If you live with a disability, you can receive financial assistance by filing a disability claim with the Social Security Administration (SSA). The federal government agency conducts a thorough review of your claim to determine whether you live with a qualifying medical condition, as well as endure the severity of symptoms listed in the medical guide called the Blue Book. To be eligible for disability benefits, you also have to meet other criteria, including demonstrating you have missed work for 12 consecutive months. There, you cannot get Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) if you never have worked.
Another program offered by the SSA is called Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Can you get SSI if you’ve never worked? The answer is yes because SSI requires different standards for applicants to meet than the standards followed by the SSA for approving claims for SSDI. Although you do not have to show a work history to qualify for SSI, you have to meet other standards to receive financial assistance. As of late November 2021, nearly eight million people living in the United States received SSI benefits.
Another difference between SSI and SSDI concerns how each program is funded. Although the SSA manages SSI, the federal agency does not fund the program as it does for SSDI. Instead, SSI receives funding from the general revenues of the United States Department of the Treasury. In addition, a majority of states supplement the financial contribution made by the Department of the Treasury by funding SSI as well.
If you need financial assistance to pay for basic daily expenses, you might be eligible to receive compensation from the SSI program. The team of Social Security attorneys at Morgan & Morgan reviews your claim before you submit it to the SSA to ensure you meet all the criteria established by the federal government agency. We also provide legal support for clients that file an SSDI claim to the SSA.
Schedule a free case evaluation to learn more about what you need to provide the SSA for you to receive approval of an SSI application.