Having a formal medical document attached to your application for the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program can significantly improve your chances of winning the benefits you need and deserve. While it is not mandatory, you should never underestimate the importance of a detailed letter drafted by your medical professional.

A knowledgeable and experienced SSDI benefits lawyer at London Eligibility can help you get a detailed letter prepared by your medical professional that the Social Security Administration (SSA) needs to evaluate your disability. In this blog post, we will explain why you need a disability doctor letter and how you can get it.

What Is A Doctor Disability Letter?

A doctor disability letter is a medical statement from your primary healthcare service provider. A disability letter from your doctor provides documentary support to your application for SSDI benefits. It is an accurate description of your medical problems and explains how your medical condition affects your daily life and your ability to work at a job or through self-employment. As such the doctor should mention specific details of your disability and support it with credible evidence to back the findings.

Why Do You Need A Doctor Disability Letter?

You need a doctor disability letter because it helps establish your claim for SSDI benefits. It also assists the Social Security Administration in evaluating your claim for disability and provides evidence for the symptoms of your health impairment and your inability to work.

The letter contains both your doctor’s perspective on your medical condition, as well as the way it leaves you unable to work. This also helps the SSA disability examiner understand the gravity and extent of your condition.

It is also important to have a specialist in your medical condition write the letter. This adds authenticity and genuineness to your letter and disability claim.

How To Get A Proper Disability Doctor Letter?

When you submit an application for SSDI benefits, a well-drafted disability doctor letter may be the deciding factor for the SSA disability examiner.

However, not all disability doctor letters are good enough for you to win the benefits you need and deserve. For example, a disability doctor letter may not help you with your claim if:

• 1). The information provided is vague, unclear and contains generic information about your disability. Doctor letters which do not contain pinpointed information will not help advance your claim.
• 2). Your doctor is unable to confirm the diagnosis and treatment plan of your disability.
• 3). There is no medical evidence backing the disability claim.
• 4). There is no evidence to show that you followed the proposed treatment plan.
• 5). You are not completely open and honest with your doctor.
• 6). There are clear inconsistencies and contradictions between your disability claim and the doctor’s report.

Defining Your Limitations In The Disability Doctor Letter

The SSA is interested in the specific details that explain how your medical condition affects your physical and mental abilities, thereby affecting your ability to work at a job or through self-employment. These details may include how well you are able to do the following:

• 1). Sit, stand, stoop, walk or balance yourself.
• 2). Use your hands and arms for performing different activities like typing on your desktop and performing tasks requiring physical activity.
• 3). Completing routine office tasks and doing everyday work. q1
• 4). Lifting certain weights or difficulty in carrying certain weights.

In addition to these details, your doctor’s letter should also contain details about your:

• 1). Reflexes
• 2). Dexterity
• 3). Range of motion

Any limitations in these areas should be specifically noted. These details prove helpful when you are assigned a corresponding or representative severity level, as the SSA seeks proper proof of your disability.

Working With Your Doctor To Get A Disability Letter

Some doctors may resist the idea of preparing a medical source statement or disability letter supporting your claim. The process of making a disability letter is tedious and therefore time consuming. There are forms available to guide a physician in writing a disability letter that evaluates your overall medical condition and discloses how it affects your ability to work.

The SSA may also provide a Residual Functional Capacity (RFC) report to your physician to obtain the information it needs for determination on your claim for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. Alternatively, you can also provide your physician with a copy of the RFC report form for the reference of your medical professional when drafting the disability letter supporting your claim for SSDI benefits.

Contact London Eligibility To Win The SSDI Benefits You Need And Deserve

If you or a loved one is suffering from a disability and is unable to work, you must consider getting a disability letter prepared by your physician. At our office, an experienced and accomplished SSDI benefits lawyer can help you understand the process for getting a disability letter prepared by your doctor. Contact London Eligibility today for a free consultation and claim review.

If you are nearing retirement age, you will most likely entertain two major questions: (1) What amount will I receive in benefits from Social Security? (2) When should I take retirement and apply for Social Security retirement benefits?

Eligibility For Receiving Social Security Retirement Benefits.

As you work and pay taxes, you earn Social Security work credits. In 2023, you receive one work credit for every $1,640 that you earn but you can earn a maximum of only 4 work credits per year. Each year, the amount of earnings needed to earn work credit goes up slightly as the average earnings level increases. The credits that you earn remain on your work credit even if you quit or switch a job or have no earnings for a while.

Most people need a minimum of 40 work credits, that is, at least 10 work years to qualify for Social Security retirement benefits.

When Will You Start Receiving Social Security Retirement Benefits?

You are entitled to your full Social Security retirement benefits if you retire at the Full Retirement Age (FRA), or what is also called the Normal Retirement Age (NRA). This age varies according to your date of birth.

