If you cannot work because of a work injury, you can seek the help of Social Security disability benefits. The qualification of these benefits involves the extent of injury or persisting health condition, work background, work credit, etc. It is also important that the injury fulfills the guidelines of the Social Security Administration and qualifies its criteria. Contact disability attorney tacoma for more details.
Assessment by Social Security Administration
An agent from the Social Security Administration is responsible for reviewing the applications. They check the extent of the injury and provide approval or denial of the claim based on it. However, this is not the full extent of the qualification check done by the SSA. The government does a thorough assessment of all the skills and employment backgrounds of all the applicants seeking Social Security benefits. Suppose the Social Security Administration decides that the applicant can perform a similar or different job depending on the health condition. In that case, no aid will be provided by Social Security disability benefits. This is because it shows that the injury is not severe enough for qualification.
Health condition and employment history
The basic requirements for being eligible to see Social Security disability benefits are as follows
- The applicant must have worked in organizations covered by the SSA.
- Social Security tax deductions must have been made from the salary of the applicant.
- The health conditions or the injuries must fit the criteria or the definition of disability as per the Social Security Administration.
- The applicant’s injury must be severe enough to stop him or her from continuing work for a year.
- Along with that, the applicant must have been employed for some time recently and has enough work credits.
Work credits
The applicant filing the Social Security disability benefits claim must have at least 40 work credits. It is essential that at least 50% of the credit earned by the applicant is recent and gained in the last decade.
The work credits are given based on the annual salary or income from self-employment. Every year people accumulate up to four credits.
However, the amount of earnings required to get a work credit is subject to annual fluctuation. They are faced with Constant changes in the amount.
Opportunity to appeal
If the Social Security Administration denies your claims, you are eligible to apply for an appeal as per the guidelines of SSD.
Before making any decision, speak to an attorney who can assist you in understanding all your options.
