Blog posts

When you’re out of work with a serious medical condition, it can be difficult to know just how to proceed. Disability benefits are one option and provide qualified workers and their families a level of financial security, even when income from employment is limited or nonexistent. Another option, dependent upon your specific circumstances, is to apply for unemployment benefits instead and decide later whether your disability is so severe that it will stop you from finding a new job.

SSA Benefits and Length of Disability

Disability benefits provide essential support for disabled individuals and often their immediate family members or dependents. These benefits can actually come in two forms: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

For SSI, a personal interview with an Social Security Administration (SSA) representative is a standard part of the process, but applying in person for SSDI can potentially increase your chances of approval, or at least decrease the chances of unnecessary delays with your claim.

Disability benefits offer monthly support to qualified individuals and often to their dependents as well. These benefits may not equal previous employment income, but they can certainly alleviate many financial concerns, like how you’ll make the rent, pay for utilities, or cover other bills.

Although many disabled workers meet the requirements for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), your age and work history may prevent you from qualifying. If this is case, you’ll need to understand why you were denied and what you may be able to do about finding the support you need.

Disability benefits can keep you afloat when an impairment prevents you from working to support yourself and your family. The average wait for a decision on eligibility is between three and four months, but some applicants wait significantly longer. Getting by in the mean time often means seeking out extra benefits or forms of support.

When approved for disability, applicants often receive a lump sum of “back pay,” and then get monthly benefits through automatic payments moving forward. Benefits through the Social Security Administration’s (SSA’s) disability programs can take the pressure off of individuals and families that are faced with serious medical concerns and the financial worries that come with them.

Avoiding Common Social Security Application Mistakes

The Social Security Administration’s (SSA’s) disability programs provide essential income for disabled individuals, and in some cases, also pay dependent or auxiliary benefits to family members of the disabled. These benefits become a cornerstone of family finances when a wage earner is no longer able to work due to disability. Families come to depend on this income to meet their everyday needs, but what happens when a disability recipient goes to jail?

Social Security Disability Eligibility when Sentenced to Jail Time

Table of Contents

• Does Medicare or Medicaid Cover Service Animals?
• Will Insurance Cover Service Dogs and Other Assistance Animals?
• Social Security Disability Service Animal Assistance Programs
• Service Animal Accreditation Programs and Additional Resources
• How Social Security Disability Payments Can Help You

Do Social Security disability auxiliary benefits count as child support? Can my benefits be garnished?

Disability benefits through the Social Security administration often provide additional support for the family members or dependents of people with disabilities. These resources are invaluable in a family's time of need.

If you suffer from a disability and find yourself unable to work, you may be able to receive disability benefits through the Social Security Administration (SSA).

These benefits can help you pay for your medical expenses and everyday costs of living.

Top ODAR Offices

After you initially apply for disability benefits, the SSA may deny your application based on a lack of sufficient medical evidence or a variety of other factors.

Luckily, this decision can be appealed, during which the SSA will reconsider your application and approve or deny it.