Staten Island Social Security Disability

The Social Security Disability Insurance program (SSDI) is a federal program that provides benefits to people with disabilities. It is administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA). SSDI pays benefits to you and certain members of your family if you are "insured," meaning that you worked long enough and paid Social Security FICA taxes. Victims who qualify for SSDI suffer injuries from accidents such as brain injuries, back injuries, neck injuries, paralysis, loss of vision, and deafness. Benefits are also available to those who suffer from debilitating illnesses. Social security disability is available to victims of work-related accidents such as construction or manufacturing accidents. However, in order to qualify for SSDI, the disability cannot be short-term or partial. The disability must be expected to last at least 12 months. If you are suffering from a debilitating condition and plan to apply for Social Security disability benefits, contact an experienced Staten Island Social Security disability lawyer who will explain the application process to you and help you receive the benefits to which you are entitled.

Not everyone who is injured or becomes seriously ill will qualify for SSDI. In order to qualify to receive benefits, at a minimum must have the following qualifications:

• A history of employment or self-employment
• Paid FICA taxes
• Lack the ability to work due to a medical condition that is expected to last at least a year or result in death.

A Social Security disability attorney in Staten Island will explain that in order to qualify for SSDI your disability must be full. In other words, SSDI is not available to those with partial disabilities or those who suffer a short-term disability. Quadriplegia is an example of a injury that would qualify as a complete, long-term disability.

If your application for SSDI is approved, the amount of your monthly benefit will depend on your earnings history. Your monthly will be reduced if you also receive other governmental benefits, such as workers' compensation benefits. While SSDI can continue until you reach retirement age, if your condition improves or if you go back to work, the SSA will terminate your benefits. After two years of receiving SSDI, you will automatically qualify for Medicare benefits.

If you are denied benefits, the SSA has an appeals process. The most common reasons that people are turned down are:

• Financial ineligibility. If you earn too much money, your application will be denied. Your application will not even get to the step where the DDS reviewer decides whether or not you are disabled based on medical evidence.
• Temporary disability. Your disability must last at least 12 months as the SSDI program does not offer short-term disability benefits.
• You refuse to cooperate. If the SSA needs additional information from you such as more medical evidence and your fail to provide it, the SSA will deny you claim.
• Fraud. If you obtain benefits by the use of fraud, the SSA will terminate your benefits and may even seek to have your prosecuted for fraud.
• Drug or Alcohol Addiction. If the major contributing factor to your disability is drug or alcohol abuse, the SSA will not approve your claim. To make this determination the SSA will seek to determine whether your disability would still exist if you stopped abusing drugs or alcohol.

New York's workers' compensation laws provide that injured workers are entitled to benefits through the employer's workers' compensation insurance program if they sustain a work-related injury or illness. This means that in cases where the injury or illness is work-related, the victim may be eligible for both workers' compensation benefits, and eventually Social Security disability benefits if injury is expected to incapacitate the worker for 12 months or longer. However, a claimant cannot receive the full amount of both types of benefits at the same time. The amount of Social Security benefits will be offset by the amount of worker's compensation benefits awarded.

The Social Security disability claims process is complicated and nearly 70% of applications are initially denied. One of the most common reasons for denial is the lack of adequate medical evidence to support claims in the application. The chances of you being approved are greatly improved if you are represented by an experienced attorney. The Social Security disability attorneys serving clients in Staten Island at the Law Offices of Stephen Bilkis & Associates understand each step in the claim review process and what information the reviewer must have in order to be able to approve your claim. We have experience working with both SSDI and SSI applicants with serious conditions such as hip injuries, back injuries and diseases, cancer, sleep disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, headaches, kidney failure, and blood disorders. Contact us at 800.696.9529 to schedule a free, no obligation consultation regarding your case. We represent clients in the following locations: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island, Manhattan, Nassau County, Queens, Staten Island, Suffolk County and Westchester County.