SSD Requirements

In order to receive Social Security Disability income, there are two basic requirements. First, you must be disabled and second, you must have paid into the Social Security system.

If you are concerned that your disability will be difficult to prove, contact Leventhal Sutton & Gornstein today. Specific requirements include:

• You must meet the government's definition of disabled.
• Your disability must keep you from performing your current job and any "substantial gainful activity."
• Your disability must be "medically determinable,” meaning that your physician can see abnormalities or detect them with tests.
• Your disability must have lasted or be expected to last at least 12 consecutive months or be expected to cause your death.
• You must have participated in the Social Security system and received a certain number of work credits within a certain number of years, depending on your age. Generally, you earn one work credit for each three-month period that you work in a job where you contribute to Social Security through payroll taxes. A rough number of work credits you need in order to qualify for disability benefits is forty, with twenty of them being earned in the ten years just before you became disabled. In other words, you need to have worked five of the last ten years. However, younger workers may also be eligible.
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a program designed for disabled people who may not have worked long enough or recently enough to qualify for SSD. SSI benefits are based on financial need.

Leventhal Sutton & Gornstein can assist with your Social Security Disability case so that you don’t have to try to navigate the system on your own. Whether you are about to apply or have already been denied, we can help. Call (215) 357-3300 or (800) 889-6101, or e-mail lsgattorneys@aol.com.

Contact us as soon as possible in order to avoid losing important legal rights under Social Security law. We look forward to serving you.