
No. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits are based on the needs of the individual and are only paid to the qualifying person. There are no spouse's, children's or survivors benefits payable.

7. Can I Collect Social Security Disability Benefits and Collect Early Retirement?
Yes, so long as your disability commenced before you elected to retire early and the other Social Security Disability requirements are met.

8. Can My Family Receive Social Security Benefits If I'm Disabled?
It’s very possible. Social Security provides for family members of disabled individuals only in certain situations, read more

9. Why might I need Social Security Disability Insurance? People who become disabled typically have a large drop in income, which Social Security Disability Insurance can partially replace. This helps pay living expenses, and the "disability freeze" feature of Social Security Disability Insurance keeps a disabled person's earnings record current so he or she can receive a larger Social Security retirement check at age 65.

10. Can people qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance after age 65?

Social Security Disability Insurance benefits cut off at age 65, and ordinary Social Security retirement and Medicare benefits take over. See the Social Security Handbook, 2005, section 501, available in many public libraries.

11. If I have been self-employed, can I get Social Security Disability Insurance if I become disabled?
Self-employed people who become disabled can get Social Security Disability Insurance if they have paid the government enough self-employment tax and/or FICA tax to qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance coverage. However, many self-employed people neglect to pay the tax and do not qualify. Get two free booklets from SSA: "Social Security: How You Earn Credits," SSA Publication No. 05-10072; and "If You're Self-Employed," SSA Publication No. 05-10022.

12. Can I Return to Work After Collecting Social Security Disability Benefits? What Are the Consequences if I Do?
Social Security encourages disabled persons to reenter the workforce and its policies give incentives to disabled persons who are trying to make the transition back to work, especially after the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999. read more...

13. Will my spouse's income affect my Social Security Disability Insurance?

No. Your spouse's income will not affect your Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. SSA considers your work capacity -- not the income or resources of your spouse. Your savings and investments also will not disqualify you.However, a spouse's income could disqualify you from SSI or reduce your SSI benefits. SSI is not insurance like Social Security Disability Insurance; it is a welfare type program limited to people with very little income and resources. The government may reduce SSI benefits or end them if the beneficiary, the spouse, or anyone contributing to their support has significant income or resources. See the free booklet "Supplemental Security Income," SSA Publication No. 05-11000.

14. If a person gets convicted of a crime and spends time in jail, does this person lose their Social Security Benefits?
If the person is receiving Retirement, Disability or Survivors benefits, and convicted of a crime and confined in the correctional institution for more than 30 continuous days, we will suspend their Social Security benefits. Similarly, we must suspend benefits to individuals receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments when the person is incarcerated for at least 1 full calendar month.

15. Can you get Social Security Disability if you've used alcohol or drugs?
Certainly. It all depends on the extent of the use, as well as its recency.
Let's throw out a example. A claimant applies for social security disability based on liver dysfunction and hepatitis. The same claimant has a history of alcohol abuse, some of it recent. Will the alcohol abuse harm the claimant's disability case? It depends on whether or not it is material or immaterial to his condition.

If the claimant's liver damage is so pronounced that ceasing alcohol use completely would make no difference to the claimant's medical condition, then alcohol abuse would be considered immaterial to the case. In other words, irrelevant. If, however, ceasing the use of alcohol would result in medical improvement, alcohol abuse would be deemed material to the disability case, and the claim would be denied.

Social Security will not pay benefits to claimants whose disabling conditions are brought on, and exacerbated by, drug and alcohol abuse.

Often, medical doctors and mental health professionals will indicate "suspected use" in their treatment notes. Such indications, proven or otherwise, can have a damaging effect on a disability claim.

Claimants for social security disability who have a history of abuse but who are not currently using substances would be advised to carefully review their medical records before they file for disability. Claimants whose disabling conditions are psychiatric in nature (e.g., depression, anxiety, etc) should especially heed this since mental cases are more likely to be denied when substance abuse is involved.

 

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