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Two programs, run by the same agency, with the same medical test and almost nothing else in common.
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Social Security runs two disability programs, and almost everyone confuses them. That is not carelessness: the names are similar, the application overlaps, and the same office decides both.
The medical question is the same in each: are you unable to work due to your physical and/or mental conditions that are expected to prevent you from working for at least 12 months, if not permanently.
Everything else is different. SSDI is an insurance benefit you paid for through payroll taxes while you were working. SSI is a needs-based benefit for people with very limited income and resources, funded generally rather than out of contributions.
Which one applies to you depends on your work history and your finances, not on how sick you are.
Same agency and the same medical test. Almost everything after that is different, and which one applies to you changes what you are paid, when health cover starts, and what you have to keep reporting.
| What is being compared | SSDI Built on your work record | SSI Based on income and resources |
|---|---|---|
| What qualifies you | SSDI Based on your work record. You must have worked long enough, and recently enough, in jobs where Social Security taxes were paid. | SSI Disregards work history entirely and looks instead at income and resources, which must be below strict limits. |
| What it pays | SSDI Calculated from your own earnings record, so payments vary from person to person and are generally higher for people with substantial work histories. | SSI Pays up to a federal maximum that is the same for everyone, reduced by other income you receive. |
| Health cover | SSDI Leads to Medicare, but not immediately. There is a waiting period after entitlement begins. | SSI Recipients in most states qualify for Medicaid, typically much sooner. For someone who cannot afford treatment now, that difference can matter more than the payment itself. |
| Family members | SSDI Can pay benefits to certain dependents on your record. | SSI Paid to the individual only. |
| Back pay | SSDI and SSI Both can pay for periods before approval, but they are calculated differently, and SSDI involves a waiting period that SSI does not. To qualify to file for SSDI, you must have earned 20 out of the last 40 possible work credits based on your work history over the last ten years. If you have not been an adult for over ten years, you must have earned at least 50% of the possible credits you could have earned through your taxes. For an SSI claim, a single individual must have less than $2,000 in countable assets. This excludes the value of your dwelling, or the value of your vehicle. If you own multiple vehicles, the value of the second vehicle will be considered a countable asset. For married individuals, this changes to the disabled individual must have less than $3,000 in countable assets. | |
| What can stop payment later | SSDI Chiefly affected by returning to substantial work. | SSI Affected by that too, and also by changes in income, savings, living arrangements and who else is in the household, so it carries ongoing reporting obligations that SSDI does not. |
This is the part people are most often unaware of. If your SSDI payment is low, because your earnings were modest, or your work history is short, you may be eligible for SSI at the same time, topping the payment up to the SSI level. Claims like this are called concurrent.
It can matter a great deal, because it can bring Medicaid alongside Medicare and cover treatment during the Medicare waiting period.
Concurrent eligibility is easy to miss if nobody is looking for it. It is one of the specific things worth having someone check.
You do not have to decide before applying, Social Security assesses what you qualify for from the information you provide. What matters is that the application is complete and accurate, because an unrecorded fact is simply a benefit not paid.
Most of our Social Security clients come to us at the very start, before anything has been filed. We prepare and file the initial application from scratch, start to finish, and that is how the large majority of our disability cases begin. If you have already been denied, we take those on too. Either way, the distinction between these two programs is worth understanding early, because it determines what your claim is worth, when health cover starts, and what you have to keep reporting afterwards.
If you are not sure which program you are in, or you have been denied and cannot tell from the letter which one denied you. That is a short conversation and it is free.
General information, not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts. The only way to know where yours stands is to have someone look at it.
No. For adults, the definition of disability and the step-by-step evaluation Social Security applies are the same under both programs. What differs is the non-medical eligibility: work credits for SSDI, income and resources for SSI. It is entirely possible to be found medically disabled and still be refused a particular benefit on non-medical grounds, which is one reason denial letters confuse people.
Yes, and it is more common than people expect. Where an SSDI payment falls below the SSI level and your resources are within the limits, SSI can supplement it. That is a concurrent claim, and it can also bring Medicaid alongside Medicare.
Not SSDI, which depends on a record of work and contributions. SSI does not require any work history, so it is generally the applicable program for someone who has not worked, has worked very little, or worked long ago.
