California Disability Advocates

Specializing in Social Security Disability Claims

How You Qualify

To qualify for Social Security disability benefits, you must first have worked in jobs covered by Social Security. Then you must have a medical condition that meets Social Security's definition of disability. In general benefits are paid to people who are unable to work for a year or more because of a disability.

Benefits usually continue until you are able to work again on a regular basis. There are also a number of special rules, called "work incentives," that provide continued benefits and health care coverage to help you make the transition back to work.

If you are receiving Social Security disability benefits when you reach full retirement age, your disability benefits automatically convert to retirement benefits, but the amount remains the same.

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How Much Work Do You Need?

In addition to meeting our definition of disability, you must have worked long enough — and recently enough — under Social Security to qualify for disability benefits.

Social Security work credits are based on your total yearly wages or self-employment income. You can earn up to four credits each year.

The amount needed for a work credit changes from year to year. In 2021, for example, you earn one credit for each $1,470 in wages or self-employment income. When you've earned $5,880, you've earned your four credits for the year.

The number of work credits you need to qualify for disability benefits depends on your age when you become disabled. Generally, you need 40 credits, 20 of which were earned in the last 10 years ending with the year you become disabled. However, younger workers may qualify with fewer credits.

For more information on whether you qualify, refer to How You Earn Credits.

Remember that whatever your age, you must have earned the required number of work credits within a certain period ending with the time you become disabled. If you qualify now but you stop working under Social Security, you may not continue to meet the disability work requirement in the future.

What We Mean By Disability

The definition of disability under Social Security is different than other programs. Social Security pays only for total disability.

No benefits are payable for partial disability or for short-term disability.

We consider you disabled under Social Security rules if all of the following are true:

You cannot do work that you did before because of your medical condition.
You cannot adjust to other work because of your medical condition.
Your disability has lasted or is expected to last for at least one year or to result in death.

This is a strict definition of disability. Social Security program rules assume that working families have access to other resources to provide support during periods of short-term disabilities, including workers' compensation, insurance, savings, and investments.

How We Decide If You Are Disabled

If you have enough work to qualify for disability benefits, we use a step-by-step process involving five questions to determine if you are disabled.

The five questions are:

1. Are you working?

If you are working in 2021 and your earnings average more than $1,310 a month, you generally cannot be considered disabled.

If you are not working, we will send your application to the Disability Determination Services (DDS) office that will make the decision about your medical condition. The DDS uses Steps 2-5 below to make the decision.

2. Is your condition "severe"?

Your condition must significantly limit your ability to do basic work-related activities, such as lifting, standing, walking, sitting, or remembering – for at least 12 months. If it does not, we will find that you are not disabled.

If your condition does interfere with basic work-related activities, we go to Step 3.

3. Is your condition found in the list of disabling conditions?

For each of the major body systems, we maintain a list of medical conditions that we consider severe enough that it prevents a person from doing substantial gainful activity. If your condition is not on the list, SSA has to decide if it is as severe as a medical condition that is on the list.

4. Can you do the work you did previously?

At this step, we decide if your medical impairment(s) prevents you from performing any of your past work. If it doesn’t, we’ll decide you don’t have a qualifying disability. If it does, we proceed to Step 5.

5. Can you do any other type of work?

If you can’t do the work you did in the past, we look to see if there is other work you could do despite your medical impairment(s).We consider your medical conditions, age, education, past work experience, and any transferable skills you may have. If you can’t do other work, we’ll decide you are disabled. If you can do other work, we’ll decide that you don’t have a qualifying disability and your claim will be denied.

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The Social Security and Supplemental Security Income disability programs are the largest of several Federal programs that provide assistance to people with disabilities. While these two programs are different in many ways, both are administered by the Social Security Administration and only individuals who have a disability and meet medical criteria may qualify for benefits under either program.

Social Security Disability Insurance pays benefits to you and certain members of your family if you are "insured," meaning that you worked long enough and paid Social Security taxes.

Supplemental Security Income pays benefits based on financial need.

When you apply for either program, we will collect medical and other information from you and make a decision about whether or not you meet Social Security's definition of disability. Periodically, we will need updated information about your condition.