{"id":3507,"date":"2020-07-20T21:52:14","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T21:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nolfinal.wpengine.com\/?p=3507"},"modified":"2024-02-13T11:53:03","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T16:53:03","slug":"rules-and-requirements-to-qualify-for-social-security-disability-or-ssi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nickortizlaw.com\/rules-and-requirements-to-qualify-for-social-security-disability-or-ssi\/","title":{"rendered":"Overview of the Rules and Requirements to Qualify for Social Security Disability or SSI"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The rules and requirements to qualify for Social Security disability cases are relatively straightforward. In short, to be eligible for either Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits, a claimant must satisfy both the medical and non-medical (financial) requirements for benefits. You should apply for benefits as soon as you are eligible<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the medical requirements, Social Security will evaluate your claim to determine whether you have a medically determinable impairment (illness or injury) that is disabling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The non-medical rules and requirements are where the SSDI and SSI programs of benefits differ. For disability insurance claims, Social Security will review your earnings history to determine whether you have earned enough credits for SSDI. In SSI claims, Social Security will evaluate your income and assets to decide whether or not you have a low enough income to qualify for SSI. See our article on determining your Social Security Earnings History<\/a> to see if you meet the work credit requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A claimant must have a medically determinable impairment (medical condition) that is severe and either:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another requirement to qualify for SSDI or SSI is that the claimant’s medical disability must have lasted, or can be expected to last, for at least one year. For more information, see our article on the definition of disability and the one-year rule<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If a claimant earns a certain amount of money per month in employment, they may be considered gainfully employed and not eligible for benefits. To learn what amount the Social Security Administration considers “substantial gainful activity” (SGA), see our article on the SGA earnings limits for disability<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To meet the legal\/financial requirements for SSDI, you must be “insured” under the Social Security Disability Insurance program of benefits. That means you must have paid taxes into the Social Security system for a required number of years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Security considers the number of\u00a0quarters of coverage<\/a>\u00a0you earned to determine if you are insured. You earn a quarter of coverage (QC)\u2014a “credit”\u2014for a certain amount of work covered under Social Security, but\u00a0you may earn no more than 4 QCs per year<\/em>. Generally, you need to be fully insured to receive Social Security benefits, but other requirements may also apply.\u00a0The reported income also must be relatively recent. Work credits expire, and your insured status can lapse if too much time has passed since you stopped working. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Generally, you have disability-insured status if you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exceptions apply for those under age 31 and in certain other cases. Click here for more details on the Insured Status Requirements for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n SSI, on the other hand, is a welfare-based program of benefits. There are no work requirements for SSI. However, there are asset and family income limits. Qualifying for SSI is like qualifying for food stamps. You can learn more in our article, “How Do You Qualify for SSI?<\/a>“<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The rules and requirements to qualify for Social Security disability cases are relatively straightforward. In short, to be eligible for either Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits, a claimant must satisfy both the medical and non-medical (financial) requirements for benefits. You should apply for benefits as soon as you …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[206],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nickortizlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3507"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nickortizlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nickortizlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickortizlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickortizlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickortizlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3507\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nickortizlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickortizlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickortizlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Medical Issues in SSDI and SSI Claims<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
Financial Issues in SSDI and SSI Claims<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Insured Status Requirements<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n