One common
misconception that people have about Social Security Disability Benefits is
thinking of it as a payment that a person can get simply for having a
diagnosis. Others are under the impression that the severity of the diagnosis
determines the amount that a person is paid. This is not the case; Social
Security does not pay someone simply for having a medical condition.
The Social Security
Disability program is a program that provides an income to people who have a
medical condition that makes it
impossible to work. Social Security Disability is an insurance program that
you pay in to while working so that, if something happens that makes it
impossible for you to continue working, you will still have the resources
necessary to survive. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) functions the same
way, requiring a medical condition that makes it impossible to work, but takes
it a step further by only providing
benefits to people who do not have the resources to survive coming from other
sources, such as family. SSI is a last resort program, and the benefits are
reduced by any other sources of support that are available.
Having a disabling
medical condition is one of the requirements for obtaining Social Security
Disability benefits, but a person must also meet all of the other requirements,
like the work history requirement, before they are eligible to receive benefits.
The amount that a
person receives for Social Security Disability benefits is determined by the
amount of Social Security Retirement benefits that a person would receive if
they had retired at 65. This varies from person to person and is based largely
on their past income. SSI benefits are based off of a flat rate set by the
Federal Government, adjusted for State benefits, and then reduced by any
sources of income that a person has available to them.
Contact our Grand Rapids office
today for a free consultation, located here in Kent County in West Michigan.