For anyone born between 1943 and 1954, the Full Retirement Age is 66 years. Then, it gradually increases every year from 1955 onwards. For those born in 1955, the FRA is set at 66 years and 2 months. Thereafter, it gradually increases every year till it reaches 67 years for those born in 1960 or later.

Therefore, if you are born in 1965, you would be entitled to 100 percent benefits on retirement only if you retire at the age of 67 years.

On the basis of different retirement ages for different years of birth, the following retirement age chart can be prepared:

Delayed Retirement or Early Retirement

You can claim retirement benefits as early as age 62 or at your full retirement age or even after attaining the FRA. If you claim retirement benefits at age 62, your retirement benefits would be reduced by 25% for the rest of your life. The way retirement benefits are structured, you would face a 6% cut for every year by which you take an early retirement.

On the other hand, delaying your claim for retirement benefits beyond the full retirement age will enhance your monthly benefits. In case you delay claiming past your normal retirement age, you will get a delayed credit of about 8% per year on top of cost-of-living adjustments on a yearly basis.

What Amount Will I Receive From Social Security?

Social Security retirement benefits are calculated based on your highest 35 years of income. To qualify for retirement benefits, you need to earn Social Security’s maximum taxable income for 35 years. The upper ceiling, which is subjected to Social Security tax, has been set at $160,200 in 2023, as against $147,000 in 2022.

Social Security retirement benefits are calculated by combining your 35 highest paid years of income, if you have worked for more than 35 years. All wages are indexed to account for inflation and wages from previous years are multiplied by a factor based on the years when they were earned.

Once all wages are indexed, your average indexed monthly earnings (AIME) is computed by dividing the sum of all indexed wages by 420, that is, 35 years translated into number of months. If your work years are less than 35, then zero will be added in calculation for the earnings of the remaining years.

Computation of your Social Security retirement income uses a complex formula, and you might need the help of an experienced and knowledgeable Social Security benefits lawyer to calculate them properly.

You can obtain your Social Security statement by creating an account at www.ssa.gov. Your statement carries valuable information, including the following:

• 1). Your estimated benefit amount at the FRA
• 2). Eligibility for benefits
• 3). Detailed information of your earnings history and the work credits that you have accumulated.

However, the figures in your statement are just an estimate, and the benefit you would receive would be different, especially if you are young and there are several years left before you reach your FRA.

Contact An Experienced and Knowledgeable Social Security Benefits Lawyer at London Eligibility

If you want to calculate the Social Security disability benefits that you will receive at your retirement and decide when you should retire, speaking with a knowledgeable and experienced Social Security Disability benefits lawyer at London Eligibility may help. Contact us today for a free consultation and claim review.

If you worked long enough to qualify for retirement benefits through the Social Security Administration, a disability that prevents you from working before you are old enough to retire may allow you to qualify for Social Security disability benefits. You’re probably reading this because you have questions about disability benefits, including when does SSD convert to regular Social Security?

You want to get all of the benefits that are available to you, so the information provided in this article covers common issues you may encounter with SSD and retirement benefits, including the age you’ll be when your SSD convert into regular Social Security retirement. Additional information about your benefits is available from the disability advocates at London Eligibility.

What Happens to Social Security Disability Benefits At Retirement Age?

The discussion about disability benefits converting has to begin by distinguishing between the Social Security Disability Insurance program and Supplemental Security Income. Although these two programs pay disability benefits, only SSDI converts when you reach retirement age. SSI benefits continue although you may see a reduction in the monthly SSI payment that you receive if you also qualify for Social Security retirement without previously receiving SSDI.

SSI is a need-based program for people with little or no income or assets to rely upon to pay for necessities, such as food and housing. If you receive other income, such as SSDI or Social Security retirement, your monthly SSI benefit may be reduced depending on how much other income you receive.

If you qualify for SSDI with a medically determinable physical or mental health impairment that prevents you from working and is expected to last for at least 12 months disability, your SSDI benefits automatically convert to retirement benefits when you reach your Social Security retirement age.

You do not have to notify Social Security or do anything else for the SSDI payments to stop and retirement benefits to begin without any interruption in monthly payments. As a general rule, the amount that you received each month as SSDI should remain the same after the conversion. In fact, your retirement benefit may actually be more than your disability payment. This happens when you were receiving public benefit payments, such as workers’ compensation, while receiving SSDI.

The Social Security Administration reduces SSDI benefits by workers’ compensation and other public benefit payments that you receive, but the offset does not apply to retirement benefits. Once your monthly SSD convert in regular course of reaching retirement age, removal of the offset causes your retirement benefit to be greater than you got as your monthly SSDI.

When Does SSD Convert to Regular Social Security?

