To get Social Security Disability or SSI in California do I need to be disabled for a whole year?
Someone asked this question on a news site: Do I have to be disabled for the whole year before I can apply for Social Security Disability or SSI benefits?
Actually, no. This is one area where the definition of disability used by the social security administration can cause some degree of confusion. The SSA definition of disability actually stipulates that an impairment must last or be expected to last for one full year.
In other words, you don't have to wait until your condition has been disabling for an entire year. As a practical matter, you should file for disability as soon as your condition prevents you from working. Unless, of course, you have the clear expectation that your condition will be of fairly short duration, such as a broken bone that your doctor expects to heal normally.
What do you do if your condition prevents you from working currently and neither you nor your physician have any idea as to the duration of your condition? In such instances, you should probably file an application for disability just to cover your bases. Because by doing this, you can "get something in the pipe" (remember that the disability evaluation process is incredibly long in most cases).
If, later, the disability examiner assigned to your case decides that your condition will not be expected to last a full year, your claim will simply receive a durational denial. And, of course, even if your condition does not last a full year, you may potentially find yourself in the position of being awarded a closed period, i.e. disability benefits for a specified number of months. Closed periods are occasionally awarded by disability judges in recognition of the fact that a claimant for a short period actually met the SSA definition of disability even if their condition has resolved to the extent where this is no longer the case.
About the Author: Tim Moore is a former Social Security Disability Examiner in North Carolina, has been interviewed by the NY Times and the LA Times on the disability system, and is an Accredited Disability
Representative (ADR) in North Carolina. For assistance on a disability application or Appeal in NC, click here.
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