Q. What is Social Security Disability?
A. Social Security disability benefits are monies paid to you if you have worked for a long enough period and paid Social Security taxes though your employer and become disabled.
Q. How do I qualify for Social Security Disability?
A. You may quality to receive benefits if you have a medical condition or injury that prevents you from working for a minimum of one year.
Q. How does the Social Security Administration determine disability?
The Social Security Administration has a five step process in determining disability.
Step One -The first step involves determining if you are working. The amount of money you make if you are working is limited. If you make more than allowed, you will not be considered disabled.
Step Two - The second step is to consider the severity of your medical condition(s) if you make less than the current guideline amount. This involves determining whether your medical condition(s) significantly affect you ability to perform basic work activities, i.e. sitting, standing, walking, for at least one year.
Step Three - If the condition is severe enough to limit basic work functions, the agency will determine if the medical condition(s) are on a List of Impairments for adults and children developed by the agency. The impairments described are considered so severe by the agency that you can automatically be defined by law as disabled. If your condition is not on
the list, the agency can determine that you are disabled if your condition(s) are as severe as those on the list of impairments.
Step Four - If your medical condition(s) are not on the list of impairments or meet or exceed the severity of an impairment on the list, the agency will then consider whether you medical condition(s) prevent you from doing the type of work you did before.
Step Five - If the agency decides that you can do the type of work you did before, then it will decide you are not disabled. If not, then the agency will evaluate your medical condition(s), age, education, past work experience and skills learned from that work, to determine if you can do any other type of work. If you can, then the agency will decide that you are not disabled.
Q. How long will it take to settle my Social Security Disability case?
A. This is a hard question to answer as there is no definite answer. The current estimated time for disposing of a case from the filing of the initial application to a hearing is approximately 24 months, sometimes longer. This can be a very long and stressful process. Put your case in our hands and let us help you through this process.
Q. How much will the Social Security Administration pay me if approved?
A. The amount of benefits is determined by your average lifetime earnings and whether your benefits will be reduced based on the receipt of other types of compensation for you medical condition(s), such as workers' compensation. The Social Security Administration sends out a yearly statement providing your lifetime earnings and provides an estimate of your disability benefit.
Q. How far back will Social Security pay me if I am approved?
A. If you are approved for social security disability, your first check will be paid for the sixth full month after the date your disability started.
Q. What can I do to help win my Social Security Disability case?
A. You need sufficient medical documentation to support the severity of your medical condition(s). You should keep up with your medical treatment and doctor appointments. It may also be helpful to keep a diary to help document on a daily basis your disability keeps you from performing your past work; your medications and side effects; your aches and pains; and how disability or medications affect daily activities such as driving, shopping, taking care of family, walking, standing, sitting, memory, concentration, coping with stressful situations, and
dealing with other people etc.
Q. Can I work and still receive Social Security Disability?
A. Yes. However, the agency limits the amount can make.
Q. Do I have to be permanently disabled to receive social security disability?
A. You are entitled to benefits if your medical condition(s) are severe enough to prevent you from working for a period of at least one year. If your condition improves your benefits can be terminated.
Q. Will I receive Medicare?
A. You will get Medicare coverage automatically after you have received social security disability benefits for two years.
Q. How much will an attorney charge?
A. The Social Security Administration will withhold 25% of your past due benefits to compensate legal fees.
Q. Will my family receive anything if I am approved?
A. If you are approved for Social Security Disability benefits, members of your family may qualify for benefits. They include but are not limited to the following:
Your spouse, if he or she is 62 or older;
Your spouse, at any age if he or she is caring for a child of yours who is younger than age 16
or disabled;
Your unmarried child, including an adopted child, or, in some cases, a stepchild or grandchild.
The child must be under age 18 or under age 19 if in elementary or secondary school full time; and
Your unmarried child, age 18 or older, if he or she has a disability that started before age 22.
(The child’s disability also must meet the definition of disability for adults.)
Showing posts with label disabled. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disabled. Show all posts
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Disability Compensation Benefits for Injured Workers*
Workers’ compensation benefits are paid to a worker who has a job-related injury or illness. These benefits may be paid by federal or state workers’ compensation agencies, employers or by insurance companies on behalf of employers.
Disability payments from private sources, such as private pension or insurance benefits, do not affect one’s social security disability benefits.
But workers’ compensation and other public disability benefits may reduce your social security benefits. Other public disability payments that may affect your Social Security benefit are those paid by a federal, state or local government and are for disabling medical conditions that are not job-related.
Some of these are civil service disability benefits, military disability benefits, state temporary disability benefits and state or local government retirement benefits that are all based on disability.
Some public benefits do not affect or reduce your social security disability benefits.
