Should You File For Disability?

By Scott B. Elkind, Esq.

Elkind & Shea, The Disability Benefits Law Firm

. http://www.disabilitybenefitslawfirm.com/

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Should You File For Disability?

Disability can strike anyone at any time. Statistically, the older you are, the more likely you are to become disabled.

Whether or not an individual is applying for disability benefits immediately, a review of the concepts behind disability insurance coverage is always helpful. Coverage under Social Security comes in the form of Social Security Disability (SSD) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

SSD is available to individuals who have worked and paid a minimum of 20 quarters over the course of the past 10 years. Persons failing to pay into the system sufficiently may be entitled to SSI as long as they do not reside in households with income greater than $12,000/year earned by a relative.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) employs a medical and age-based analysis that imposes greater restrictions on an individual’s ability to work as a person ages. In this system, physical and mental disabilities are treated similarly for the purpose of benefits coverage.

Private disability policies employ somewhat different medical and vocational concepts and do not make any allowances for a presumption of age-related disability. A typical policy will require that the insured demonstrate the inability to perform his/her own occupation due to illness in order to collect disability benefits.

Employer-sponsored plans usually limit this own occupation disability period to a limited time period, typically 24 months.

After cessation of the own occupation period of disability, the insured must demonstrate disability from any work for which he/she is qualified for by virtue of their education and work experience in order to keep collecting disability benefits.

Many times, long-term disability policies place payment restrictions on claims for disability due to mental illness or self-reported conditions such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and the like.

The decision to stop working is difficult. Much of our identity revolves around our work. To stop working means losing not only daily contact with familiar persons and places, but also facing isolation and uncertainty. Further, the average social security disability case can take up to a year or more to resolve, resulting in economic deprivation.

Long-term disability policies, depending on the length of waiting period or resistance from the insurer, can take similar lengths of time, if not longer, to pay benefits. Given the economic risk involved, an individual cannot be too careful in this process as claims denials can result in many months to years of delay with uncertain results.