The Social Security Administration administers the Disability Benefits Insurance (DBI) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. The Disability Benefits Insurance program is available to any former worker who is unable to work, for any reason, and who has accumulated sufficient quarters by payment of FICA taxes. To be eligible the former worker must have 40 quarters during the ten years preceding the onset of disability, twenty of which must have been during the preceding five years.
 

Applying...

The individual must file a written application. The Social Security Administration will accept applications in person in one of the District Offices and on the Internet.  Applications can also be made on the telephone. The District Office will assign a certain date and time and call the applicant for a telephone interview. Telephone applications must be followed up with a signed written application.

Date of Onset ...

Note that the 40/20 quarters requirement is based upon the onset date of the disability, usually the date on which the applicant last worked. It is not dependent on the date of application. Before you apply give some careful thought to the onset of your disability. The onset is the date on which you could no longer work. Sometimes a person will attempt to work after the true onset date. If the work attempt is of only a few weeks duration or less, go back in time to the date of last full time employment and request that any subsequent employment be considered an unsuccessful work attempt.

Finding Your Benefit Level ...

Any worker or former worker can determine the amount of her disability benefits. Contact the Social Security Administration and request an earnings report. The earnings report is a compilation of annual wages reported for every taxpayer. It also includes the calculated amount of disability benefits for that wage earner as well as the wage earner’s family’s maximum benefits.

Medicare included ...

In addition to the monthly cash benefits Social Security benefits include Medicare. The former worker is eligible for Medicare twenty nine months after the onset of disability. The benefits are comparable to retirement and could be called early retirement. But if you become disabled close to early age, i.e.., age 60 or more you should nevertheless apply for disability benefits because the benefits are better than early retirement benefits
Many deserving people have difficulty with the complicated process of applying for disability benefits and appealing unfavorable decisions. At Herren Law Office we guide our clients through this process and are often the difference between success and failure.

Caution ...

The application for Social Security Disability should be taken very seriously by all concerned. The applicant should be sure that they are not able to obtain and to hold a job. This means any job, not just the job that they are most familiar with. Disability is not as good as working. Once this determination is made then you should resolve to go the distance with your Representative and see the process through to completion.

Right to a Hearing ...

Each applicant has the right to a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. The judges are positioned in every metropolitan area according to the case load. If one area is behind on its cases another area will send in support judges to hear the cases. You and your Representative should take full advantage of this step to present your case. The judges all follow the same rules. Nevertheless, each judge is different in their own way. Unfavorable decisions by the Administrative Law Judge can be appealed to another step within the Administrative, and in some cases to federal court. In rare cases the case will have merit for appeal to the Circuit or even to the Supreme Court level. The applicant should be sure that their Representative is ready, willing and capable of taking their case to federal court if necessary.

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