Disability And Supplemental Security Income: What Is The Difference?

Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income are both disability programs of the Social Security Administration (SSA), designed to help people who are unable to work.

Because their initials are similar (SSD, sometimes abbreviated as SSDI and SSI), they are easy to confuse. The difference is mainly in how the programs are funded.

Social Security Disability is an insurance program. You pay into it over the course of your worklife and it is there for you (if you are lucky) when you need it. SSD also pays benefits to children and spouses of workers who have paid into the system.

Supplemental Security Income is not an insurance program. It is given (if you are lucky) to people in financial need who did not pay into the system as workers.

While both programs were set up to assist disabled people, assistance is not easy to obtain. It is a very common experience for Ohioan applicants to either of the two programs to be turned down. This may happen because you left out medical information the SSA required. Just as likely, your claim was denied as a stalling technique. Many applicants must go through three or even four stages before they obtain the benefits they are entitled to under the law.

Are you discouraged? That’s exactly how the SSA hopes you feel. If people give up and go away, the SSA doesn’t have to pay.

The benefits of using experienced SSD/SSI attorneys are obvious. We don’t get discouraged by a negative letter from the SSA. We know that applicants who keep plugging away usually succeed. And we know the laws, which are a terrible tangle, but can be untangled if you know how.

What’s the difference, between going it alone and working with a knowledgeable disability benefits lawyer? It’s often the difference between winning and losing.

In Cincinnati, call The Law Offices of Arnold S. Levine. Our SSD and SSI lawyers want to get you back on a solid financial footing. We know how important benefits are to you. Call us at 513-823-3257, or write us a brief note introducing yourself.