History

• Social Security Disability Insurance came into being as Title II of the Social Security Act. SSDI offers a program of monthly benefits for people adjudged to be medically disabled and, as a result, unable to earn a living. Supplemental Security Income is a more recent program that Congress passed as Title XVI of the Social Security Act.
  
  

Eligibility

• To be eligible for SSDI, you must have worked a certain minimum amount of time, measured by Social Security as work credits or quarters of work, during which you paid payroll taxes into the Social Security system. The minimum depends on your age; over the age of 31 the number is approximately equal to five years of work out of the last 10 years. SSI eligibility does not depend on your work experience or payroll taxes at all; you can never have worked and still be eligible for SSI.
  
  

SSI Means Testing

• SSI is a means-tested program. You may not have assets of more than $2,000 if you are single or $3,000 if you are married. The Social Security Administration considers cash, second homes and/or cars, certain valuables,and contributions by your friends or relatives (in the form of housing, for example), as assets. In addition,a limit is set on the amount of income you can make depending on your marital status and whether the income comes from wages or not. If you exceed these limits, you will not be eligible for SSI.
  
  

Back Benefits

• If you file a disability claim and win, then you may be eligible for back benefits up to 12 months before the date of your application depending on the onset date of your disability. For SSI, the back benefits can only go back to the date of your application. In addition, if you leave the country, your eligibility for SSI payments ends; disability benefits, in nearly all foreign countries, will continue.
  
  

Benefit Amount

• The monthly disability benefits depends on a calculation that takes into account your work history and the amount of money you've earned. The SSI benefit is a flat, national rate, in most cases lower than a disability benefit, that may be supplemented by your state. SSI will also be adjusted lower if you are receiving any form of general assistance, other disability benefits or unemployment compensation.