A common misconception about Social Security retirement is that benefits begin when you reach age 65, which is the age you must be to qualify for Medicare coverage. The age when you are entitled to receive full retirement benefits is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. If you were born before 1960, you can look up your full retirement age online.

If you receive SSDI payments and were born in 1960, you will continue receiving disability benefits as long as you are disabled and otherwise eligible until you reach age 67 in 2027. However, you could qualify now for early retirement.

Early retirement is available at age 62, but it comes at a cost. Taking early retirement could have the following consequences:

• Monthly retirement benefits can be as much as 30% less from what you would receive by waiting until full retirement age.
• If you stop working when you take early retirement, it reduces your Social Security benefits because retirement benefits are computed based, in part, on your lifetime earnings.
• When you wait until full retirement age to apply for Social Security retirement benefits, there is no restriction on the amount of income you may have from full-time or part-time work as there is with early retirement.

Working while receiving early retirement benefits can be problematic if you earn more than the annual earnings limit. The earnings limit for 2023 is $21,240, and there is a $1 deduction from your Social Security payments for each $2 in earnings in excess of the annual earnings limit.

The earnings limit is different if you reach full retirement age during the year. For example, if you reach full retirement age in 2023, the earnings limit for you is $56,520 with a $1 benefit deduction for each $3 that you go over the earnings limit.

If you have health issues that prevent you from continuing to work and are too young for full retirement benefits, talk to a disability advocate before taking early retirement benefits. SSDI benefits are equal to what you would receive at full retirement age without the benefit reduction associated with early retirement.

Learn More from A Disability Advocate

The disability advocates at London Eligibility have answers to questions you have about SSI, SSDI, and disability benefits in general. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and claim review.

You may have read articles or watched videos posted online during the last quarter of 2022 that promised a fourth round of stimulus payments. Once you click on the article or video, it takes a few minutes before the “expert” acknowledges that it takes an act of Congress to authorize the payments and provide the funding needed for there to be a stimulus SSI check 2023.

The advocates at London Eligibility pride themselves on providing you with accurate information about Supplemental Security Income, Social Security Disability Insurance, and other benefit programs available through the Social Security Administration. Instead of engaging in speculation, our disability advocates use their experience with Social Security programs and their knowledge of the laws and regulations to give you honest advice and representation that you can trust and rely upon with confidence.

This article takes a look at stimulus checks that people received in the early stages of the pandemic, and how Congress has not yet made it possible for SSI get a fourth stimulus check 2023. There are, however, programs in 18 states offering their taxpayers a tax rebate or other form of payment to ease the financial burden of rising prices for consumer products and services.

The Federal Stimulus Programs

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it became clear that people were suffering economic harm from unemployment caused by businesses suspending operations, Congress passed legislation authorizing stimulus payments. The first round of payments began in March 2020 with each eligible adult receiving $1,200 with another $500 for each child under age 17. Some people got less than the full $1,200 payment if they had income greater than $75,000.

Another round of payments was authorized in December 2020. Adults and qualified children younger than age 17 received $600. The income limits that applied to the first round also applied to the payments authorized in December 2020.

When a new administration took office in 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The law authorized payments of $1,400 for individuals and $2,800 for married couples filing a joint income tax return. There was also a $1,400 payment for dependents, including adult dependents.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, which was tasked with getting the stimulus payments into the hands of eligible people, all payments for the three rounds have been issued. If you were eligible for a payment and did not receive it, you could claim a Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 or 2021 federal income tax returns. You may have to file an amended return for either or both tax years if you already filed without claiming the credit.

State-Funded Stimulus Programs Started In 2022

Although the federal government has not authorized stimulus payments, if you receive an SSI check 2023, you may be entitled to money from the state where you live. Eighteen states have programs to provide rebates to taxpayers or other one-time payments to provide financial assistance to their citizens who may be having difficulty making ends meet with inflation making consumer goods and services so expensive. Some of the states offering programs include:

• 1). California: People who filed a state tax return for the 2020 tax year are eligible for a middle-class tax refund that could be as much as $1,050. Payments should be issued by the end of January 2023.
• 2). New Jersey: If you were a homeowner or renter in the state on October 1, 2019, you may be eligible for a tax relief program. Depending on your income, you could receive as much as $1,500 when payments are processed in 2023.
• 3). Virginia: If you paid income taxes in Virginia in 2021, you could qualify for a rebate of as much as $500.

Keep in mind that the 18 states that have programs have no connection with the federal stimulus programs in 2020 and 2021. It will take an act of Congress for a fourth round of federal stimulus payments to be authorized and funded.

You May Get an Extra SSI Check 2023 During Some Months

You may receive more than one monthly SSI check 2023, but it has nothing to do with stimulus payments. As a general rule, SSI benefits are paid once a month on the first day of the month. However, when the first day of the month is on a weekend or a federal holiday, your SSI payment will be processed on the last business day before the first day of the month.

