If you’re receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, you might think you will continue to do so forever. But that may not be true. In this article, we’ll detail how long Social Security Disability payments last and what you can do to keep them.
You should continue to receive disability payments from Social Security for as long as you remain disabled and up until the age at which you become eligible for retirement. Your social security disability payments will automatically convert to social security retirement benefits once you become eligible for retirement.
In the interim, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will periodically examine your medical situation to see if you qualify for continued social security disability benefits. If the SSA determines you are no longer qualified, your benefits may end early.
Keep reading below for more information.
What Leads to Early Termination of Social Security Disability?
Your disability payments may terminate if one of several events occur, such as an improvement in your health, incarceration, or your return to work earning a “significant” wage.
To start, what exactly is a disability review?
Changes in Your Condition: Disability Reviews
The SSA will periodically review your medical condition, often known as a “continuing disability review” (CDR). Whether the SSA anticipates an improvement in your medical condition will determine how frequently they assess your status. For instance, if a medical improvement is:
● Expected: It is anticipated that you will receive a continuing disability review between six and eighteen months after you start receiving benefits.
● Possible: The SSA may undertake a disability review every three years.
● Not expected: You will still receive an ongoing disability review, but the initial review won’t happen until seven years after you start collecting benefits.
Typically, the date of your first disability review is included in your initial award notification.
You won’t have to pay back the benefits if your condition improves before your initial continuing disability review; instead, you can keep receiving them until your benefits are terminated following your regularly scheduled review.
If the SSA concludes that your health condition has gotten better to the extent that you are no longer disabled, they will discontinue the benefits after your continuing disability review, given a few conditions:
● The disability should no longer restrict you from engaging in “any substantial gainful activity.”
● Your physician should also believe your illness is no longer fatal.
● Your condition is no longer anticipated to last beyond twelve months
Incarceration
SSDI and SSI benefits will end if you’ve been convicted of a criminal offense and confined for a jail term of more than 30 days. The disability payments, however, may be resumed after your release from custody; however, if you have been incarcerated for more than 12 months then you will have to reapply for SSI benefits.
You Start Making Too Much Money
If you begin to work or start making too much income, it could be one reason your benefits end. The purpose of programs like SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) and SSI (Supplemental Security Income) is to help those unable to work financially.
As a result, your ability to get disability benefits will be impacted if you start earning a sizable income. Generally speaking, your benefits will be discontinued if you receive SSDI and start earning more than $1,470 monthly (the “SGA” amount in 2023). You can earn up to $2,460 if you’re blind or have impaired eyesight.
The aforementioned SGA limits do not apply to SSI beneficiaries, who must adhere to specific SSI income limits and have their SSI payments decreased if they earn more than $85 per month.
Social Security may consider your work proof that your condition has improved even if you stay within the guidelines. But the organization has programs where you can attempt to work for a while without endangering your ability to get benefits. SSI recipients may use the “Ticket to Work” program, while SSDI recipients can access a “Trial Work Period” program.
Tips for Maintaining Social Security Disability Benefits
What do you need to do to make sure you receive Social Security Disability payments until retirement age, provided you are still disabled?
Plan and be prepared for your ongoing disability reviews rather than assuming you will always receive benefits. Record everything so that you and your medical professionals can give the SSA accurate information when the SSA reviews your condition.
Have an appointment with your doctor regularly and discuss your medical condition with them, including how your disability impacts you and limits your ability to complete daily tasks. If you haven’t been visiting your doctor, the SSA will evaluate your medical records during the disability review and conclude that your disability isn’t properly reported.
Respond right away to your continuing disability review notices, and if the SSA does not get back to you, follow up. The SSA has the right to stop paying you benefits if you don’t take part in the disability reviews.
Respond to any information requests right away. Provide them right away if medical records or doctor’s statements are needed. You might occasionally be asked to go to a physician the SSA has selected for an independent medical examination; in such a scenario, you must answer right away, make the appointment as soon as possible, and show up.
Your social disability payments should last until you reach full retirement age if your disability persists, you are not actively employed, you are not jailed, and you plan for and comply with the SSA’s continuing disability reviews.
What Happens to Your Benefits at Retirement Age?
Even though no one is guaranteed to get disability benefits for the rest of their lives, those given them have a good chance of doing so up to retirement age. When you reach retirement age, your monthly benefits may still be paid out. Still, if you were previously receiving SSDI or SSI for the elderly, your payments will now be Social Security retirement income instead.
If you are 62 and receiving SSI but are entitled to Social Security early retirement benefits, Social Security will apply for early retirement on your behalf. Because SSI is a needs-based program, you must apply for any other benefits for which you are eligible first.
Conclusion
Many people are unable to receive the disability benefits they deserve. It’s important to stay updated on SSDI information so that you can always be prepared and prevent this from happening to you.