They are:
• Veterans Administration benefits
• State and local government benefits, if Social Security taxes were deducted from your earnings
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
On the other hand, injured workers are also entitled to certain benefits under the workers’ compensation law. Here are the types of workers disability compensation:
• Temporary Total Disability - This benefit is payable when the injured worker is unable to work during a period when he/she is under active medical care and has not yet reached what is called “maximum medical improvement”.
In most states, compensation is paid at two-thirds of the employee's average weekly wage, not to exceed statutory weekly maximums above which no worker is entitled to compensation. It is common worker’s temporary total disability weekly benefit to be capped by these statutory compensation limits.
• Temporary Partial Disability - A worker may be eligible for temporary partial disability compensation when he or she is able to do some work but is still recuperating from the effects of the injury, and is, thus, temporarily limited in the amount or type of work which can be performed compared to the pre-injury work.
• Permanent Partial Disability - Compensation is awarded for certain types of permanent conditions which do not cause the worker to be totally unable to work.
• Permanent Total Disability - In order to receive this type of compensation, the employee must prove that he is unable to return to work in any capacity, and that this is a permanent problem.
On the other hand, there are rulings in many states to the effect that a worker, who can perform only occasional, sporadic or undependable work, may still be deemed to be permanently totally disabled. Frequently, states’ workers compensation law permits lawyers to offer evidence of a workers age, education, training and experience in seeking to prove that the worker is incapable of substantial gainful employment.
• Disfigurement/Mutilation - A states’ workers compensation law may permit the employee to be compensated for disfigurement or scarring, frequently in the absence of any actual impairment, and sometimes in addition to actual impairment.
Disabled workers and employees are entitled to a number of benefits under the law. To know more information about how these benefits may be applicable to you as a disabled employee, you need to consult a disability compensation lawyer who is knowledgeable with these issues.
*Written By:
Manuel Salvacion, website located at http://www.socialsecuritylawattorney.com/Disability-Compensation-Lawyers.html .Our professional lawyers and legal staffs are is capable of providing expert assistance in your Social Security Disability problems.
*This post is listed for informational purposes only. The Metts Law Firm, LLC did not contribute to the contents or warrant the information provided. This is not intended as legal advice or the offer of legal representation. Please contact
Metts Law Firm, LLC at 803-929-0577.
Disability payments from private sources, such as private pension or insurance benefits, do not affect one’s social security disability benefits.
But workers’ compensation and other public disability benefits may reduce your social security benefits. Other public disability payments that may affect your Social Security benefit are those paid by a federal, state or local government and are for disabling medical conditions that are not job-related.
Some of these are civil service disability benefits, military disability benefits, state temporary disability benefits and state or local government retirement benefits that are all based on disability.
Some public benefits do not affect or reduce your social security disability benefits.
They are:
• Veterans Administration benefits
• State and local government benefits, if Social Security taxes were deducted from your earnings
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
On the other hand, injured workers are also entitled to certain benefits under the workers’ compensation law. Here are the types of workers disability compensation:
• Temporary Total Disability - This benefit is payable when the injured worker is unable to work during a period when he/she is under active medical care and has not yet reached what is called “maximum medical improvement”.
In most states, compensation is paid at two-thirds of the employee's average weekly wage, not to exceed statutory weekly maximums above which no worker is entitled to compensation. It is common worker’s temporary total disability weekly benefit to be capped by these statutory compensation limits.
• Temporary Partial Disability - A worker may be eligible for temporary partial disability compensation when he or she is able to do some work but is still recuperating from the effects of the injury, and is, thus, temporarily limited in the amount or type of work which can be performed compared to the pre-injury work.
• Permanent Partial Disability - Compensation is awarded for certain types of permanent conditions which do not cause the worker to be totally unable to work.
• Permanent Total Disability - In order to receive this type of compensation, the employee must prove that he is unable to return to work in any capacity, and that this is a permanent problem.
On the other hand, there are rulings in many states to the effect that a worker, who can perform only occasional, sporadic or undependable work, may still be deemed to be permanently totally disabled. Frequently, states’ workers compensation law permits lawyers to offer evidence of a workers age, education, training and experience in seeking to prove that the worker is incapable of substantial gainful employment.
• Disfigurement/Mutilation - A states’ workers compensation law may permit the employee to be compensated for disfigurement or scarring, frequently in the absence of any actual impairment, and sometimes in addition to actual impairment.
Disabled workers and employees are entitled to a number of benefits under the law. To know more information about how these benefits may be applicable to you as a disabled employee, you need to consult a disability compensation lawyer who is knowledgeable with these issues.
*Written By:
Manuel Salvacion, website located at http://www.socialsecuritylawattorney.com/Disability-Compensation-Lawyers.html .Our professional lawyers and legal staffs are is capable of providing expert assistance in your Social Security Disability problems.
*This post is listed for informational purposes only. The Metts Law Firm, LLC did not contribute to the contents or warrant the information provided. This is not intended as legal advice or the offer of legal representation. Please contact
Metts Law Firm, LLC at 803-929-0577.
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