Filing For Disability Benefits: What You Should Know

The Social Security Administration offers two programs to consider when you are filing for disability benefits.  Title II is for people who have paid into the Social Security trust fund through the Social Security tax which is taken out of their earnings.  Also those who are disabled dependents of those individuals who have paid into the system are eligible to apply for Title II Social Security Benefits.

The other program would be the Social Security Supplement Security Income (SSI) which is Title XVI.  Through SSI people who are disabled and who have limited resources and low incomes collect benefits.  This program helps those who are under 18 years old as well.

In order to draw benefits from either the Title II or adults under the Title XVI program the individual can not be able to be gainfully employed and must be determined by a doctor to be physically or mentally disabled.  The disability must be determined to be an illness of at least twelve continuous months or an illness which will ultimately cause the person to lose their life. 

When filing for disability according to Title XVI of the Social Security Act, if a child who is still under 18 years old has a severe physical or mental disability which will last for at least 12 months or has been determined to cause death, the child will be able to draw SSI benefits.  These physical and mental impairments must be determined to exist by a physician through clinical and laboratory testing diagnoses.

The claimant’s medical physician or psychologist, who is familiar with the physical and mental impairments of the claimant, can be used as a treating source.  This is to say that the doctor who has treated the claimant in an ongoing manner can be called on to testify at the administrative determination hearing.

If the testimony of the claimant’s own health care physician is not sufficient for determination of claims, the Social Security Administration will want the same physician to administer the additional testing needed.  Although this physician will not make the determination as to whether or not the claimant who is filing for the benefits is disabled, under the Social Security Act the conclusion of their findings

(a statement) will be submitted to the Social Security Administration as to whether or not their patient’s impairments will interfere with their ability to work. 

In the case of a child, the physician will be expected to determine their ability to perform as compared to the same age child with no impairments.

In the event that the Disability Determination Services still cannot come to a decision as to whether or not the client who is filing for disability benefits is qualified to receive benefits, the State Disability Determination Services can request that a qualified Consultative Examiner perform testing on the claimant.  The cost of the CE examination will be determined on a state-to-state basis.