For example, January 1, 2023, fell on a federal holiday and a Sunday, so SSI beneficiaries received their monthly payments on December 30, 2022, which means that you got two checks that month. The purpose of doing payments in this manner is to avoid delaying payments that people on SSI depend upon to pay for food and shelter.

Advice and Representation That You Can Trust

If you have questions or concerns about SSI or SSDI, speak with the disability advocates at London Eligibility. Contact us today for a free consultation and claim review.

The amount of someone’s monthly Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits payment is determined by a formula that uses the person’s lifetime taxable earnings as the base figure. Since the disability payment is based on earnings from work, there are not many opportunities to increase the base figure if the disability prevents the claimant from working.

However, there are a few circumstances in which you could increase your SSD benefits payments. Before we explain each possibility, let’s review how your Social Security Disability benefits payment amount is calculated.

How Your Social Security Disability Benefit Payment is Calculated

Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits are reserved for workers who paid taxes into the Social Security pot throughout their many years of employment. When one of these eligible workers suffers a qualifying illness or injury that prevents them from working, the SSD benefits are intended to replace a substantial portion of their income, just like Social Security retirement benefits do.

Many people don’t know that the amount a disabled person receives in SSD benefit payments is exactly the same amount they would receive as Social Security retirement benefits. The program presumes that someone with an impairment severe enough to qualify for SSD benefits probably won’t return to significant active employment. So the SSD benefit is an early collection of the retirement benefits the claimant had earned up to the time they were disabled.

Social Security Uses Your 35 Highest Earning Years to Determine Your Benefit Amount

To determine either a person’s Social Security Disability benefit or their Social Security Retirement benefit, the Social Security Administration (SSA) looks at the claimant’s 35 highest annual incomes and adjusts those figures to account for the rise in the cost of living since the year that income was earned.

Then the SSA adds together the 35 highest indexed annual incomes and divides the total by 35. That gives them the average annual income you earned in those years. Then, that figure is divided by 12 to produce your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings or AIME. This AIME figure gets used as the starting point for the SSD benefit calculation formula:

• 1). Add 90 % of the first $1,115 in the AIME, plus
• 2). 32 % of the AIME above $1,115 through $6,721, plus
• 3). 15 % of the AIME above $6,721 (if any).
• 4). Then round down to the nearest $0.10 if the figure is not a multiple of ten.

This formula produces the Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), your monthly benefit amount.

Increasing Your Disability Benefit with Higher Earnings Before Disability

As explained in the previous section, your SSD benefits payment amount is determined by your highest lifetime earnings. Those who can earn more during their working years will receive higher disability and retirement benefits. The maximum SSD payment possible in 2023 is $3,627 per month. If someone is already receiving SSD benefits, they would be unable to earn an annual income high enough to increase their benefit payment. Earning any more than the “substantial gainful employment” limit ($1,470/month in 2023) would disqualify them from receiving SSD benefits.

Increasing Your Disability Benefit by the Death of a Spouse (Survivor Benefits)

A more likely method of receiving an increase in your SSD benefit payment involves the spouse and former spouse of a deceased worker. For example, suppose a married couple both work and earn different incomes. If the lower-earning spouse became disabled before they retired, then their SSD benefit amount would be based on their own earnings history.

If the higher-earning spouse died, then the surviving spouse would be entitled to receive an SSD benefit amount based on the deceased spouse’s lifetime earnings. That would result in the surviving spouse’s benefit payment increasing because the deceased spouse’s earnings would have entitled them to a higher benefit had they lived.

This possible surviving spouse benefit boost also applies to surviving former spouses if they were married to the deceased worker for at least 10 years. When the decedent has a surviving spouse and a surviving former spouse, they both qualify for the full survivor’s benefit.

Increasing Social Security Benefits After Reaching Full Retirement Age

Remember that you receive the same benefit amount from both Social Security Disability and Social Security Retirement benefits. If you are receiving SSD benefits when you reach your full retirement age (FRA), your benefits from SSD stop, but your Soc. Sec. Retirement benefit payments begin for the same amount.

The difference is that after you reach full retirement age, you can earn an unlimited amount without jeopardizing your benefit payments. That means if you did resume working after you reach your FRA, you might earn a high enough annual income to have it qualify as one of the 35 highest earning years. If this occurs, then Social Security will recalculate your benefits based on the new equation using your new Average Indexed Monthly Income (AIME).

In reality, the newest annual income would need to be very substantial to result in a significant increase, but every dollar counts.

Annual COLA Increases Benefits

The Social Security Administration adjusts all benefit recipients’ monthly payments to reflect the inflation rate during a part of the previous calendar year. Recently, these Cost-of-Living Allowances (COLAs) have been very substantial. In 2022, COLA increased benefits by 5.9 %. In 2023, the COLA increased benefits by 8.7 %. These increases may only “keep up” with inflation, but the increases are important to every benefit recipient.

