If you develop a serious medical condition, everything about your life could change quickly. You may no longer be able to work. You may have to pay substantially more medical bills. You might even need help around the house as your condition progresses.
You may find yourself looking for help with your condition and daily needs. One of the most important benefits for those struggling with severe health issues is Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). How can you determine whether you likely qualify for benefits or not?
Have you made enough contributions?
In order to receive SSDI benefits, you have to contribute to the program through payroll withholdings. Both employees and independent contractors make Social Security contributions through their taxes.
You should receive occasional statements from the Social Security Administration (SSA) confirming how much you have contributed over your working life and what benefits you would receive if you needed to file a claim. Even without these, however, you can find out directly from SSA if you have enough work credits to qualify for benefits.
Is your medical condition serious enough?
In addition, you will also need to have a medical condition that qualifies as a disability under SSA’s rules. Every case is evaluated individually based on the individual’s medical history and symptoms. That means that one person with a specific condition, like diabetes, may qualify for benefits while another person with the same condition may not.
Your condition must also be more-or-less permanent. SSA has no form of temporary benefits, so you can only qualify for benefits if your condition is either expected to last for 12 months or longer or end in death. You also need to present symptoms severe enough to prevent you from working not only your own job but any other job you may be qualified to do.
If you believe that you may qualify for SSDI, getting help with the application can increase your chances of approval and getting the benefits that you need. Because the program is so restrictive, you need to present SSA with all the information they need to make an approval on your case, and that’s seldom easy to do on your own.
