A job injury prevents you from working. As a result, you wonder whether you may qualify for Social Security disability benefits. This is the time to take a serious look at applying for these benefits.
Your ability to secure these benefits comes from a combination of things, including the severity of your medical condition or injury, whether that injury meets the Social Security Administration’s strict guidelines for qualification as well as your work history and work credits earned.
Thorough SSA undertaking
Initially, an SSA agent reviews your application to determine the severity of your injury and either approves or denies your claim
But that is not the extent to which the SSA determines whether you qualify. The government makes a thorough review of your skills and employment history. If the agency determines you have the ability to do similar or other duties in a new job setting, it will rule that your ailment is not severe enough to qualify for disability benefits.
Medical condition and work history
The primary criteria in determining a worker’s eligibility for SSD benefits include:
- You must have worked in jobs covered by the SSA. As a result, regular Social Security tax deductions are made from your paycheck.
- Your medical condition or injury must meet the SSA’s definition of a disability.
- Your injury or medical ailment prevents you from working for a year or .
In addition, another crucial factor plays into whether you receive disability benefits. You must have worked long and recently enough to gain those benefits.
Work credits
A person must earn a minimum of 40 Social Security work benefits to qualify for benefits, and half of those credits must be earned in the past 10 years.
These important work credits are determined by your annual wages or income from self-employment. Each year, a person may earn up to four credits.
The earnings amount needed to gain a work credit fluctuates annually. In 2022, workers earned a single credit for each $1,510 in wages. As a result, once you earned $6,040, you also gain your four work credits for that year.
Opportunity to appeal
Please remember that the SSA annually denies two-thirds of all workers’ claims for SSD benefits. If it does, this development opens up the opportunity for you to appeal.
