How Do I Get Disability Benefits?
Many people are able to get Social Security Disability benefits. These life-changing benefits include a monthly cash stipend and, perhaps more importantly, automatic Medicaid eligibility. The process is often long and frustrating. In the end, however, if applicants meet the qualifications listed below, they usually get disability benefits.
A Tampa Social Security Disability lawyer is an important partner in this process. A lawyer evaluates your case and determines if you meet the complex qualifications. If you don’t meet these qualifications, you can’t get disability benefits, and the application is a waste of time. Furthermore, and more importantly, a Tampa Social Security Disability lawyer continually advocates for you.
Work Credits
Some lawyers overlook the work credits requirement. But a good Tampa Social Security Disability lawyer thoroughly evaluates a case from every angle before filing paperwork.
Employed or self-employed individuals can earn up to four work credits a year. The amount needed for a work credit changes from year to year. In 2025, for example, people earn one credit for each $1,810 in wages or self-employment income earned in each quarter of the year. When individuals earn $7,240, they max out for the year.
The number of work credits you need to be eligible for disability benefits depends on your age when your disability begins. Generally, you need forty credits, twenty of which were earned in the last ten years ending with the year your disability begins (the 20/40 rule). However, younger workers may be eligible with fewer credits.
Most disability applicants over 30 have no problem meeting the forty credits requirement. The other part of the 20/40 rule could be an issue.
Frequently, individuals file disability applications as a last resort. They often drift from job to job or work part-time for years before they give up and file applications. As a result, they may not have earned twenty work credits in the last ten years. That’s especially true since the clock begins at the disability onset date, not the filing date.
Qualifying Disability
The definition of disability under Social Security is different than in other programs. The SSA only pays for total disability. No benefits are payable for partial disability or for short-term disability.
If you have worked enough to be eligible for disability benefits, a step-by-step process determines if the applicant has a qualifying disability. The 5 questions are:
- Are You Working: Employed applicants must earn below the SGA (substantial gainful activity) level. As of January 1, 2025, the SGA floor is $1,620 ($2,700 for blind applicants) per month.
- Is Your Condition Severe: An injury or illness must significantly limit the ability to do basic work-related activities, such as lifting, standing, walking, sitting, or remembering, for at least twelve consecutive months.
- Is Your Condition a Listed Condition: SSA maintains a list of presumptively severe medical conditions for each of the major body systems. If a condition is not on the list, SSA must determine if it is as severe as a medical condition that is on the list.
- Can You Do the Work You Did Previously: The medical impairment(s) must prevent you from performing any of your past work. The SSA recently tweaked the rules in this area, making it easier for applicants to meet this qualification.
- Can You Do Any Other Type of Work: The SSA focuses on actual potential work. The late, great Larry Hagman said anyone who learns his/her lines, shows up on time, and doesn’t step on anything can be an actor. Nevertheless, not everyone can be an actor. Obviously, there’s more to it than that.
Special disability programs include compassionate allowance and quick disability determinations.
Under CA, certain cases that usually qualify for disability can be allowed as soon as the diagnosis is confirmed. Examples include acute leukemia, Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS), and pancreatic cancer.
QDD uses computer screening to identify cases with a high probability of allowance and fast-tracks these claims, reducing waiting periods.
Count on a Savvy Hillsborough County Lawyer
Injury victims are entitled to important financial benefits. For a confidential consultation with an experienced Social Security Disability lawyer in Tampa, contact Kobal Law. We routinely handle matters throughout the Sunshine State.
Source:
cdc.gov/nchs/hus/sources-definitions/medicaid.htm
