What Insurance Do You Get With Social Security Disability?
What Insurance Do You Get With Social Security Disability?
Monthly cash payment to help pay the bills is only one of the benefits available to you through the disability programs administered by the Social Security Administration. The two programs, Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance, each pay monthly cash benefits and offer health insurance coverage for individuals with a disability who meet the medical requirements to qualify for benefits.
Articles about Social Security disability benefits generally focus on eligibility criteria and monthly benefits provided by SSI and SSDI while only touching upon what type of health insurance do you get with SSD. Here, then, is a closer look at the insurance benefits offered under each disability program, but it is not a substitute for the personalized advice and guidance you get during a consultation with a Social Security disability lawyer at MJ Ellis Disability Law.
Insurance coverage through the SSI program
More than 10 million people with disabilities qualify for Medicaid coverage with more than a third of them doing so through the SSI program. Filing an application with Social Security for SSI benefits is, in most states, also an application for Medicaid benefits. If you live in a state that requires a separate Medicaid application, Social Security will provide you with the contact information for the state office handling Medicaid applications.
The majority of states follow the SSI eligibility guidelines, including resource limits, for determining Medicaid eligibility, so approval for Medicaid insurance coverage is automatic with SSI approval. However, some states have eligibility guidelines that differ from those used to determine eligibility for SSI. For example, a few states set the resource limits lower for Medicaid applicants than the $2,000 SSI limit for an individual.
Insurance coverage is available when you qualify for SSDI
If you qualify and are approved for benefits through SSDI, you may also be eligible for Medicare. Medicare Part A provides hospital insurance while Part B, medical insurance, pays for medical care when you are not a patient in a hospital.
There is a waiting period of 24 months before someone approved for Social Security disability through SSDI becomes eligible for Medicare coverage. The Social Security Administration recommends that you inquire about the availability of health insurance coverage through a former employer during the 24-month waiting period before Medicare becomes available to you.
The SSA counts the number of months of SSDI entitlement in calculating the 24-month waiting period for Medicare eligibility. A disability lawyer may help you to receive credit for previous periods of disability for which you received benefits provided it is within 60 months after termination of those benefits. The 60-month restriction does not apply if your current SSDI approval is related to an impairment that previously was approved for SSDI.
What happens when you no longer qualify for SSDI or SSI?
If you have Medicaid while receiving SSI benefits or Medicare through SSDI, an increase in your earnings that disqualifies you from SSI or SSDI may not cause the insurance coverage to immediately end. It gets complicated, but an SSD lawyer at MJ Ellis Disability Law can sort it out for you to ensure that you do not lose benefits that you might be entitled to retain.
The general rule for SSI recipients is that working and earning too much income to remain eligible for SSI benefits does not cause you to lose Medicaid coverage as long as you meet all of the following criteria:
- You continue to be blind or disabled.
- You meet all SSI eligibility guidelines except for your earnings income.
- Medicaid coverage is needed for you to work.
- Your earnings from working do not equal or exceed the SSI monthly payments, Medicaid benefits, and other publicly funded care benefits that you lose.
Other conditions also must be met to retain Medicaid coverage, so speak with your disability lawyer about them.
Different rules apply for the continuation of Medicare coverage if you return to work after qualifying for SSDI benefits. SSDI rules allow you to return to work through a trial work period without jeopardizing your monthly cash payments. However, if your earnings after the trial period are $1,310 or more in 2021 or $1,350 in 2022, your monthly SSDI payments will end because your earnings show that you engaged in substantial gainful activity.
Although monthly cash payments through SSDI end, your Medicare coverage can continue for up to 93 months as long as you continue to have a disabling impairment. If the impairment continues after 93 months, you have the option of continuing Medicare coverage by purchasing Premium Hospital Insurance (Part A) and Premium Supplemental Medical Insurance (Part B).
Learn more about insurance benefits for SSD
Getting information about SSD benefits can be challenging when dealing with complicated rules and regulations. At MJ Ellis Disability Law, we take pride in our ability to help people understand and obtain the SSD benefits available to them. Learn more by speaking with one of our skilled and knowledgeable Social Security disability lawyers.