SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY INSURANCE (SSDI)

  • Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), also known as ‘Title II,’ is a type of Disability Assistance that is tied to your work history and which pays benefits to you as well as to certain members of your family, if you:

    Have 1+ disability(s),

    AND

    • Have worked enough years to qualify,

    AND

    • You paid Social Security taxes during the years that you worked.

    Because SSDI eligibility depends on having a prior work history AND making prior Social Security contributions, only adults (18+ year olds) and not minors (Newborn to 17 year olds) can receive SSDI.

  • Calculating your monthly Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) award depends greatly on how much you paid into the US Social Security system and for how long while you worked—SSDI is calculated the same way as Social Security Retirement benefits. The Social Security Administration (SSA) begins by computing your average monthly income across your working lifetime, which is adjusted for historical wage growth. The SSA then plugs that figure into a formula to determine your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), also known as your full retirement benefit.

  • Yes. Your Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) eligibility expires with your Date Last Insured (DLI), a point in time when your Social Security work credits terminate due to your no longer working and paying Social Security taxes. To be eligible for SSDI, your disability(s) must be determined by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to begin sometime between your Disability Alleged Onset Date (AOD) and your DLI, however you can still file a new SSDI claim with the SSA after your DLI passes, as well as still receive SSDI after your DLI passes, as long as you claim (and the SSA decides) that your disability(s) began before your DLI—it is advisable to choose a Disability AOD that occurs 2-5 years before your DLI so that the SSA can have a reasonable time period in which to determine when your disability(s) began before your DLI. If the SSA decides that your disability(s) began after your DLI, you will be eligible only for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and not also for SSDI.

  • Yes. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) backpay will likely go retroactively to your stated Disability Alleged Onset Date (AOD), otherwise known as the date you claim and/or are adjudicated (decided) to have become ‘disabled’ by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), which can be changed by you or by the Social Security Administration (SSA) at almost any time throughout the appeals process, thus modifying your amount of backpay if your Disability AOD is altered. SSDI has a required 5-month waiting period for beginning backpay, meaning that you will not receive SSDI backpay for the first 5 months after you are determined to be ‘disabled.’ SSDI can allow you to receive an additional 12 months of backpay before your SSDI claim application date only if you are determined to have become ‘disabled’ well in advance of your SSDI claim application date.

  • No. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is not affected by your personal assets, such as cars, homes, UNEARNED income and/or savings.

  • No. Your Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is defined by your own personal work history and for how long you paid into the Social Security tax system, regardless of your spouse’s income.

  • Yes. You can receive SSDI AND work as long as you earn UNDER Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA), a monthly income amount that is adjusted every 1-2 years based on inflation—in 2024, for example, SGA is $1550/month for non-blind individuals and $2590/month for blind individuals.

    In order to avoid an audit by the Social Security Administration (SSA), it is advisable that you earn $200-300 UNDER the SGA monthly threshold.

  • Briefly, yes. You can earn Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) in income while receiving SSDI during a 9-month Trial Work Period (TWP), which do not have to be 9 consecutive months but must all occur within a 60-month timeframe—TWPs are allowed once every 5 years. After your TWP ends, you will enter a 36-month Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE) where, if you do not earn Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) or more for a particular month, you will remain eligible to receive SSDI for that month. Conversely, if you do earn SGA or more for a particular month, you will not receive SSDI for that month.

  • Depending on your income overage amount and/or for how long you earned that income overage while you were also receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) outside of your Trial Work Period (TWP), your SSDI can be temporarily reduced or even terminated by the Social Security Administration (SSA).

    If your SSDI is reduced or terminated, you must appeal by submitting SSA FORM 795 within 10 days (plus an additional 5 days for mailing) of the Reduction/Termination Notice date if you would like to continue receiving your full SSDI amount during your appeal.

  • Yes. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) offers Medicare after a 24-month waiting period following your eligibility determination.

  • If you are incarcerated for 30+ continuous days, your Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) will be suspended during your sentence, however your spouse and/or your children will continue to receive their SSDI benefits as long as they remain eligible. Your personal SSDI benefits can be reinstated the month after your release from your incarceration.

  • Your Medicare Part A coverage (hospital insurance) will continue uninterrupted while you are incarcerated but you will be required to pay the monthly Medicare Part B coverage (medical insurance) premiums during your incarceration.

  • If you travel outside of the United States or its territories for 30+ days, you can still receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) but you must also notify the Social Security Administration (SSA) in order to update your mailing address—you CANNOT move to Cuba or North Korea and receive SSDI.

  • Generally, no. Medicare really only covers medical treatment while you are located in the United States or its territories. Medigap, which is available to Americans traveling or living overseas, is available but does not offer the amount of medical coverage that is given by Medicare.

  • Non-US Citizens living in the United States or its territories ARE eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) if they can:

    A. Prove their actual and lawful US residency for every month that they claim SSDI,

    AND

    B. Satisfy all other SSDI eligibility criteria (i.e. medical and technical),

    AND EITHER

    C1. Possess a Social Security Number that was issued on or after January 1, 2004 which authorizes work in the United States or its territories,

    OR

    C2. Possess a non-immigrant visa that is classified as B-1, D-1 or D-2.

  • Identical to any US Citizen who also receives Medicare through their Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) eligibility, any non-US Citizen living in the United States or its territories can also receive Medicare as long as they remain eligible for SSDI.