Here are three steps to getting the Social Security disability benefits, you deserve. My name is Kaitlin Wildoner, and I’m an attorney who helps individuals obtain their Social Security disability benefits as quickly as possible so they can focus on getting better. Today we’re going to talk about three steps that you can take to get the Social Security disability benefits you may have paid into the system for, and that you believe you deserve.
First Step to Get Social Security Disability Benefits: Apply
The first might be obvious, but you’ve got to apply! If you’ve never before applied for SSI or SSDI benefits, you can apply for either one online. If you have previously applied for SSI benefits and need to apply again, unfortunately applying online (as of the recording of this video) is not an option for you. In that case, you will need to reach out to your local Social Security Office directly to submit your SSI application. For SSDI, it doesn’t matter if you’ve applied before or not, you can always make that initial application online.
Of course, the next question is, what’s the difference between the two?
Main Difference Between SSDI and SSI Benefit Process
The main difference comes in the second prong of eligibility. While both SSDI and SSI require a finding that you are disabled, SSDI requires that in addition to that finding, you must have worked for a requisite period of time and paid into the system. Generally speaking, you must have worked five of the last 10 years, though there are certain caveats depending on age and other factors, but generally speaking, that’s kind of the rule – you have to have worked five of the last 10 years to qualify for SSD benefits.
For SSI benefits, you also must be found disabled, but instead of that work history requirement, there’s income and asset restrictions. As a single individual, you cannot have more than $2,000 in assets, and as a married individual, that amount bumps up to $3,000. That does not include one home or one car, but just about anything above that is included, though there are also some other smaller factors that will get taken out of that. But generally speaking, $2,000 in assets if you’re single and $3,000 if you’re married. If you have more assets than that, you’ll be pushed out of eligibility. So again, the first step is applying.
Second Step to Get Social Security Disability Benefits: List Everything
Second, when you apply, you’ll want to list all of the conditions that impact your ability to function, not just the most significant ones as the Social Security Administration evaluates the whole person. So, while your back may be your most significant impairment, let’s say you’ve had three surgeries over the course of a year and a half, and that’s what’s preventing you from working is the back pain. Then, the surgery after surgery after surgery with the rest time, the rehab time, that’s what’s preventing you from working. However, you’ve also got side effects from the medication. You are also starting to notice that you’ve got anxiety and depression setting in. Everything that you have going on that impacts your ability to function, you’ll want to include on that application. Social Security evaluates the whole person.
Third Step to Get Social Security Disability Benefits: Be Responsive
The third step is responding to all the paperwork that you receive from either the Social Security Administration, or if you’re at the initial or reconsideration stages, the Disability Determination Services of your state who’s processing your claim. You want to respond to everything they send you. If they send you an adult function report, respond. If they send you a pain questionnaire, respond. It may take you a little bit more than the 10 days that they initially allot to send a completed form back, but if you call up your adjudicator and say, “Hey, just to let you know, I did receive that adult function report you wanted me to fill out, I’m working on it, but I’m only able to finish five questions at a time, so it’s taken me a little bit longer,” that’s fine, just keep them updated and let them know.
Need Help Getting Disability Benefits?
If you have questions or if you’re working your way through these three steps and need help, click the consultation link below or give us a call for a free consultation to see what I can do to help you
