The Social Security Disability (SSD) program is one of the USA’s most well-known programs with millions of disabled people getting its benefits each year. Many disabled people rely on their SSD for a livelihood. With all active employees and executives constantly funding the Social Security programs with their payroll tax, it has catapulted from a billion-dollar program into a trillion-dollar one. Thus, you can be assured that the program is only going to have more and more benefits with each passing day.
The thing is though, availing of these Social Security Disability benefits can feel like it’s a complicated process when it really isn’t. The factors that contribute to the confusion are several myths and misconceptions spread by people who don’t fully understand the program. If this confusion is not cleared and these myths are not broken, you’ll file for the social security claim with wrong information in your mind increasing your chance of invalidating your claim entirely.
Social Security attorneys can act as guides for your claim to help your case out and ensure that your SSD claim gets approved without much hassle and if you’d like, you can visit us here for your Social Security Claims where social security attorneys will be more than glad to help you out.
In this article, we’ll dispel several myths about SSD benefits that are most prevalent to give you an insight into how the program actually is. These myths are –
You won’t get SSD benefits if you are newly disabled.
This couldn’t be farther from the truth as SSD benefits can start right off as you get a disability, provided that your disability is expected to last at least 12 months of your life starting from when you file the claim. Another way you can avail the SSD benefits is if your disability is terminal and ends up in death, even before 12 months have passed.
There is no need for you to wait a certain amount of time to act as proof of your disability and then file for an SSD claim – you’ll be just wasting your time and missing out on the benefits. If you know your disability is going to last for 12 months or more, go ahead and file an SSD claim as soon as you can.
It’s crucial to note that if your disability doesn’t last 12 months and is cured prematurely, it’s your job to notify the SSD program officials about it. Also, if you don’t expect your disability to last for 12 months and it isn’t terminal, then you won’t be eligible for SSD benefits.
The SSD program doesn’t allow you to work if you want SSD benefits.
If you are capable of any kind of work, SSD will allow you to do it under “work incentives”. However, there is a catch. If the earnings from your work exceed a certain amount chosen by the SSA, you’ll be ineligible from receiving the SSD benefits.
One simple solution to this is working for trial periods for about nine months which won’t change any benefits you get. Always remember that the SSA wants disabled people to start working as soon as possible and not the other way around.
Getting disabled people a job suiting their disability is one of the purposes of the SSD program and they ensure they accomplish it. Don’t be worried about not being able to get benefits if you start working – as long as you don’t pass the program threshold with your earnings, you’ll be a beneficiary as long as you want.
You shouldn’t apply for SSD as most claims get denied anyway.
The SSD program gets thousands of applications every day. Most of these are fake, forged, or ineligible for the program. That’s why SSA rejects most of the applications they get on the basis of their authenticity. We suggest you don’t look at these numbers when you are filing for your social claim as they are invalid and it will only end up discouraging you.
According to the government, if you truly are disabled for a long term time, have all the necessary documentation, and do not earn major earnings then you have all the right in the world for SSD benefits and the rejection of such claims is rarely seen. We do recommend hiring an attorney to streamline the process for you and double your chances of winning the claim, though it’s entirely up to your own choice.
SSD benefits disallows you to get benefits from other programs.
SSD is not a financing monopoly and the SSA knows it. That’s why you are fully eligible for benefits from other programs such as your worker’s pension, especially if your disability occurred at your workplace itself. Barring a few important government programs, however, your SSD benefits might get reduced if the total benefits you get are too much.
If the benefits from your SSD program and all the other programs you are in, including those of your family members as well, exceed a total amount more than your current earnings by about 80% then you will be ineligible to use the excess amount left over. This way SSA ensures that one person doesn’t capitalize on too many programs at the same time.
Once the benefits come, they stay for life.
It is often a common misconception that people think SSD benefits stay for your whole life. This myth has arisen from the fact that most people who avail of SSD benefits are above the age of 60 who keep benefiting from them till death. In reality, the real reason why elderly people keep benefitting is unlike younger people who have a chance of recovery, their medical condition and disability worsens each day.
SSD benefits stop if your disability gets cured or you are able enough to make a healthy income for yourself. To put this in action, SSA asks for regular reviews from disabled people from time to time to ensure they aren’t misusing the program. Not reporting for these in time or reporting dishonestly will make you applicable for fines and hefty charges.
Conclusion
There are several myths flying around about the Social Security Disability, or SSD, program which if not dispelled can cause a lot of harm for potential applicants. We hope this article helped you out, and if it did, please consider following our website for regular updates as it will help us out immense