Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income Benefits – Which program is right for me?
If you have become disabled, you need help. Help to pay your bills, help to maintain your financial sense of security, help getting the benefits you deserve. You may have heard about Social Security and always thought of it as a retirement program. Until you became disabled due to injury or illness.
There are two programs available through the Social Security Administration that may be able to help you. One is called Social Security Disability. It is also referred to as Title II. This program is designed for those who have worked in the past, have earned sufficient work credits to qualify for the program, and who have become disabled and no longer have the ability to work.
The second program is called Supplemental Security Income, or SSI and also referred to as Title XVI. This program is for the disabled who may not have adequate work credits to qualify for Title II and who also do not exceed certain income and asset limits set by Congress. SSI is also described as a needs-based program meaning that it is based on financial need.
Which program is right for you depends on the various qualifying criteria, including: work credits, income from various sources including a spouse, assets like property or investments, and, of course, your age, education, work experience, and extent of disability. Here at Calbom and Schwab, PSC, we are knowledgeable in these intricate rules and regulations and can assist you as needed. Generally speaking, we advise people to make the initial application for benefits on their own. If your application is turned down by the Social Security Administration, you will have a maximum of 60 days from the rejection to file a Request for Reconsideration. If that Request for Reconsideration is turned down, you will have a maximum of 60 days from that rejection to file a Request for Hearing. Generally, we advise people to contact us immediately if the Request for Reconsideration is turned down so that we can help file the Request for Hearing and develop a winning case so that you can get the benefits you deserve.