For SSDI, no, it does not. SSDI is based on your own work record and the Social Security taxes you paid, not on household income, so what your spouse earns makes no difference to it. SSI is the opposite: it is needs-based, household income and resources are counted, and that is one of the most common reasons an SSI claim is refused for someone who is genuinely unable to work.
SSI applies strict resource limits, but not everything counts towards them: the home you live in and one vehicle are commonly excluded, for example. Because the limits are low and the exclusions are specific, it is worth checking rather than assuming you are disqualified. For an SSI claim a single individual must have less than $2,000 in countable assets, and for a married individual the disabled person must have less than $3,000. The home you live in and one vehicle are excluded. If you own more than one vehicle, the value of the second counts.
Usually SSDI, for someone with a solid earnings record, because the payment is calculated from their own contributions. SSI is capped at a federal maximum and reduced by other income. But for someone with little or no work history, SSI may be the only benefit available, and a benefit you can actually get is worth more than one you cannot.
Medicaid is not related to your claim for SSI benefits. It is a separate, needs-based state program through Job and Family Services that often applies to clients who qualify for SSI benefits. For those who qualify for SSDI benefits, they become eligible for Medicare two years and five months after the date disability is established.
That is a very common source of confusion, particularly where someone applied for both. The letter will usually indicate whether the refusal was medical or non-medical, and the distinction matters because it changes what an appeal has to address. If you cannot tell from the letter, send it to us and we will read it with you.
No. Social Security will generally assess what you may be entitled to based on what you have told it. The risk is not applying for the wrong program. It is leaving out information that would have qualified you for the other one.
No. The consultation is free. Our fees are set by federal statute, are contingency only, and are the lesser of 25% not to exceed the statutory maximum of $9,200. The fee is taken from past-due benefits when they are awarded and has to be approved before it is paid. If nothing is awarded, there is no fee to pay.
Our fees are set by federal statute, are contingency only, and are the lesser of 25% not to exceed the statutory maximum of $9,200.
There is nothing to pay up front and nothing to pay if the claim does not succeed. The fee comes out of past-due benefits when they are awarded, and it has to be approved.
The conditions we have written about are the ones we are asked about most often. They are not the only ones that qualify, and the list is not a test you have to appear on.
A disability claim is decided on what your conditions do to your ability to work, not on the name of the diagnosis. Several problems that are each manageable on their own can add up to something that is not, and that combination is frequently the strongest part of a claim.
If what you have is not on this site, that tells you nothing about your claim. Tell us what you have been diagnosed with and what it stops you doing, and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth pursuing.
If you have already been denied, or a hearing has been scheduled, those are the pages to read next.
An injury that ends your working life can be a workers’ compensation claim and a disability claim at the same time.
I can't thank Casper, Casper and Casper enough for what they did for me. From start to finish it took less than a year for them to help me get disability benefits. They did almost all of the groundwork and made it as painless for me as possible. I would highly recommend them to anyone.
If I could give a MILLION PLUS stars I DEFINITELY would!! I contacted Mr. Steve Casper to handle my SSI case. I filed at first on my own and I was denied. He was VERY professional, honest and upfront about the clients he takes. He reassured me that I DID have a strong case. I got the news today that HE won my case for me!!!!
We cannot thank Casper and Casper enough for sticking with us through 4 years of back and forth to help our son (who has autism) receive his SSI benefits. From beginning to end we were treated with kindness. They were very thorough and made sure we understood the process and what we would face along the way. The relief we have received is immense.
Casper x3 were a lifesaver. I chose them because they practice in our region and understand what exactly I needed. I did not want someone from out of town. Their team from top to bottom helped me in my SSDI case. I tried it first on my own and was denied. Having decades of SSDI and court experience, Robin Partin helped me from step to step to go thru the process and had my back 100% in the hearing.
Steve Casper was VERY professional. Very compassionate. He explained things in an easy to understand way. He took my case after a previous firm dropped me in a very hurtful unprofessional way. He got my disabilty case approved from the very beginning. Steve is worth EVERY penny. I now will have my monthly payments to survive with my conditions and back pay to boot.
Steve Casper and Ben were amazing! They literally did all the work for me and I only had to fill out a few forms. I won my case and absolutely could not have done this without them! They are very professional and kind. I was very nervous about this whole process but their words of encouragement helped me a lot!
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