Many people who have applied for disability benefits do not understand the difference between Social Security Disability and SSI (Supplemental Security Insurance) benefits. Many people that I talk to do not know what program they have applied for. The majority of the time if you have submitted your application with a local social security office then the claims processor will automatically have you apply for both programs. If you have submitted an application online, you have only applied for Social Security disability benefits because you cannot apply for SSI through the internet.
The reason you want to apply for both programs at the application level is because it is not always clear at that point which program you will fall under and there are some circumstances where you can qualify for both Social Security disability(SSD) and SSI.
There are many differences between Social Security Disability and SSI all of which I cannot cover in one post, but the primary difference between the two concerns how you qualify for them financially.
You are financially entitled to Social Security disability benefits if you have worked in the past and paid into the Social Security Administration through the years. This will typically be referred to as whether or not you have enough “quarters”. For most people the best way to know whether or not you have enough quarters is to look at the tri-fold pamphlet that social security sends out once a year giving you a summary of your benefits. On the inside flap of the social security pamphlet it will give you an estimate of what your disability benefits will be if you become disabled. If there is an amount in that section, then you have enough quarters. If there is no amount in that section then there likely will be a footnote at the bottom saying that you do not have enough quarters.
You can think of Social Security disability benefits being similar to car insurance. For each paycheck you receive a portion goes to social security, which you can think of as the insurance premium. When you have paid the insurance premium (paid social security) there is a benefit available to you if something goes wrong (you become disabled). However, if you fail to pay your premium (don’t work) then there will be a time when the benefit is cut off and you no longer have enough quarters. Many people make the mistake of assuming that if they have paid into Social Security then the disability benefit will always be there. That is not the case at all, which is why it is very important to apply for disability benefits as soon as it becomes clear you are not going to be able to work for at least 12 months.
If you do not have enough quarters to qualify for Social Security disability then SSI is your only option. SSI is intended to be a benefit for those that are disabled but yet do not have enough quarters. From a financial standpoint you qualify for SSI based on need. You must have a very limited income and limited resources (Individuals: $2,000; Couples: $3,000). SSI is very much like a welfare system based on disability.
Generally if you qualify for Social Security disability benefits then you will not qualify for SSI benefits, because the Social Security disability benefit is usually more monthly income than SSI will allow. However, if your disability check is less than $700 a month then you might also qualify for some SSI.
Tags: claims processing, disability, new mexico, Social Security
