Understanding the SSDI Five-Month Waiting Period

The application process for Social Security Disability benefits is notoriously long. Apart from that, there is a mandatory five-month waiting period that may be pretty complex to understand for new applicants.

The SSDI five-month waiting period starts on your disability onset date and ends five months later. You can collect benefits the month after. Your first benefit payment will be for the sixth full month after your disability began. This period doesn’t apply if your disability results from ALS.

Continue reading to learn more about the SSDI five-month waiting period.

What Is the SSDI Five-Month Waiting Period?

All SSDI applicants must go through a five-month waiting period before receiving their first disability benefit payment. 

The five-month waiting period commences on the first full month in which the applicant meets all of the eligibility requirements for SSDI and ends five months later. If all other eligibility requirements are met, the disabled applicant can begin receiving benefit payments starting with the first full calendar month after the waiting period.

The waiting period can’t start before 17 months prior to the month the individual submits an application for SSDI and demonstrates that they meet the criteria for disability-insured status.

Consider a person who filed for SSDI benefits on March 2, 2020, claiming their disability began on February 2, 2020. The applicant’s five-month waiting period for SSDI will start in March 2020 and finish in July 2020. The applicant would be eligible to receive benefit payments beginning in August 2020 (the first full month after the waiting period). 

SSDI Backpay & Retroactive Benefits

SSDI backpay can be described as “past-due benefits” which the government owes the applicant for the period in which they were eligible for benefits but did not receive them due to administrative delays. 

Suppose the Social Security Administration decides you were disabled (unable to engage in substantial gainful activity) when you submitted your disability claim. In that case, you may be entitled to back benefit payments dating as far back as you originally applied.

If you become disabled a long time before you applied for SSDI, you may still be eligible for “retroactive” benefits that go back to the date of your disability onset. You are eligible for retroactive benefit payments from the day you initially became unable to work and satisfied the requirements for receiving SSDI benefits.

Are SSDI Waiting Periods Ending?

The five-month waiting period does not appear to be going away anytime soon. According to studies conducted by Congress, it would cost the Social Security Administration billions of dollars annually to do away with the disability benefits waiting period. 

Proponents of the SSDI waiting period claim it is necessary, but many people criticize it as unnecessary, outdated, and arbitrary. They claim that applicants are put through tremendous financial challenges during the five-month waiting period since they are unable to work or can only work part-time due to their disability.

Exceptions to the Five-Month Waiting Period

Luckily, there are a few exceptions to the five-month waiting period. 

Expedited Reinstatement

The third and final phase of SSDI’s work incentive program is known as Expedited Reinstatement (EXR), and it’s a reinstatement of SSDI benefits after a termination. 

If Social Security terminates your disability benefits due to earnings, they will continue to monitor you for the next five years to ensure your continued success in the job market. During these five years, if you decide to stop working because of your symptoms or if your income drops below the substantial gainful activity limit (SGA), you can reapply for SSDI. 

You won’t have to go through the application process again, and the Social Security Administration will grant you provisional benefits almost instantly while it assesses whether your benefits can be completely restored. 

Dependents

People who apply for family benefits based on the record of a primary beneficiary do not have to go through the SSDI waiting period. Spouses, both current and former, and children of the primary beneficiary are considered to be dependents. To be eligible, spouses need to be: 

• At least 62 years old
• Responsible for the care of a child who is younger than 16 years old

The child also needs to meet specific requirements to be eligible for dependent benefits:

• Children must be under the age of 18 and unmarried. 
• Children can be either biological or adopted, or they can be step-children. 

Children who have reached adulthood can also receive SSDI if specific requirements are met:

• The adult child must have a parent receiving SSDI. 
• The adult child must also be a full-time high school student younger than 19 or have a disability that began before the age of 22.

As long as the adult child meets the eligibility requirements, they can get benefits for up to two months after turning 19 or until their high school graduation, whichever comes first.

Compassionate Allowances

The Compassionate Allowances program is another one of the rare exceptions. While this program fast-tracks applications from those diagnosed with certain diseases or illnesses, it does not entirely remove the standard five-month waiting time. The program is open to those with particular brain dysfunctions, cancers, and rare conditions. 

The Compassionate Allowances program does not require applicants to fill out any kind of formal application. Instead, the Social Security Administration will evaluate your SSDI claim upon submission to see if it qualifies for priority processing. 

In addition, the Social Security Administration will evaluate your application to determine whether or not it may be approved with no additional investigation. Medical records that verify your diagnosis can strengthen your application and increase the likelihood of being processed quickly. 

Applicants with ALS

The Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis – ALS Disability Insurance Access Act of 2019 (ALS Act) has removed the mandatory five-month waiting period for applicants with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease. 

Conclusion

To sum it up, all disability applicants must go through a mandatory five-month waiting period. But there are certain exceptions to this. If you want to learn more about whether you qualify for an exemption, contact a Social Security Disability attorney today.