Are you a New Jersey resident who stopped working because of a disability? You may be eligible to receive monthly Social Security Disability benefit payments due to your qualified impairment. This blog post explains how to tell if you qualify for disability benefits and how much you would receive in your monthly disability payment.

At London Eligibility Disability Advocates for Social Security and Medicaid, we help disabled people like you apply for and claim all the disability payments and other benefits to which they are entitled. If you think you might be eligible for disability benefits, Medicaid, or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), contact us to find out how we can help you.

How Much Will Your Disability Benefit Be?

Every Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI or SSD) recipient receives a different monthly benefit payment. The benefit amount is based on the claimant’s 35 highest annual incomes over the course of their working life. Before we cover the formula the Social Security Administration (SSA) uses to figure out your benefit amount, let’s look at what the government considers to be a “disability.”

People suffer from disabilities in varying degrees of severity. Disabilities can also affect people for different lengths of time. Given this wide range of variation in the disabilities people experience, the Social Security Administration needed to define what “disability” would qualify someone to receive disability benefits. The SSA applies the following definition to distinguish between disability claims that qualify for benefits and those that do not qualify:

“A disability is a medically determinable physical or mental impairment that lasts or is expected to last for 12 months (or result in death), and that prevents the person from performing substantial gainful activities (SGAs).”

What are substantially gainful activities?

In 2023, the SSA considers a substantial gainful activity to be any activity through which a person can earn at least $1,470 per month. Those who are blind can earn up to $2,460. The three required criteria to collect a disability payment from Social Security are:

• 1). a medically determinable impairment that
• 2). lasts or is expected to last 12 months, and
• 3). prevents you from earning more than $1,470 per month.

If you worked and paid taxes on your earnings, and your circumstances fit these three conditions, you should apply for SSD benefits.

Calculating the Amount of Your Monthly Disability Benefits

Determining what amount of your Social Security Disability benefits requires you to plug some simple data into the same formula used by the Social Security Administration.

First, you need to identify your 35 highest earning years. You can do this by logging on to my social security account, the SSA’s website. If you don’t already have an online account, it’s easy to open one. On the site, you can see the amount you have earned every year since you started working.

The SSD program takes your highest 35 annual earnings and indexes those figures to ensure that the benefit payments reflect the increase in the overall standard of living that occurred over the person’s working career. The SSA website lists the indexing factors to allow you to do the calculations yourself.

The SSD Benefits Formula

Take your highest 35 annual incomes. If you do not want to index the figures, you can proceed with the calculations, but your resulting benefit amount will probably show a number lower than your slightly actual benefit.

Add the 35 highest annual incomes together, then divide by 35 to find your average annual income. Then divide that figure by 12 to arrive at your average monthly income. The Social Security Administration will have indexed the income figures to produce what they call your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME).

Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME)

Social Security refers to your ultimate monthly disability benefit amount as your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). To find your PIA, you will apply the following formula to your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME):

Add

• 1). 90 % of the first $1,115 of your AIME, plus
• 32 % of the amount of your AIME above $1,115 through $6,721, plus
• 15 % of the amount of your AIME above $6,721 (if any).
• Round down the total to the nearest $0.10 if not already a multiple of 10.

Here is an example of how you use this formula.

Suppose your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings were $5,416.66.

• 1). 90 % of the first $1,115 of $5,416.66 = $1,238.88, plus
• 2). 32 % of AIME above $1,115 thru $5,416 (5,416 – 1,115 = $4,301) $4,301 x .32 = $1,376.32, plus
• 3). 15 % of AIME above $6,721 (if any) = 0
• 4). Total = $1,238.88 + $1,376.32 + 0 = $2,615.20
• 5). BENEFIT AMOUNT (PRIMARY INSURANCE AMOUNT) = $2,615.20.

When you are unable to work because of an injury or illness, relief from financial hardship caused by the loss of income can be devastating. If you work in New York, you may be eligible for disability benefits through programs offered by the federal and state governments.

Disability pay in NY is available for temporary or short-term disability caused by an injury or illness that is unrelated to work. A work-related accident or hazardous condition that results in an injury or sickness is covered through the state’s workers’ compensation program while disability from causes outside of the workplace are through the temporary disability program.

If you have a disability expected to last for more than a year, you may be eligible to either or both of the disability programs offered by the Social Security Administration. The Supplemental Security Income, which you may see referred to as SSI, and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) programs are an option for benefits when you have a long-term disability.

The information that follows will give you a better understanding of the different programs providing disability benefits and how much does disability pay in NY. Use it along with the experience of a disability lawyer and advocate at London Eligibility to guide you through the application process and, if necessary, assisting you with an appeal.

