An Overview Of SSDI
Hopefully you know by now Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) plays a major role within the overall Social Security program. Social security disability attorneys in Chicago will be the first to tell you how many people it’s helped over the years. It’s been carefully designed to give benefits to those deemed disabled before they’re ready to retire.
SSDI is only there to give help to people who are currently insured. Without going into too much details right now, it’s likely you’ve been paying into the Social Security fund if you were employed before becoming disabled. The total amount you’ll have been paying was based on your earnings, which is overseen by the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA).
Social Security Disability Eligibility
This is where social security disability lawyers in Chicago will be able to help you out with an in-depth answer. The short version is that qualifying for the SSDI program is based on the total number of years you’ve worked, but you also would need to have been paying Social Security taxes at the same time. Every year you’re entitled to four work credits and they’ll be added up.
All hope is not lost if you don’t qualify for SSDI and a Chicago social security attorney should be able to put your mind at ease. A second program called the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will be available to you. This program doesn’t rely on an accumulation of work credits because you’ll be eligible for it even if you’ve never worked before. You only have to be disabled to receive the benefits.
Dealing With Work Credits
A social security lawyer in Chicago should be contacted if you’re having any trouble understanding how work credits fall into the grand scheme of things. It’s tough to give exact details to a wide range of people because work credits depend on what age you were when you became disabled. A disabled 50 year old might need to have worked for 7 years while collecting 28 work credits. You need to have worked for half a decade within the last 10 years too.
Determining Medical Eligibility
Having the correct number of work credits isn’t everything as any Chicago social security attorney will tell you. You also have to be medically eligible to qualify for SSDI, and there are certain things they’ll use to determine if you’re actually disabled. Just because someone says you’re disabled you can’t assume you’ll get SSDI. They play by their own rules and Chicago social security lawyers come in handy at this point.
We can look at a brief breakdown and you’ll be able to work out whether or not you fit their criteria. First of all, your disability should prevent you from performing the same work-related activities before the injury or illness. It also needs to last for a period of up to one year or it doesn’t count. You also have to be disabled to the point where you’ll not be able to retrain to find another job.
Being Approved For Disability Benefits
Unfortunately you do have to wait a long time for SSDI even if you’ve been approved straight away. As a perfect example, let’s say you’re scheduled for an operation where you’ll be disabled after it’s over. You will still have to wait five months until you get your first check. In reality, the wait is going to be a lot longer and you could be sitting around for up to a year before being approved.
That is why a great social security disability lawyer is so crucial. The reason for the long wait will be because you’ll nearly always have to appeal. They’re well-known for being extremely difficult to work with and it’s great having a professional to fight in your corner. Even if the process does take a year you should get backpay all the way back to month six until you’ve caught up.
Social Security Disability Attorney In Chicago
Once you start receiving SSDI you’ll get it for the rest of your life as long as your condition stays the same. This means it’s vitally important you win your case even if you need to appeal. It would be wise to have Chicago social security disability attorneys fighting for you, because it’s an almost impossible road to walk down when you’re on your own. Thankfully they don’t even charge you unless they’re successful, so get in touch now for a free consultation.