How Long Does It Take To Get Disability Back Pay
For a lot of people who become too injured or ill to continue working, their Social Security Disability benefits cant be paid out too soon. However, before they can receive benefits, their claim must be investigated and approved. The Social Security Administration has a huge backlog of cases to consider. Three to six months is the average time it takes for the SSA to come to an initial decision on a claim. If the claim is rejected, it may take several more months or even years for the applicant to make their way through the appeals process.
If youve been waiting a seemingly endless time to receive your benefits, theres good news. Once your claim for SSDI or SSI benefits is approved, youll be qualified to receive back payment for the past due benefits that have accrued between the date of onset the date you became disabled and the date you were approved for benefits.
The date of onset can be up to 12 months before you filed your claim. In order to receive back pay for all 12 months, however, youll have to be found to be disabled 17 full months before your filing date thats because theres a five-month period after your EOD before you can receive benefits.
How Does It Work
Your disability benefits can be quickly reinstated if you self reported your return to work or your volunteer and/or educational activities, and:
- your benefits stopped less than 2 years ago because you returned to work or because of your volunteer and/or educational activities
- you cannot continue working because the same or related disability has recurred
- you are under the age of 65
- you are not receiving the CPP retirement pension
There may be times when you can work on a regular basis, followed by periods when you cannot work because of your disability. There is no limit to how many times you can ask for your benefits to be reinstated.
Examples
The following timelines apply to Marie’s situation:
Juanita contacts Service Canada to report her volunteer activity of 30 hours per week for more than 4 months. It was determined that her volunteer activity showed that she was capable of pursuing substantially gainful work. Her benefits were stopped as a result.
Unfortunately, her medical condition worsens, and one year later she can no longer continue with her work activity.
Juanita may be eligible to have her CPP disability benefits automatically reinstated:
- her benefits were stopped because she self reported that she was participating in volunteer activity
- she is within 2 years of the date her benefits were stopped
- she is unable to continue her work activity because of a recurrence of her disability
- she is within 1 year of the deadline to request reinstatement of her benefits
Can You Think Of Anything Else Thats Been Bothering You And Disabling You And Preventing You From Working
A person on welfare costs a state money. That same resident on disability doesn’t cost the state a cent, because the federal government covers the entire bill for people on disability. So states can save money by shifting people from welfare to disability. And the Public Consulting Group is glad to help.
PCG is a private company that states pay to comb their welfare rolls and move as many people as possible onto disability. “What we’re offering is to work to identify those folks who have the highest likelihood of meeting disability criteria,” Pat Coakley, who runs PCG’s Social Security Advocacy Management team, told me.
The company has an office in eastern Washington state that’s basically a call center, full of headsetted women in cubicles who make calls all day long to potentially disabled Americans, trying to help them discover and document their disabilities:
“The high blood pressure, how long have you been taking medications for that?” one PCG employee asked over the phone the day I visited the company. “Can you think of anything else that’s been bothering you and disabling you and preventing you from working?”
PCG also works very, very hard to make the people who work at the Social Security happy. Whenever the company wins a new contract, Coakley will personally introduce himself at the local Social Security Administration office, and see how he can make things as easy as possible for the administrators there.
Recommended Reading: Can You Get Disability For Borderline Personality Disorder
How Much Time Off Do You Get With Short
While I might sound like a broken record, a concern like, How long is short-term disability? is another aspect that can vary depending on your own plan.
By definition, its short-term, but it can range in duration. Ive seen be as short as 30 days and as long as one year, Bartolic says, pointing to the maximum covered benefit periods hes seen in his own practice. It depends on the overall structure of the disability benefits through the employer.
Your time off also depends on your specific health problem. The medical field has guidelines as to how long recovery should take, explains Bartolic. That provides a roadmap for your employer or plan provider to establish a reasonable amount of time for you to be out of work.
What if things are really serious and youre not looking at a few weeks or even months away from the jobbut much longer? That would fall under a long-term disability benefit, if your employer offers such a thing.
As the names imply, short-term disability is used to cover injuries or illnesses that persist for a shorter amount of time . In contrast, long-term disability comes into play for any issues that will take you out of work for longer than that.
Applying For Va Disability Benefits For Back Problems
Once youve been diagnosed with your back condition, you will need to establish a service-connection.
