Eligibility Criteria for Social Security Disability Benefits

According to Federal Social Security Disability Act, meaning of Disability is “a person is unable to work in any gainful activity due to medical reason or physical or mental impairment which may lead to death or may last long for more than 1 year or is expected to continue further years also.

A person is entitled to receive the coverage through social security disability benefits if he meets the eligibility criteria. But the problem is that criteria mentioned are very strict and are actually difficult to be eligible for the benefits of social security disability.

Eligibility criteria:-

* A person should be fully insured at the beginning of disability.

* A person should have worked for at least five years out of previous ten years of his work under Social Security-covered employment. It is applied to the disability which starts after the age of 31.

* If the disabled person is below the age of 31 under the Social Security-covered employment, then he must have worked for the greater of six months or at least one-half of the quarters between age 21 and the age when disability began.

* If a person has worked for necessary period of time which is required under the provisions of social security act and has become disable, then a person is normally eligible for Social Security Disability Benefits.

* Under Social Security Administration, Disable person can be physical or mental or a combination of both.

* To avail the benefits of the social security disability, a person must be disabled enough to work in any gainful paid job for at least consecutive 12 months.

* Eligibility criteria does not include whether a person can join his job back which he has lost.

* Further it does not include if a person can find a job recently.

* It only includes whether a person is physically and emotionally capable of doing the work which are normally available in every day place.

* A person has to obtain a doctor’s state which can prove that he is disabled, on the basis of medical ground and laboratory findings and cannot work further in any of the gainful activity.

* With the help of objective testing, sometimes it is very difficult to prove disabling conditions of a person. So in such cases it depends on a disabled person’s representative or legal help to show doctor’s medical reports properly and to convince the government that a person is eligible for social security disability benefits.