What Are The Non-medical Requirements For Social Security Disability Insurance?
In addition to providing evidence of your medical condition, you must also meet several non-medical requirements to be eligible for SSDI benefits:
- You must be “insured” by Social Security. This means that you worked in jobs (or were self-employed) where you paid Social Security taxes, and that work must be both recent and have lasted long enough to meet Social Security’s requirements. Social Security uses a complicated formula to calculate your eligibility, which is based on your age at the time you became disabled.
- The formula calculates “work credits,” which are based on how long you worked and how much you earned. You get credits for each year that you worked if you made more than a minimum amount. For example, if you made more than $5,280 in 2018 in income covered by Social Security, you will earn four credits for the year. How many credits you need depends on your age. Many people need a total of 40 credits, which is usually equivalent to 10 years of work. Of those 40 credits, 20 must have been earned in the 10 years before you became disabled. Younger people may need fewer credits to be eligible for benefits.
- If you are currently working, you cannot be making more than a certain amount of money from your work. In 2018, you could not be making more than $1,180 per month by working. You are, however, allowed to make a higher amount from non-work income, such as from investments.
- Social Security also looks at your age, previous work experience, and education to determine if there are any other jobs that you can do, given your disability. To be eligible for SSDI benefits, Social Security must find that there are no other jobs that you would be able to do
Hiring Terry Katz and associates to represent my interests in my Workers Compensation and Social Security Disability case proved to be a smart decision that yielded an extremely successful outcome.
Through the lengthy and intricate process I came to realize just how valuable having a team of highly skilled representation was, and that is just how to describe the law firm of Terry Katz and Associates “Highly skilled legal representation”. I’d like to thank the entire team who worked on both my cases all of whom were always professional, knowledgeable and extremely caring. Throughout my entire case all of my calls and emails were always returned in a timely manner. My questions always answered competently and professionally. I always understood the process and felt a confidence in the process that I would not have had if not for hiring Terry Katz and Associates.
Mostly I’d like to thank Ms. Langdale who worked tirelessly on both my workers compensation case and my social security disability case. Her representation and legal prowess in the court room was nothing short of impressive to witness. I will never forget how confidently represented and protected I felt during her opening remarks at my social security disability hearing.
During these difficult times I was truly grateful to have Ms. Langdale working so diligently and expertly for my interests.
