Roeschke Law, LLC

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The United States government provides financial benefits to those who are disabled through the SSA. But how does the SSA define a disability? A disability is defined as the inability to engage in substantial gainful activity due to a medically determinable impairment that has lasted or is expected to last a minimum of 12 months or result in death. This is important because it sets out certain limitations on what can be claimed as a disability or not. For example, a broken arm may leave you temporarily unable to engage in substantial gainful activity but it will not last a minimum of 12 months. The government offers two main types of benefits to disabled citizens. The first is SSD or SSDI. This is a benefit that is earned by paying into the system through income tax contributions. However, it’s important to note how it calculates this number. If you’ve only worked a part-time job up until you were disabled, you might be worried that you haven’t paid enough money through income tax contributions. But this system doesn’t track your money, it tracks the duration of your payments. SSI benefits, on the other hand, are available to those with a few financial resources but who are unable to work. This approach is means-tested, which ultimately means that you don’t need to have ever had employment in order to qualify.