Social security disability – who qualifies?

Social security disability – who qualifies?

What if you can’t work? And your Social Security Disability Benefits are being denied?

This past week on one of my radio interviews one of the radio disc jockeys asked a great question about social security disability benefits. In his example he asked what would happen if terribly, he lost his voice and couldn’t perform his job? What would he do? Somebody has to help you navigate the social security disability waters. There’s a lot of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. It takes focus and dedication.

The Bottom Line

If you paid into the system, you’re eligible for social security disability if you meet the criteria. And then you collect out what you’ve paid in. So you’re collecting your retirement early. If you’re under 50 and over 50, there’s a big dichotomy in how hard it is to qualify. If you never paid into the system, then the government has what’s called SSI, it’s the same system but they make the payments for you. They’re not as much, usually, because they’re whatever the government decides they are.

As you get older

Really what happens as people get older, I see them being used more as a long-term unemployment almost policy, because people as they get older they have disabilities and they’re less able to do their job, and so they don’t have a disability policy. Even though they might be able to work a little, but they can’t really find somebody who’s going to hire them, and that’s when they come for social security disability. I mean, there of course are easier scenarios than others. If you can’t do anything, it’s the situations where you can maybe do a few things, but you’re not really employable.

The Gray Area

That is a big gray area and it’s relevant for a lot of people around here. Especially with the loss of manufacturing jobs, and the loss of the less skilled jobs as people get older and they have disabilities, there’s simply no work for them.

When you get denied

What happens pretty systematically these days, is you apply and you get denied. That’s the social security disability name of the game. Denial right out of the gate. That’s when you have to next call an attorney. It’s important to remember that we only get paid if you get paid. So don’t NOT call because of cost. After you get denied, we ask for a hearing for you, and we’ve gotta go through all of the rigamarole together so to speak, to make sure that we put in the best case possible on your behalf so you qualify for the benefits you seek.

So getting denied is very common because the government doesn’t want to pay out, if they don’t have to pay out. THAT’s the SYSTEM.

What to do next

Maybe you’ve worked for 10 years and 20 years, 30 years, and your body’s breaking down, you can’t do something. Maybe you’ve worked in manufacturing for years, and you’re not ready to retire yet but can’t do that particular work any longer…

if you have disabilities that prevent you from getting any kind of gainful employment, social security disability or supplemental income may well be the route to go. In either case, you’ll need an attorney who understands this complex and detailed type of law and we’ve got a team here at Stanley Law dedicated to just that. Because a large majority of our work is personal injury we very deeply understand workers’ compensation as well as social security disability and supplemental security income cases. We’ll leave no stone unturned.