SSDRC




What is the Application Process for Social Security Disability and SSI?

How do you Win Benefits under Social Security Disability or SSI?

If I am determined disabled, how far back will Social Security pay benefits?

How do you prove your disability case if you have a mental condition?

What Can I Do to Improve My Chances of Winning Disability Benefits

Common Mistakes after Receiving a Denial of Social Security Disability or SSI Benefits

How to File for Disability - Tips for Filing

If You Get Approved For SSDI Will You Also Get Medicare?

How much does a Social Security disability attorney get paid?

Social Security Disability SSI Criteria and the Evaluation Process

How long does it take to be approved for SSI or Social Security disability?

What do you Need to Prove to Qualify for Disability Benefits?

Social Security Disability SSI and Fibromyalgia

Social Security Disability SSI and Degenerative Disc Disease

Can I Qualify For Disability and Receive Benefits based on Depression?

Answers to questions about SSD and SSI disability

What Disabilities Qualify for SSI and Social Security Disability Benefits?

Social Security Disability Status

Social Security Disability Tips — how a claim gets worked on

Social Security Disability, SSI Disability - Terms, Definitions, Concepts


Will Work Cause You To Lose Your Disability Benefits?


How to prove you are disabled
and win disability benefits


 
You may possibly lose your Social Security disability benefits or SSI disability benefits if you work. Work affects each disability program differently, so it is important to understand how work activity affects each disability program.

Working and Social Security Disability Benefits

If you work and earn more than the SGA monthly earnings limit, it will affect your eligibility for Social Security disability benefits. While Social Security offers work incentives to get you back into the work force without jeopardizing your disability eligibility, your Social Security disability benefits may terminate if you continue working and earning more than the monthly SGA limit.

You are allowed a trial work period of nine months in which your earnings can be any amount and during which you will still be eligible to receive your Social Security disability benefits. However, the nine months do not have to be consecutive and they can occur any time during a sixty-month period. If you are performing SGA-level work activity (meaning that you are earning as much, or more than, the SGA limit in effect for that year) on the tenth month, your disability benefits will be suspended for any month that you were working over the SGA monthly limit. It also begins an extended period of eligibility (EPE).

The EPE is a thirty-six-month period in which you are allowed to restart your disability benefits any time you have stop work or are earning under the SGA monthly earnings amount without question; however your disability benefits will terminate the first month you perform SGA work after the end of the EPE.

Even if your disability benefits terminate due to SGA work after the EPE, you still may be able to get your disability benefits back if you stop work within five years of your disability termination due to the same disabling condition or conditions. If you are unable to work within this time frame, you can file an expedited reinstatement.

Expedited reinstatements allow you to receive six months of provisional disability payments while Social Security determines if you are still medically eligible to receive Social Security disability. If your expedited reinstatement is denied, you still have the option of filing a new Social Security disability claim. The SSI disability program works a little differently.

Working and SSI Disability Benefits

SSI disability beneficiaries’ work activity causes their disability benefits to stop or be less from month to month depending on how much they are earning. You may even be earning enough to stop your SSI disability payments all together. It is very important that you report all work activity to Social Security. If you do not report your work timely ,you may very well cause an overpayment of disability benefits which you will be expected to repay.

If your work activity causes your SSI benefits to be in suspense twelve months or more, your SSI disability benefits will terminate. The SSI disability program does not offer the work incentives that Social Security disability does. If your SSI disability benefits terminate, you will have to file a new disability claim. This means you will have to go through the entire disability determination process again.















Return to:  SSDRC, or the Questions, Answers, Tips, and Advice page












Topics and Questions


  • Can I file a widow’s claim if my spouse received SSI ?

  • If I am Awarded Social Security Disability Will My Benefits be Cutoff Later?

  • How often does someone get disability approved in just a few months ?

  • Applying for disability benefits in Ohio

  • Do you get medical healthcare benefits with Social Security disability ?

  • What does a Disability Denial Letter from Social Security say?

  • Can You Work While You Appeal Your Social Security Disability Decision?

  • How Far Back Does Social Security Look At Your Medical Records?

  • What is a Social Security Disability SSI Durational Denial?

  • What conditions do they Award Disability Benefits for?

  • What is the difference between Social Security disability and SSI ?

  • How Does Social Security Disability Make Its Decision?

  • How does Social Security Decide if I am Disabled?

  • Is getting social security disability easier for mental or physical problems?

  • Information about the SSI Disability Benefits Program

  • Social Security Disability And SSI Qualifications - What is the examiner looking for?

  • When do you need a Disability Lawyer for a Case?

  • What Are The Reasons For Social Security Disability Cases Being Denied?

  • Are children eligible to receive disability benefits ?

  • Can you speed up the Social Security disability process?

  • What is the Application Process for Social Security Disability and SSI?

  • What are the chances of winning disability benefits through an appeal?

  • What Disabilities Qualify for SSI and Social Security Disability Benefits?

  • Does Social Security Disability Have a Time Limit?

  • Hiring a Qualified Disability Lawyer in New Jersey

  • How long does it take to be approved for SSI or Social Security disability ?

  • Why is it Taking so Long to get a Court Date with the ALJ, the Social Security Disability Judge?

  • Will Social Security deny my disability claim if I am working ?

  • How to apply for social security disability benefits for children

  • What is a trial work period for social security disability or SSI ?

  • How to Appeal a disability claim denial from Social Security

  • Social Security Disability Hearings - What is the ALJ

  • How Long Does It Take To Get Disability Benefits When You First File?

  • If You File For Social Security Disability How Far Back Will They Look At Your Medical Records?

  • Will You Be Denied For Disability If Your Records Indicate You Can Return To Work?

  • How long does it take to get Social Security benefits?

  • Appealing a Social Security Disability or SSI Denial with a Disability Hearing Before an ALJ (Administrative Law Judge)

  • What Forms will I need to Complete when I apply for disability?

  • What determines how long I can keep my Disability Benefits under SSD or SSI?

  • After a Social Security Disability or SSI Claim has been taken and is Pending

  • Applying for disability benefits in Arizona

  • Steps for Filing A Disability Claim Under SSI or SSD

  • How much does Social Security pay in disability benefits ?

  • Can A Disability Attorney Guarantee That I Get A Social Security Approval?
























    SSD and SSI are Federal Programs

    The title II Social Security Disability and title 16 SSI Disability programs operate under federal guidelines and, therefore, the program requirements--medical and non-medical--apply to all states:

    Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

    Recent approval and denial statistics for various states can be viewed here:

    Social Security Disability, SSI Approval and Denial Statistics by state

    Special Section: Disability Lawyers and unnecessary claim denials