If you plan to file a claim for your disability insurance, under the Social Security disability benefits program, you have to know about several important terminologies concerning such program.



Disabled worker – as an individual working for a living, your social security taxes (FICA http://www.ssa.gov/mystatement/fica.htm) are being withheld through your paycheck, as other state and federal taxes are being withheld.

Once you have accomplished payment on certain Social Security tax amount over a specific period, then you become eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Benefits. If you are over 30 year old, you can be insured for the SSDI benefits if you paid FICA for 20 calendar quarters at the very least, provided that this period is during the 40 calendar quarters starting immediately before the total disability was acquired.

In simpler terms, you must have paid SS taxes or FICA for at least five years from the last ten years before you had total disability.

The current taxes requirement (as of year 2000) is to pay on earnings of $780 a quarter for you to earn coverage of one quarter. If you are earning and paying your taxes on earnings of $3,120 in the past year 2000, then, their account already credited you with 4 quarters payment.

If you become disabled, you'd have to prove it happened while your disability insurance coverage is in force. If you fail to do this, you will not be entitled to SSDI or disability insurance benefits. It would not even matter if your medical condition was very grave.

Thus, if you acquired a disabling condition that you feel will last for 12 months, at the very least, it is advisable not to delay applying for such benefits once you lose the capacity to work.

Dependent children – if you become disabled and become eligible for SSDI benefits, your child or children under 18 years old will become entitled to receive some benefits too. However, they will not be given a Medicare card.

Disabled Widower/Widow Benefits (DWB) – certain widowers and widows can avail of a special kind of disability insurance benefits based on the FICA paid by his/her deceased spouse.

To qualify for this kind of benefit, widow/widower must be between 50 and 60 years old and he/she must have been married to the deceased spouse who was covered by Social Security before the time he/she passed away, for a minimum of 10 years.

Within seven years of the spouse's death, the widower/widow must prove that his/her disability is severe enough and has met the requirements. An exception to this rule is if he/she is already receiving other benefits under the Social Security program.

The DWB monthly benefit rate is computed based on the deceased spouse's income and tax payments to SS.

Other Disability insurance benefits can be awarded through the Disabled Adult Child (DAC) Benefits.