While most back disabilities can be traced to a specific event or injury that should be in your military records, you may also have back problems due to the physical stress of training and other work while in service. If that is the case you will want to obtain buddy letters from family, friends, and fellow service members, explaining the difference in your physical health before, during, and after your time in service.
Also, be sure to keep your own records, detailing what you experience day-to-day in regards to pain and obstacles to full functionality. You can do this by requesting your files from the military and always keeping another copy of your medical records.
In order to receive VA disability for back problems, like all VA Claims, the VA will be looking for as much evidence as possible.
For more information and details on how to submit a successful claim, check out this video below:
If you are ready to get started with your VA claim the fastest way to go is here! Dont allow back pain to prevent you from doing the things that you love!
Become an Insider
Were Veterans helping Veterans Worldwide, and since 2016 weve helped 10,000+ Veterans just like you INCREASE their VA disability rating!
Read Also: How Much Disability In California
Understand Your Short Term Disability Coverage
Before you apply for Short Term Disability, its important that you understand your insurance coverage. If you are offered group disability coverage through your employer, contact your Plan The administrator or Human Resource staff to help understand the extent of the coverage, or consult your benefits booklet. In case your employer does provide this coverage, you will be required to make your claim through the group plan.
Although your employer does not offer short term disability coverage as part of their group plan, you may be eligible for Employment Insurance benefits. For more information on whether you qualify for EI, check out the government of Canadas website here.
Other elements of your coverage that are important to understanding are your coverage amounts, which relate to how much benefit you will receive and how often. You will also want to know when you will start receiving the benefit if the benefit is taxable, and if your plan covers the third party claims management service like the Disability Management Institute as do most plans at GroupHEALTH.
What Happens If You Need To Get On Benefits Again
If you become disabled again after your SSD benefits have stopped, youll need to reapply for disability based on your new medical condition. This is true even if your new disability is the same condition that qualified you for SSD benefits the first time around.
While submitting a new disability application is whats required, there are some additional details youll need to understand about how this process works.
Whether you realize it or not, with your initial round of disability benefits, you were subject to the standard, five-month waiting period before the Social Security Administration processed SSD payments for you. For most applicants, at least five months pass before they receive a determination on their eligibility anyway, so most never realize theres a waiting period to begin with.
With a reinstatement of disability benefits after becoming disabled again there is no such waiting period. In other words, if you were previously receiving SSD benefits and are now disabled again, and no more than five years have passed since you were previously approved for benefits, then your new round of SSD payments will begin at the onset date of your newest disability.
Your new application for disability benefits may still take months to go through the review and approval processes. However, once your payments do commence, youll receive a lump sum of back benefits that dates to the onset of your most recent disability.
Recommended Reading: What Does 90 Percent Va Disability Pay
Can I Be Rated For More Than One Va Disability For Back
The legal concept Avoidance of Pyramiding applies to the back just like any other VA disability.
However, you can be rated for more than one disability condition for your back that cause different levels of impairment and are clearly separately rated conditions.
For example, you may have a 50% VA rating for your back due to unfavorable ankylosis of the entire thoracolumbar spine.
Perhaps this condition has also led to Radiculopathy, which occurs when nerve roots become pinched or damaged, the resulting symptoms lead to this painful condition.
Choose A Return Career Carefully
Remember, as you traverse the next chapter of your life as a person who has been disabled at least partially as a result of work, you will want to choose a future occupation with caution. Avoid tasks that may cause you to become permanently disabled or those that conflict with your physical and mental well-being. Stick to the skills and abilities you have that will not cause you to become injured any further.
Don’t Miss: How Do I Change My Va Direct Deposit
Seriously Do You Really Need To Understand Your Short
Heres the short answer: yes. While its not exactly a fun topic to think about, its important that you familiarize yourself with the details of your planso you dont have to get up to speed when you actually need the benefit.
However, wading through our own plan documents is a step that most of us skip. That informational booklet is immediately relegated to our desk drawer or filing cabinet.
Do you remember the first day you started your job? Its kind of a firestormyou cant focus well or often, says McDonald. So we dont spend a lot of time achieving clarity about the benefit in the beginning. We only acquire an understanding of it when we are in deep need of the benefit.
But particularly if you have an existing problem or condition, youre going to want to know the ins and outs of the benefit thats available to you.
Anybody who goes into a new job and has any kind of serious medical condition that could at some point in time render them unable to work, I think its a good idea to be able to see the actual short-term and long-term disability plan documents to see how they define disability and how they handle pre-existing conditions, adds Bartolic.
