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Government-Mandated Disability Programs

Keep in mind that there are also state and/or federally mandated programs for employees who become disabled. They are not benefit programs, per se, in that you do not have to purchase them as you would conventional insurance, but you may qualify for one of them at some point in your life. These include:

  • Workers' Compensation Disability Benefits -- Every state has enacted workers' compensation laws to protect employees against loss of income and for medical payments due to a work-related injury, accident, illness, or disease. If you're disabled on the job, contact your employer to ascertain your coverage benefits.
  • State Disability Benefits -- California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and Rhode Island currently have a program that provides short-term disability benefits for employees. In effect, the state programs are a supplement to Social Security disability benefits, since Social Security doesn't cover the first six months of the disability. These state plans cover the period before Social Security benefits would start up. They require contributions from employers, much in the same way that the unemployment benefits program is financed by the employers of the employees it covers. For more information about your state's program, you can contact your state labor agency.
  • Federal Social Security Benefits -- The Social Security Administration also provides disability benefits to certain individuals who qualify. The Social Security laws require that the disability be of the type that will last at least 12 months if the individual is to receive any benefits. Also, there is effectively a six-month waiting period before benefits will begin.

When do benefits begin? A disabled person is entitled to monthly cash benefits beginning with the first month in which the he or she meets all of the following conditions:

  • has a qualifying disability as defined by the Social Security Administration
  • has filed an application for disabled benefits
  • has met the requirements for insured status
  • has completed a five-calendar-month waiting period or is exempted from this requirement
  • has not attained age 65

When do benefits end? Benefits end when any of the following events occur:

  • the individual dies
  • the individual reaches retirement age
  • the individual returns to work for at least three months

Contact the Social Security Administration to learn if you can qualify for these benefits should you become disabled.

Interaction with other benefits. Social Security disability benefits are reduced by whatever the individual receives from workers' compensation insurance. Benefits, however, are not reduced by what the individual may receive from private insurance.


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