CAN YOU RECEIVE LONG TERM DISABILITY AND STILL GET SSDI?

The short answer is Yes, you can receive long term disability payments from your employer (or insurance company) without affecting your Social Security disability claim or SSDI.

Be sure that your claim is SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance or Title 2), not Supplemental Security Income or SSI. SSI is needs based and any income will affect an SSI claim.

However, SSDI is not needs based or income restricted. So if you become disabled while covered by your employer's Long Term Disability (LTD) plan, go ahead and accept all the LTD benefits you can get. These benefits are not considered wages because you are not working for them. LTD benefits are just that: benefits provided by either your employer or your employer's insurance company. No matter how much your Long Term Disability benefits are, they won't interfere with your eligibility for Social Security Disability (SSDI) under Title 2.

Social Security disability often takes a long time to get, sometimes months or even years. If you have Long Term Disability benefits available, by all means take them. They can help tremendously while you wait on Social Security disability to approve your claim.

What happens when Social Security approves your SSDI claim? Under most Long Term Disability contracts, the LTD benefit will be reduced by the amount of the SSDI benefit. For example if your LTD disability payment is $3,000 per month and Social Security awards you $2,000 per month, your LTD benefit will drop to $1,000 ($3,000 minus the $2,000 SSDI benefit). This is because most LTD policies coordinate with Social Security disability so that there is no overlap in coverage.

Not all LTD policies are alike,so check with your former employer's human resources manager--or check with the insurance company providing the Long Term Disability benefit. But what I have described above is the most common method. Note that you may continue to qualify for some LTD benefit even after Social Security begins their payments.

Again, what I am describing here applies only to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) under Title 2 of the Social Security Act. This information does not apply to Supplemental Security Income or SSI benefits under Title 16. This is because SSI is a type of government relief or welfare which depends on a very restricted income and very few financial resources. SSI is income based or needs based, while SSDI has no income or resource restrictions. So the income from Long Term Disability does not affect SSDI, but certainly may impact SSI.

The whole disability spectrum is riddled with confusing terms and conditions. If you need assistance sorting through your disability situation and benefits, contact us at the Forsythe Firm for a free consultation. If we help you with getting SSDI benefits from Social Security, there is never a fee until you get your benefits and collect back pay. There is never an upfront fee or a consultation fee. (256) 799-0297.