How to get SSI Disability

May 5, 2012 by admin

If you have a major illness or injury that is keeping you from being able to work at your usual job you might feel that you qualify for SSI disability services. This can provide you with an income while you are in treatment and recovery for your injury. This can be harder to get than you might think because the approval process is complex.

The basic idea is that if you are disabled, and your doctor recommends that you receive SSI benefits, that you should be able to receive them. However, in actual practice having your doctor recommend that you receive SSI disability is the first step in a long and complicated approval process.

In order to get social security disability you must have a qualifying illness or injury, one that is on the list of approved conditions that the government will accept. Additionally you must be disabled enough by that illness or injury that you qualify for a reduced capacity that the government will accept.

If you are able to meet those criteria, in that you have an approved illness or injury and are disabled to a specific percentage, you can then begin seeking approval for SSI disability benefits. The first step is finding a state doctor and having him confirm the evaluation of your own personal doctor. This can be the hardest part of the process because the state is interested in qualifying as few people as possible for SSI disability due to the lack of funding in all departments.

The state doctor will therefore be looking for any sign that you are not as disabled as you claim. Be very careful what you say and do during the state examination because any sign that you are not as disabled as you claim can be used to deny you benefits.

Once you get the state doctor to agree with your personal doctor about your level of disability you can get a recommendation for SSI benefits. However, your application must be reviewed and approved before you can begin to receive benefits and due to the large number of applications you are going to have to wait in some cases for several years in order to get the benefits you qualify for. Although they will pay you retroactively for your time, while you are waiting it can be hard to survive.

This has led to an increase in people who are using lawyers to help them get their SSI benefits. These attorneys specialize in this and can work with your case worker to get you approved, freeing you up to engage in treatments and recovery for your disability.
Qualifying for benefits under SSI disability can be incredibly difficult and unpleasant but for those who need the benefits, it can be done.