How much does temporary disability pay in NY?

Temporary disability benefits are available in NY for only 26 weeks during any 52-week period. The amount that you receive each week is 50% of your average weekly wages for the eight-week period before you stopped working because of being disabled, but it’s not as much as you may think.

State law in NY sets the maximum weekly benefit that you may receive, regardless of how much you make when working, at only $170. Out of the payment that you receive each week, you must pay Social Security and Medicare taxes.

If the amount of the weekly benefit payable through the state disability program in NY concerns you, speak to a Social Security disability lawyer about applying for benefits through the SSI or SSDI programs. An SSD lawyer or disability advocate may determine that your disability meets the definition used by the Social Security Administration in evaluating medical conditions that qualify for benefits.

How much does SSDI pay in NY?

How much you receive in Social Security disability benefits depends on whether you qualify for SSDI, SSI, or both. If you qualify for SSDI, the amount that you receive each month depends on your lifetime earnings.

Lifetime earnings is only one component of a complicated formula used to calculate your monthly SSDI benefit payment. There is, however, a maximum monthly benefit, which is $3,345 in 2022. Depending on the rate of inflation in the country, disability benefits payable through SSDI and SSI may increase due to annual cost-of-living adjustments, which would also increase the maximum monthly SSDI benefit. Ask an SSDI lawyer or disability advocate for more information about your benefits.

SSDI benefits are not affected by where you live. Benefits in NY through the SSDI program are the same as you would get no matter where you lived. That is not true for SSI benefits.

How much does SSI disability pay each month in NY?

The maximum monthly federal benefit payable through the SSI program is $841 for an individual and $1,261 for a couple in 2022. SSI benefits are subject to annual cost-of-living adjustments as are SSDI benefits. However, the two programs are quite different.

Some of the differences between SSDI and SSI that affect what you may receive in benefits include:

• 1). SSI is a need-based program, so earned and unearned income that you receive may reduce the amount of your monthly benefit. Resources that you have available to you may not exceed a combined total value of $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples. SSI may suspend your benefits if your resources exceed those amounts
• 2). SSI benefits are not based on lifetime earnings as are benefits through SSDI. In fact, you can qualify for SSI even if you have no work history at all.
• 3). Some states pay a supplement that may increase what you receive each month from SSI.

New York is one of the states that supplement SSI benefits, so what you receive as a federal benefit each month is increased. How much you receive as a state supplement in NY depends on several factors, including:

• 1). Your living arrangements.
• 2). Your income.
• 3). The county where you live in NY.

An SSI lawyer or disability advocate reviews your claim to determine the amount of the state supplement you can expect to receive in NY.

Learn more about disability benefits

A disability advocate at London Eligibility has answers to the questions you have about disability benefits in NY. Learn more about what state and Social Security disability pay in NY by scheduling a free consultation with a disability advocate or disability lawyer at London Eligibility.

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI or SSD) pays monthly disability benefits to people with all kinds of disabling impairments, including both physical and mental. The SSD publishes a manual it calls a Listing of Impairments, which most people refer to as the “Blue Book.” The Blue Book includes an entire section of listed mental impairments that will qualify for approval of full disability payments.

At London Eligibility Disability Advocates, we have represented and advocated for the rights of thousands of SSD and SSI claimants who suffer from mental disabilities. If you think you might be eligible for disability benefits based on any mental impairment, please call or contact London Eligibility today so we can give you the information you need.

What Mental Health Impairments Qualify for Disability Benefits?

The Social Security Administration (SSA) recognizes the pain and limitations suffered by people who live with a mental impairment that prevents them from working. The Blue Book of listed impairments qualifying for disability benefits includes eleven separate categories of mental impairments:

• 1). Neurocognitive disorders
• 2). Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders
• 3). Depressive, bipolar, and related disorders
• 4). Intellectual disorder
• 5). Anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders
• 6). Somatic symptom and related disorders
• 7). Personality and impulse-control disorders
• 8). Autism spectrum disorder
• 9). Neurodevelopmental disorders
• 10). Eating disorders
• 11). Trauma and stressor-related disorders

Under each of these categories is a list citing more specific criteria and features that must be present for the person suffering from the condition to qualify for disability benefits.

However, in the real world, people don’t always fit neatly into strictly defined categories. Millions of people suffer from more than one impairment which makes it impossible to judge their degree of impairment when focusing on each illness in isolation. Instead, the reasonable approach is to view a disability claimant’s impairments as a complex of conditions that combine to limit the sufferer’s ability to work.

Wisely, the Social Security Administration does apply this reasonable measure and looks at the entirety of a claimant’s overall impairment. The value of this approach is most valuable in cases where the SSD applicant’s impairments are such that no single one qualifies alone. But when viewed as a group, perhaps including both physical and mental impairments, the person’s inability to work is clear.