Ideally, youll never have to take advantage of your short-term disability benefits. But in the event that the unexpected happens, youll be glad that you took the time to understand whats offered to you. This explainer is a good place to start, but you also need to read through the details of your specific plan.
C& p Exams And Staged Ratings
Additional back pay may be rewarded to a veteran who can prove a condition is worsening over time. A compensation and pension examination can determine whether a veterans condition has improved or worsened. If an exam shows a worsening disability, the effective date for additional back pay is the date on which medical evidence first shows the worsening condition. Veterans with open appeals, which may take a long time to close, can be assigned a staged rating, which tracks the severity of the disability over time to assist in calculating back pay. Since the disability may continue to get worse, its vital to continue documenting its progress to make a claim for additional, adjusted back pay over the years.
You May Like: How Much Ssi Will I Get In California
What Conditions Are Covered By These Benefits
You may be able to get VA disability benefits for conditions such as:
- Chronic back pain resulting in a current diagnosed back disability
- Breathing problems resulting from a current lung condition or lung disease
- Severe hearing loss
- Loss of range of motion
- Ulcers
- Cancers caused by contact with toxic chemicals or other dangers
You may also be able to get VA disability benefits for:
- Traumatic brain injury
-
If you have signs of an illness that started within a year after you were discharged from active service, find out if you can get disability benefits.
Is Mental Health Covered With Short
What if its not something physical that takes you away from the demands of your job? What if youre struggling with depression or some other mental health issue that makes it nearly impossible to fulfill your work responsibilities?
Mental health can be covered by many short-term disability plans . However, youre going to need to have proof that this is an issue youve been struggling with for some time.
You should be talking with a psychiatrist before your leave, says McDonald. There should be a really solid foundation of what the problems are.
Read Also: Can You Get Va Disability And Social Security Disability
How Often Will You Receive Payments
This is another area that can vary. Fortunately, your payment questions should be answered clearly within your plan documents.
Be aware that if your employer works with an insurer to offer short-term disability benefits, then payments will usually be administered through the insurance company. That means they might arrive on a schedule different from the payroll timing youre used to .
Meaghan Tiernan, a senior copywriter for a marketing agency in San Francisco, used her short-term disability for maternity leave. She was given a debit card that her short-term disability payments were added to.
I think it was one lump sum every two weeks on an regular basis, she explains. They even include weekends, so it was typically every 14 days that I was paid. Then youd have to transfer the funds from that debit card to your bank account if that was your preference.
Document Pain From Sustained Sitting Or Standing
Back pain can limit you from sitting or standing for long periods. This is some of the best evidence of disability from work. Many jobs require you to sit behind a desk for an extended time. If your back pain seriously prevents you from doing this type of work, you have a strong argument to be approved for disability benefits.
You must document movements throughout the day to present as evidence. You have to prove that you cannot sit or stand for a long time without experiencing severe pain. The pain must prevent you from performing your job duties. If youre able to sit for more than two hours, your back problem might not be as severe as it seems. However, if youre unable to do that, you have a strong case to get disability benefits for your back problems.
You May Like: Disability For Sciatica
Applying For Social Security Disability And Ssi Benefits
You can apply online for Social Security Disability benefits, you can file in person at your local Social Security office, or by calling 772-1213.
To find your local Social Security office, click here and enter your home zip code. Locate a Social Security Office.
Before you begin your application, you should collect certain information regarding your medical treatment, work history and other facts. To view a checklist of the information that you will need, Disability Checklist.
When you are ready to apply for Social Security Disability Benefits, Apply for Disability. You will not have to complete the entire application in one sitting. You will have the option of saving your application and returning to it later.
You can also complete most of your application for SSI Disability benefits online, but to finish the application process you will have to visit a Social Security office. You canApply for SSI to begin the SSI application process for yourself or for a child.
Back Pain For Veterans
Spine impairment is one of the leading causes of disability among veterans. Because most of those serving in the military frequently carry and lift heavy loads or engage in quick shifting and running in the line of duty, there is repeated stress and trauma on the joints which affect the health of the spine.
Fortunately, this fact has become more recognized by the VA and those creating policies for the VA. However, it is still important you know how to communicate your pain in order to receive the best possible benefits. Understanding the rules used to determine VA disability for back problems and their ratings will be helpful as you pursue help.
Read Also: Va Disability 90 Percent