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Social Security > Types
of Benefits
Types of Social Security Benefits
There
are several kinds of disability benefits for which a
person may be eligible. The medical rules are the same
for each of these programs you must be found disabled
as defined by Social Securitys regulations. The
non-medical requirements are different for each program.
The five main programs are:
Disability
Insurance Benefits (DIB)
You are only
eligible for these benefits if you have paid a certain
amount of Social Security tax over a period of time.
Your prior work history will determine when DIB coverage
starts and when it ends. Disability Insurance Benefits
is, as the name implies, an insurance program. A worker
has a certain percentage of his or her earnings taken
out of each paycheck. These withholdings are pooled
together with other workers™ earnings and used to pay
out on disability claims. To get coverage, you must
have worked at least twenty calendar quarters (five
years) within the last forty calendar quarters (10
years) before your disability began. (There is a
different rule for people whose disability began before
age 30). To be entitled to DIB, you must prove that your
disability began while disability insurance was in
force. As for your benefits amount, the longer you have
worked and the more you earned the larger the benefit
amount you are entitled to if you become disabled. There
are no household income restrictions on a DIB claim. So,
even if your spouse is still working and financially
able to support you, you are entitled to DIB benefits if
you are disabled.
Supplemental Security Income
(SSI)
SSI is a Federal income supplement
program funded by general tax revenues (not Social
Security taxes). It is designed to help aged, blind, and
disabled people who have little or no income. SSI
benefits are not based on your prior work or a family
member's prior work.
To get SSI, you must have
limited income and resources. To be eligible for SSI,
you must be found disabled under the same rules used for
DIB, or be blind, or over age 65. You must also have
very little household income or property to be
financially eligible for SSI. Even if you are found to
be disabled under Social Securitys regulations, if your
household income exceeds a certain maximum level you
will not qualify for SSI benefits. For a disabled person
with little or no past work experience whose spouse is
able to care for the family financially, this is a
reminder that SSI benefits were created to afford
minimal economic relief to disabled people who would not
otherwise receive the necessary financial support they
need.
Child Disability Benefits (CDB)
Childs Disability Benefits is a type of SSI
program. It provides financial support to children age
17 or younger who are disabled. Social Security uses
different rules for determining disability in a childs
claim than in an adult claim. To be found disabled, the
child must have a physical or mental condition that
causes marked and severe functional limitations. As with
SSI claims, to be eligible for Childs Disability
Benefits the parent household income must not exceed a
certain maximum level. Hoglund, Chwialkowski & Mrozik,
PLLC is one of only a few law firms in Minnesota that
will handle Child Social Security Benefits claims.
Disabled Widow/Widower Benefits (DWB)
This is a special disability program for certain widows
and widowers, based on the Social Security tax paid by
her or his deceased spouse. To qualify for Disabled
Widow/Widower Benefits, you must be between the ages of
50 and 59, and have been married for at least 10 years
to the person who was covered under Social Security at
the time of his or her death, and show that you are
under a disability. You must prove that your disability
began within seven years of your spouses death.
Disabled Adult Child Benefits (DAC)
Disabled Adult Child Benefits generally may be paid to a
child age 18 or older who became disabled before age 22,
and to a full-time elementary or secondary school
student under age 19. If the parent is alive, he or she
must be entitled to retirement or disability benefits.
If deceased, the parent must have worked long enough
under Social Security for survivor's benefits to be
paid.
A child age 18 or older may be entitled to
Social Security benefits based on his or her disability
when a parent who has worked long enough under the
program is entitled to disability benefits or is
deceased. The criteria used to evaluate the disability
are the same as those used to evaluate disability in
adults. The child must be unable to work because of a
medical condition that has lasted or is expected to last
at least 12 months, or is expected to result in death.
The child's disability must have begun before age 22.
Contact me, Mark M. Nesbit, to learn how I can help you
obtain the benefits you deserve.
Free Initial Consultation / (614) 586-1310; Toll Free
(800) 876-9057
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