HOW TO GET SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY PAYMENTS

Here is a short, practical guide to getting disability benefits from Social Security. The Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program pays a maximum of $3,011 per month to disabled individuals, plus Medicare coverage to pay most medical bills. How do you get started?

1. Call your local Social Security office and ask if you have enough work credits to be covered for SSDI benefits. You must "pay in" to Social Security before you can "take out."

2. Get some basic information about who can qualify for SSDI benefits. The easiest way is to call a disability lawyer or advocate and start asking questions. There is usually not a charge for this consultation.

3. Get medical evaluations and treatment for your conditions. No one can get SSDI payments without detailed medical records to support a claim. If you don't have medical insurance, try to get into a community free clinic; most communities have one or more.

4. File a complete application with Social Security. This also involves completing a Function Report,Work History Report and a Disability Report in detail. You can't skimp on these forms; they must be complete.

5. Ask your treating doctor to write a detailed letter explaining why you can't work a simple sedentary (sit-down) job. Better yet, get the doctor to complete a Residual Functional Capacity (RFC) form for you to give to Social Security.

6. Appeal all unfavorable decisions (denials) within the required 60-day deadline. Most applications are denied but many can still be paid with an appeal. You may need a lawyer to handle appeals. Lawyers may not charge you a fee unless your benefits are approved AND you get back pay. So, it's a contingency arrangement: NO WIN, NO PAY.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE? A good, strong application might sail through in 6 months. However, if you need appeals, it may take 12 to 18 months to go through the process. Unfortunately, there is no temporary benefit to tide you over during the application process. However, when you are eventually approved, you may get back pay, which is one month of pay for each month you had to wait on the process to grind its way to a finish.

HOW MUCH WILL YOUR MONTHLY BENEFIT BE? It depends on your lifetime wages. the more you earned, the higher your benefit will be. In 2020, the average SSDI payment was around $1,200 per month. The maximum payment was just over $3,000 per month. If you have dependents under the age of 19 and still in school, each of them may also get a monthly benefit in addition to yours. For example, if your monthly benefit is $1,400, an eligible dependent could get up to $700 per month, in addition.

Other benefits, such as Medicare insurance, usually comes with the "package."