The Importance of Using a Professional Disability Lawyer or Advocate

It’s not unusual for a disability claim to be based on more than a single impairment. Many people suffer from a combination of conditions that together render them disabled. But each separate impairment must be clearly identified as a contributing source of disability when an SSD or SSI benefits claim is submitted.

All claims contain some complexity that would best be handled by a professional who works with these issues every day, not by an inexperienced person whose errors may delay or even cause the claim to be denied. While every disability claim package submitted to the SSA needs experienced preparation, this is especially true in cases in which the claim is based on more than one impairment.

How Is the Amount of Your Social Security Disability Payment Calculated?

Social Security Disability benefits are only available to people who worked and paid taxes long enough to accumulate a minimum number of work credits. For every fiscal quarter during which you were employed and made at least $1,510, you earned one work credit. If you made $6,040 in any one year, you would also earn four work credits, the annual maximum. In most cases, a disability claimant must have 40 work credits, including 20 that were earned within the ten-year period preceding the disability claim.

Determining Your Monthly Disability Benefit Amount

The amount of every person’s monthly disability benefit amount varies because the dollar amount is determined by each worker’s highest lifetime earnings. The SSA looks at the 35 highest annual incomes you reported during your working career. Each of those annual incomes is then “indexed” against the national average income for that year to adjust for changes in the cost of living over the years.

Then, those 35 indexed annual earnings are added together, divided by 35 to get an annual average, and then divided again by 12 to find your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings or AIME. Then, your AIME figure is put through the following formula:

• 1). Add 90% of the first $1,115 of the AIME figure, plus
• 2). 32% of the AIME over $1,115 up to $6,721, plus
• 3). 15% of the AIME over $6,721, then
• 4). Round down to the nearest $0.10 if not already a multiple of ten

The resulting figure is your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) which is your monthly benefit.

The amount of your monthly SSD benefit amount is equal to the amount of your Social Security Retirement benefit. Both figures are arrived at by using the same formula.

Relief from financial hardship that comes from being unable to work because of a disabling illness or injury may be available in the form of cash payments through state and federal disability programs in New York. If you have a short-term disability in NY caused by an injury or illness that is not work related, you may be eligible for up to 26 weeks of benefits.

A disability expected to last longer than a year could make you eligible for Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance programs, which are federal programs administered by the Social Security Administration. SSI and SSDI are separate programs with their own eligibility guidelines.

Use the information in this article to get an overview of the disability programs available to you and to become familiar with the process you must go through to apply for disability in NY. Before applying for benefits, speak to an advocate or disability lawyer at London Eligibility for guidance and skilled representation.

How to apply for disability in NY

To be eligible to apply for temporary disability in NY you must be under the care of a physician or other healthcare professional for treatment of a medical or mental health condition, including pregnancy, that prevents you from working. Disability benefits through the state program are not available for work-related injuries or illnesses, which would be covered under the state’s workers’ compensation program.

The payments available through the state disability program are limited to 50% of your average weekly earnings during the eight weeks that you worked immediately before onset of the disability. However, the maximum weekly benefit is $170, and you can only receive payments for up to 26 weeks during any 52-week period.

A state website describes how to apply for disability in NY, but there are a few things you should know about the process to avoid delays or missing out on benefits:

• 1). Claims must be filed within 30 days from when you become disabled.
• 2). If you worked within four weeks of the onset of your disability, the claim for disability benefits must be filed with either your employer or your employer’s temporary disability insurance company.
• 3). If you have not worked within four weeks of the onset of the disability and receive unemployment benefits, you must file your disability claim with the New York State Special Fund for Disability Benefits.

Working with an experienced disability lawyer ensures that deadlines for claims are met and that your application goes to the right place.

Social Security disability options

When you are disabled and unable to work because of a physical or mental health impairment that is expected to last for a year or more, you need more than temporary disability benefits can offer. The Social Security Administration has two programs paying disability benefits: Social Security Disability Insurance, more commonly known as SSDI, and Supplemental Security Income or SSI.

The SSDI program requires that an applicant must have worked for a long enough duration and paid Social Security taxes on the income earned working at jobs or through self-employment. SSI, on the other hand, does not have a work requirement for eligibility. In fact, benefits are available to blind or disabled adults and children or to non-disabled or blind individuals aged 65 and older. However, SSI is a need-based program, so the amount of income that you may have from sources other than SSI and the value of resources or assets that you may own are subject to strict limitations.

Before applying for benefits through SSDI or SSI, it’s a good idea to speak with a disability advocate or SSD lawyer at London Eligibility to review the eligibility guidelines and match them against the facts and circumstances of your claim. Keep in mind that even if you meet the non-medical requirements for a program, the disability definition that Social Security uses to evaluate your medical condition to determine whether you are disabled and eligible for benefits is based on total and long-term disability.

