FAQ

Since SSDI is an insurance program, unearned income and resources (such as Unemployment Insurance) do not impact SSDI eligibility. You may be eligible to receive both Unemployment Insurance and SSDI at the same time. Unemployment Insurance has no impact on the SSDI benefit amount or eligibility. 

The short answer is "No" for SSDI and "Yes" for SSI!

If the applicant has never worked, they will not be eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). SSDI eligibility criteria require that you have worked long enough and recently enough to be insured for Social Security disability. However, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is based upon need, not insured status.

HIPAA requires medical providers to release the patient's records within 30 days after the request is received (https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/guidance/access/ind…). Some states have laws that require the release of medical records in fewer than 30 days.

If the person is already receiving Social Security retirement benefits they could be eligible for SSI benefits as well if their Social Security retirement benefit amount is lower than the SSI federal benefit rate (set annually by SSA). You won't need to use SOAR to help this person apply for SSI benefits because they will be applying for SSI aged benefits as opposed to SSI disability benefits. It's a much simpler and quicker process. You can simply help them call their local SSA field office to schedule an appointment to apply for SSI aged benefits.

In short, SSA does not look at the foster parents' income or resources. Once the child goes back home, (even if your agency maintains legal custody), SSA will look at the household income & resources of the parental household.

If an applicant's initial application has been denied, they have 60 days from the date on the denial letter to appeal the denial. If they want to submit a new initial application, they have to wait 60 days from the date on the denial letter before submitting a new initial application.

His current living arrangement is an institution. However, if by the time you submit the completed application to SSA he will have been released, you can indicate that he is homeless on the SSA-8000. You can always add additional information in the remarks section to explain that his living arrangement is changing.

If a person is approved for both SSI and SSDI they will maintain Medicaid because SSI benefits include Medicaid. However, some states require a separate Medicaid application, (https://www.ssa.gov/disabilityresearch/wi/medicaid.htm).

Medicaid coverage for services varies from state to state. Here is a link that will take you to your state's Medicaid agency: https://www.medicaid.gov/about-us/contact-us/contact-state-page.html.

SSDI benefits include Medicare, but there is typically a 24 month waiting period before the SSDI beneficiary can begin to have Medicare coverage (see Page 12 at https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10029.pdf).

Once the beneficiary has both Medicaid and Medicare, Medicare is typically the primary insurance.

No. SSA would find that the claimant is ineligible for disability benefits because they are able to work at or above SGA level. At Step 1 of the Sequential Evaluation, the applicant would be found ineligible for benefits which includes both cash and health insurance.

A SKILL is the knowledge of the principles and the processes of a job and the ability to apply them in practice in a proper and approved way. Examples of a skill are making precise measurements, reading blueprints, setting up and operating complex machinery. SSA will determine the claimant’s skill level by the types of work he has done in the past. SSA classifies jobs as unskilled, semiskilled and skilled. SSA will look at the jobs the claimant performed in the last 15 years and determine if they were unskilled, semiskilled or skilled. The SSA will consult authoritative vocational sources such as the Dictionary of Occupational Titles to help them determine which category the claimant’s past work should fall into.

1. UNSKILLED work needs little or no judgment to do simple duties that can be learned on the job in a short period of time. This is usually 30 days or less. An example of an unskilled job is one that involves putting materials on or in, or taking them off or out of a machine. A person does not gain skills by doing unskilled work.

2. SEMISKILLED work needs some skills but does not require complex work duties. An example of a semiskilled job would be one that requires alertness and close attention to watching machine processes.

3. SKILLED work requires that a person use judgment. For example, a skilled job may require that a person determine the machine and manual operations to be performed in order to obtain the proper forms.

Practice Tip: The lower the skill level the claimant has the more likely the claimant will be found disabled. You want to try to place your client in the lowest skill level possible. For example, unskilled is better than semi-skill and semiskilled is better than skilled in a disability claim.