| The federal government provides disability benefits to workers through the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program, which is administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA). To be eligible to receive SSDI benefits, a worker must have worked for a certain number of calendar quarters. The SSDI benefit is calculated on the basis of the age of the employee and the employee's earnings record and is adjusted annually to account for cost of living increases. SSDI payments commence after a five-month waiting period.
For the purposes of SSDI, "disability" is defined by federal statute as the inability to engage in any substantially gainful activity because of a medically determinable condition that is expected to result in death or is expected to persist for at least 12 months. Unlike some private or group disability insurance programs, there must not only be an inability to perform the employee's present job but an inability to do essentially any job, taking into account the person's age, education, and work experience. Whether there are appropriate job openings in the person's geographical area is not taken into consideration as long as there are appropriate job openings somewhere in the national economy.
The SSA maintains a list of conditions that are understood to be so severe by their very nature that they prevent gainful employment. If an SSDI applicant does not suffer from one of those conditions, the SSA will make an individual assessment as to whether the applicant's condition is sufficiently severe as to keep the applicant from working. In making an assessment, the SSA will take into consideration the levels of pain the applicant may be experiencing, depression or other mental problems the applicant may suffer as a result of not being able to work, and residual functional capacity, which is an applicant's remaining capabilities after taking into account the physical or mental impairments at issue. Residual functional capacity is classified as sedentary, light, medium, or heavy, depending upon the nature of the work that can still be performed by the SSDI applicant.
Disabled employees who receive a very low SSDI benefit and have few assets may also qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Eligibility for SSI requires disability but is further based on financial need rather than work experience. The purpose of SSI is to provide funds to pay for basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter. Copyright 2010 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. |