FEDERAL DISABILITY INSURANCE



The federal government of the United States of America offers federal disability insurance for American citizens, which is administered by the Social Security Department, albeit only provided for those people who have worked long enough and paid enough taxes to be eligible for it. Even then, however, there are some more caveats. Benefits will only be paid to those eligible for the disability insurance after the first five months of disability, and only then to those who have earned enough credits (based on their earnings) over the preceding ten years (although there is some looseness in this when it comes to younger workers who could not possibly have been in work for ten years).



Only four credits can be earned per year. By the current standard, one credit is the equivalent of one thousand and one hundred and twenty dollars of earnings. Aside from younger workers (who must still have some credits; six before the age of twenty four, twelve by twenty seven), most claimants would require at least forty credits to be eligible for a long term disability benefit. Also in order to be eligible for the payment, claimants must have been rendered by the disability not just unable to continue with their current form of employment, but also unable to carry out any standard job.

Anyone who is currently capable of earning at least a thousand dollars a month on their own cannot be considered to be disabled according to the rules laid down by the Social Security Department. The disability must also be at long term, expected to last a minimum of at least a year, if not more, and reviews of the claimants' condition will be carried out on a regular basis. Somewhat alarmingly, statistics show that an average worker of just twenty years old has a one in three percent chance of becoming disabled in such a way that they could not continue working before they would reach the age of retirement.

People receiving disability assistance when they finally reach retirement age will have their payments automatically converted into that of a normal retirement benefit. Perhaps fortunately, there are other forms of such insurance which those looking for assistance on the grounds of disability can choose to be a part of, in addition to just the standard Social Security Disability Insurance and the similar Supplemental Security Income (which is also administered by the Social Security Department).