STIMULUS RELIEF CHECKS

Are you unable to work? In a financial bind and need help? Can you depend on the US government to come through for you? Well, it depends.

It doesn't look like there will be a stimulus relief bill in 2020. Congress can't agree on even the most basic terms of COVID stimulus relief. It's generally agreed that there won't be a stimulus check until after the new year, if then.

However, a bill was passed in 1954 that may help you. It's called Social Security Disability Insurance or SSDI. If you can't work due to a medical impairment, Social Security can replace a portion of your lost wages due to disability. How much money is that? Well, the average payment for 202 is around $1,250 per month. Not a lot but it helps keep body and soul together. And some SSDI payments can be over $3,000 per months. And there could be a large back pay settlement, too.

Here's what you will need to get an SSDI check from Uncle Sam:

1. You worked and paid into Social Security for at least 5 years out of the last 10 years.

2. You have a medically determinable impairment that keeps you from working.

3. Your impairment has lasted or is expected to last at least 1 year OR to end in death.

4. You are not presently working at "substantial gainful activity" -- not earning $1,260 per month or more.

To file an application for benefit checks, call your local Social Security field office or apply online at socialsecurity.gov. Alternatively, you may contact a disability attorney or advocate like the Forsythe Firm to help you. There won't be any legal fee unless you win and collect back pay (past due benefits).

Social Security disability may be your best, most direct link to relief benefits in 2020 and beyond. Unlike proposed "stimulus checks," the Social Security check arrives each month for as long as you remain disabled. So don't sit and wait while Congress argues, dickers, accuses, passes the blame and delays. Go after your SSDI and let Congress do what they do best: Nothing.