Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are two key federal disability benefits programs that offer financial aid to individuals with disabilities. To qualify for these benefits, recipients must meet specific criteria established by the Social Security Administration (SSA). SSDI, for instance, requires you to have a certified disability that restricts you from working and to have worked recently, paying into the Social Security system. The definition of a disability, in this case, is an impairment that prevents you from participating in “substantial gainful activity (SGA), which refers to a role involving significant physical or mental action profitable or paid.

SSI, on the other hand, helps those living with a qualifying disability and with very limited resources. These individuals can’t possess more than $2,000 in assets in most states to qualify for SSI which go towards basic needs like food, shelter, and clothing.

The income treatement differs between these two programs. SSDI does not consider assets and unearned income ineligibility. However, SSI deducts 50 cents from the recipient’s benefit per dollar earned from employment and $1 for every dollar of unearned income. When the award decreases to zero due to these deductions, SSI benefits are lost, making it a more stringent scheme than SSDI.

The SSA allows recipients of either SSDI or SSI with unreimbursed impairment-related work expenses necessary for their job to deduct these expenses from their countable earned income.

Therefore, while trying to navigate through the SSDI and SSI application and approval processes, it is essential to get expert advice from a special needs attorney to understand how your situation fits within these guidelines.

If you have specific questions about these programs or need to get in touch with the right departments, check out eddcaller.com. This platform provides information on how to contact SDI for queries on the SSDI and SSI programs as well as how to get through to a live person over the phone and retrieve appropriate resources. It’s an efficient, streamlined way to reach out to the departments responsible for managing these benefits and can be an invaluable tool for those in need of assistance navigating the system.