RULES FOR SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY INSURANCE BENEFITS (DIB)

 

You must meet certain rules to qualify for disabled worker's Social Security benefits.  It is an insurance program.  The amount of benefits received by a disabled person is dependent on the amount of Social Security taxes from earnings that have been paid into the system.  You must have the required work credits in order to be insured and entitled to benefits.  In addition to being insured, your health problems must:

 

•         Keep you from performing any kind of substantial work (described below), and

•         last, or be expected to last, for at least 12 months in a row, or result in death.

 

A person's income and resources have no bearing on entitlement to the receipt of Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits (DIB).

 

RULES FOR SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME (SSI) DISABILITY OR BLINDNESS

 

SSI is a needs based program which is administered by Social Security.  One's income and resources may not exceed certain limits.

 

Children under the age of 18 may also qualify for the receipt of SSI if they meet certain rules pertaining to disability and the family's income and resources do not exceed certain limits.

 

A person can qualify for SSI benefits due to blindness even if he/she can do substantial work.

 

INFORMATION ABOUT SUBSTANTIAL WORK

 

Generally, substantial work is considered to be physical or mental work for which a person is paid.  Work can be substantial even if it is part-time.  To decide if a person's work is substantial, Social Security considers the nature of the job duties, the skills and experience needed to do the job, and how much the person actually earns.

 

Usually, Social Security finds that work in 2015 is substantial if gross earnings average over $1090.00 per month after deducting certain allowable amounts.  This amount is higher for Social Security disability benefits for blindness.

 

A person's work may be different than before his/her health problems began; or it may not be as hard to do and the pay may be less but, even so, it may still be found to be substantial under Social Security's rules.

 

If a person is self-employed, Social Security considers the kind and value of the work, including management of the business, as well as income, to decide if the work is substantial. 

 

MORE INFORMATION

 

If you have questions about Social Security's disability program, or anything else about Social Security, your call to our law firm at 270-651-3131 will be welcomed at any time.