Published on: December 4, 2024
Being disabled is stressful. There’s no question about that. Being disabled and being unable to pay your bills? Even more so. The last thing you need when you’re struggling with a difficult health condition is to have to worry constantly about how you’ll pay your bills and provide for yourself and those you love. If you find yourself in this situation, you may be considering filing a claim for disability benefits, and you may wonder how much you’ll receive. Let’s take a closer look at the law together.
Two Types of Disability Benefits
The Social Security Administration provides two types of disability benefits. These include Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. Both types of benefits require that an individual have a qualifying medical condition that has rendered them unable to work for at least one continuous calendar year or more.
Let’s Take A Closer Look At Each Of These Requirements:
- Qualifying medical condition: To determine if a medical condition qualifies for benefits, the Social Security Administration will often consult its listing of impairments, otherwise known as the Blue Book. This guide contains a listing of various conditions and their accompanying symptoms. if you can establish through sufficient medical proof that you have one of these conditions, you increase your chances of being approved for benefits. Those who do not have a condition specifically listed should not panic, however. Instead, they may simply need to present additional medical proof prior to being approved.
- The condition has lasted for one continuous year or more: Essentially, Social Security is a long-term disability program. This is why benefits are required to last for more than a year. Sometimes, you may have a very disabling condition – a broken leg or a severe illness for example, that renders you unable to work, but resolves fairly quickly. In those cases, you may pursue short term disability options, but, Social Security disability benefits will not be available.
The primary way in which SSDI and SSI benefits differ is that SSDI benefits are only available to individuals who are “insured.” To the Social Security Administration, being “insured” means that the applicant worked a job for a sufficient length of time through which they regularly paid a portion of their salary in taxes to the Social Security system.
SSI benefits by contrast, are intended for individuals with lower income and resources below a certain limit known as the “federal benefit rate.” This limit may change annually, so consulting with an attorney regarding your circumstances is essential. An individual does not need to be insured to receive SSI benefits.
A Closer Look at the Calculations - SSDI Benefits
Prior to understanding how benefits are calculated, it is important to know that, regardless of which type of benefit you receive, the amount of your payment will not depend upon the particular condition you have. There are very limited exceptions to this rule, such as in the case of blindness but generally, this is the case.
As noted, in order to receive SSDI benefits an individual needs to be insured, which means that they regularly paid taxes from their job into the Social Security system. Although the calculation of benefits can follow a rather complex method, as a general rule, benefits are calculated based upon an individual’s work and earning history. Essentially, the more money an individual made and paid in into the system, the higher the benefit amount will be, although this is true only up to a certain limit. Each year, the Social Security administration sets a limit on the amount of benefits an individual may receive.
In 2024, the maximum amount you can earn from Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is $3,822 per month. In 2025, the maximum Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefit in 2025 is expected to be $4,018 per month.
SSI Benefits
Unlike SSDI benefits, SSI benefits are not based upon an individual’s earning history. Instead, the Social Security Administration will calculate benefits by determining how much “countable income” an individual has, and subtracting that from the federal benefit rate, or the maximum available amount that an individual can receive.
In 2024, the maximum monthly SSI payment is $943 for an individual and $1,415 per couple. In 2025, the maximum monthly SSI payment is expected to be $967 per individual and $1,450 per month per couple.
Disability Experts – Here For You
When you are struggling with a disability and in need of disability benefits, you need a knowledgeable and experienced legal team on your side. You need a team that understands the law, and that will fight for you each step of the way. At Disability Experts, we are that team. No matter where you are in the process of seeking benefits, we’ll meet you there, and we’ll help you more forward as you seek to fully assert your rights under the law. If you’re ready to get started, give us a call today. We look forward to speaking with you soon.
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