According to the definition that adults must meet when applying for SSI and SSDI, you are disabled only if you meet all of the following conditions:

• 1). You have a medically determinable physical or mental condition that prevents you from working, and the condition or a combination of conditions is expected to last for at least 12 months or result in death.
• 2). Your medical condition prevents you from doing any type of work that you did in the past.
• 3). You are unable to adjust to another type of work given your disability, education, work experience and age.

An SSI lawyer can determine whether your medical records provide the evidence needed to prove the existence of a disability meeting the SSA definition. If you are unsure about your work record, an SSDI lawyer can access your work and earnings records for you.

Contact London Eligibility for help

Applying for SSI and SSDI is a relatively easy process that may be accomplished online, over the phone, or in person at a Social Security field office. However, more than two-thirds of the applications for SSD benefits are denied. Working with a disability advocate or SSD lawyer at London Eligibility gives you access to unsurpassed knowledge and experience to improve the chance of a successful outcome. Contact us today for a free consultation.

If you work in New Jersey and become disabled because of a physical or mental health condition, you have options available to help replace some of the income lost. Temporary disability benefits in NJ are available through the state government and its Temporary Disability Insurance program with payments available for up to 26 weeks.

As the program’s name implies, the disability benefits available through the state program are for short-term injuries or illnesses. If you have a medically determinable physical or mental health impairment expected to last for at least 12 months or result in your death, you may be eligible for benefits through two programs offered by the Social Security Administration: Social Security Disability Insurance, commonly referred to as SSDI, and Supplemental Security Income or SSI.

The state and federal programs each have their own rules for determining who is eligible to apply for benefits and requirements you must meet to qualify for benefits. After reading the following overview of the programs and the application process for each of them, contact a London Eligibility disability lawyer who can help you to apply for disability benefits to the program best suited to your particular circumstances.

Apply for disability benefits in NJ

Workers in NJ who paid into the temporary disability program through payroll contributions are eligible for benefits. However, you may not be eligible if you are in one of the following categories of workers:

• 1). Employees of the federal government
• 2). Employees of faith-based organizations
• 3). Out-of-state employees
• 4). Independent contractors

Injuries or illnesses that are work-related generally do not qualify for benefits through the Temporary Disability Insurance program are covered through workers’ compensation.

If you qualify for benefits, your weekly payment is 85% of your average weekly earnings. There is, however, a maximum weekly benefit of $993 in 2022, which will increase to $1,025 in 2023.

You may apply for disability benefits in NJ by completing an online application within 30 days from when you first become disabled. If you prefer, you can print an application and submit it by mail or by fax.

How to apply for disability benefits in NJ through Social Security

The state disability program in NJ is limited to only 26 weeks of benefits, so if you have a long-term disability, consider applying for Social Security disability through SSDI or SSI. An SSD lawyer at London Eligibility can help to determine whether you meet the requirements to qualify benefits.

The criteria to determine if you have a disability is the same for adults applying for SSI and SSDI. You must be disabled because of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment causing you to be unable to engage in substantial gainful activity. The impairment must have lasted or be expected to last for at least one year or result in death.

If you have a disability that meets the definition used by Social Security to evaluate your claim, you may be eligible for benefits through SSI or SSDI. SSI is a need-based program that has income and resource limits. It does not, however, require you to have a work record as does the SSDI program.

You can receive as much as $841 a month in 2022 through the SSI program as an individual. Couples may receive as much as $1,261. The monthly benefits are subject to change each year through a cost-of-living adjustment. Ask an SSI lawyer to review your income and assets to ensure that you meet the eligibility requirements before applying.

SSDI does not impose income and resource limits as does SSI, but there is a requirement that you have a sufficiently long work record. Generally, the younger that you are at the onset of a disability, the shorter the work record required to meet eligibility guidelines.

You must have paid Social Security taxes on the income from jobs or self-employment to be eligible for the SSDI program. An SSDI lawyer can review your work record to determine if you meet the requirements to qualify for benefits.

The SSI and SSDI programs have an online process to apply for disability benefits in NJ. If you prefer, you apply over the telephone or in person. The Social Security Administration reviews your application to determine whether you meet the non-medical requirements for SSI or SSDI. For example, it will look at your work record for SSDI or at your sources of income and value of resources for SSI. If you meet the non-medical criteria for eligibility, the SSA sends your application to the Disability Determination Service to obtain and review your medical records and determine whether your disability meets the Social Security definition.

Learn more from a disability lawyer

When a disability prevents you from working, talk to a disability lawyer at London Eligibility. Learn about the options available to you for disability benefits in NJ during a free consultation by contacting us today.