Who Qualifies

What This Guide Is About

In this Guide, Gateway tells you how Social Security decides whether you qualify for SSI or Social Security Disability benefits.

Introduction

To qualify for Social Security Disability, you must (1) have worked enough in the past to qualify, and (2) be unable to work.

To qualify for SSI, you must be (1) poor enough, and (2) unable to work.

First we will discuss the "past work" requirement of Social Security disability.

Then we will discuss how poor you have to be to get SSI.

Finally, we will discuss what Social Security means by "unable to work." The rules for deciding when a person is unable to work are the same for both SSI and Social Security disability.

Social Security Disability: How Much Must You Have Worked?

How much must you have worked in the past to qualify for Social Security disability?

The general rule looks at how much you have worked in the last 10 years, or 40 "calendar quarters." Each year has 4 calendar quarters. The rule is that you must have worked enough to have at least 20 "covered quarters" during the last 40 quarters.

The rule is different for adults under 31 (less of a work history is required).

To have a "covered quarter," you must have earned a certain amount in wages or from self-employment. The amount needed changes each year.

SSI: How Poor Must You Be?

To qualify for SSI, you cannot have more than $2,000 in what Social Security calls "resources." If you have an eligible spouse, the joint figure goes up to $3,000. This figure has not been changed since 1989.

Certain items are not counted as "resources." These include:

your home.

household goods and personal effects of up to $2,000 in value.

one automobile if it is needed for work, medical treatment, or essential activities, or if it has been modified for use by a handicapped person (otherwise only $4,500 in value is excluded).

some other types of property.

Any income you or your family has may also reduce the benefits you can get, or if high enough, can make you ineligible. But Social Security doesn’t count all income. It doesn’t count:

the first $20 of most income you get each month.

the first $65 you get each month from working, and half of what you earn above that.

food stamps.

most utility assistance.

most food, shelter, or clothing you get from private nonprofit groups.

if you work, wages you use to pay for things you need to work because of your disability.

Some other kinds of income may not be counted depending on the circumstances.

SSI and SS Disability: How Disabled Do You Have To Be?

The disability rules for SSI and Social Security disability are the same.

For each program, to qualify you must have a physical or mental problem, or combination of problems, that (1) keeps you from working, and (2) either will last for at least 12 months, or is expected to result in death.

How does Social Security decide whether your condition keeps you from working?

There are five steps in that process.

Step 1: Are you working now?

Obviously, if you’re working now, it will be hard to prove you can’t work.

If you’re working now, Social Security will look mostly at how much you’re earning. If you’re earning less than $800/month, Social Security probably won’t hold it against you. If you’re earning more than $800/month, they probably will. This figure can increase every year, so keep in mind that it was less in previous years.

Step 2: Do you have a severe medical problem?

A non-severe medical problem won’t qualify you for disability even if you aren’t working.

Step 3: Is your problem severe enough to qualify you automatically?

Social Security agrees that certain problems are so severe that if you have them, you qualify. Example: if you are missing both hands. If you have one of these problems, you win without proceeding to Step 4.

Step 4: Can you do the work you used to do?

Social Security looks at the work you’ve done in the last 15 years to decide this.

Step 5: Can you do any kind of job?

Even if you can’t do what you used to do, if there is any job in your area that you can do, you won’t qualify for disability.

But if there are no jobs you can do, then you are disabled enough to qualify.

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This page was last edited July 24, 2006.