Disability Benefits
Too sick or injured to work? Plain-English guides to Social Security disability — how SSDI and SSI work and differ, how Social Security defines disability, how to apply and what medical evidence you need, the five-step evaluation and the Listings, what to do when you are denied and how the appeals and hearing work, your back pay and Medicare, and the rules for working while on benefits. The framework is federal, but the dollar figures change every year, so confirm current amounts at ssa.gov. General information, not legal or medical advice.
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150 guides on SSDI and SSI — applying, the medical proof, what it takes to qualify with your condition, denials and appeals, your benefits and back pay, and working while on disability — across 8 topics.
Disability Benefits Basics
Start here: what SSDI and SSI are and how they differ, how Social Security defines disability, the work credits that make you insured for SSDI versus the income and resource limits for SSI, how long benefits last, and the myths that stop people from applying.
13 guides →Applying for Disability
How to file and give your claim its best shot: the three ways to apply, the medical evidence that decides claims, the five-step evaluation Social Security uses, the function report and consultative exam, your doctor’s role, how long it takes, and applying for a child.
21 guides →How Social Security Decides
The machinery behind the decision: the Listing of Impairments, meeting versus equaling a listing, your residual functional capacity and the grid rules, what counts as a severe impairment, how your conditions are weighed in combination, what past relevant work means, how age changes the odds, and why most claims are won by proving you cannot sustain full-time work — not by matching a listing.
16 guides →Disability by Condition
What it actually takes to win with your diagnosis: which listing applies (if any), the tests and records Social Security looks for, and how a claim is built on function when the listing is not met — for back pain, mental illness, cancer, heart and lung disease, diabetes, autoimmune disease, neurological conditions, and more.
32 guides →Denials & Appeals
Most claims are denied at first — this is how you fight back: why claims get denied, the four levels of appeal and the strict deadlines, what to expect at the hearing before a judge and the vocational expert, and whether you need a representative and how their fees work.
20 guides →Benefits & Payments
The money side: how your benefit amount is figured, back pay and the five-month waiting period, Medicare and Medicaid, benefits for your family, whether disability is taxable, how SSI living arrangements affect your check, and what happens at retirement age.
21 guides →Working & Keeping Benefits
Keeping benefits and testing a return to work safely: the trial work period and SGA, Ticket to Work and other work incentives, continuing disability reviews, overpayments and waivers, expedited reinstatement, and what you must report to Social Security.
15 guides →Disability and Other Benefits
Where Social Security disability meets everything else: benefits for a disabled adult child or a disabled widow or widower, how VA disability, workers’ comp, and private long-term disability insurance interact with SSDI, child support and divorce, the age-18 SSI redetermination, student-loan discharge, and choosing between early retirement and disability.
12 guides →Latest disability guides
- Getting Disability for Dementia and Early-Onset Alzheimer's
Dementia diagnoses can be fast-tracked by Social Security. How Listing 12.02, residual functional capacity, and Compassionate Allowances work, and how caregivers can help apply.
- Getting Disability for Epilepsy and Seizures
How SSA evaluates epilepsy claims under Listing 11.02, why treatment records and witness descriptions matter, and how safety restrictions affect the work-capacity step.
- Working While on Disability: Trial Work Period and SGA
Yes, you can try working on SSDI or SSI without an instant cutoff. Here's how the trial work period, EPE, and SGA framework actually work.
- Getting Disability for Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis
Crohn's and ulcerative colitis can qualify for SSDI or SSI. How Listing 5.06 works after the 2023 update, and how most claims actually win on residual functional capacity.
- Getting Disability for HIV and AIDS
HIV can qualify for SSDI or SSI under Listing 14.11 or through an RFC built on documented complications, neurocognitive symptoms, fatigue, and comorbid conditions.
- Getting Disability for ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease)
ALS is a Compassionate Allowance with no 5-month SSDI wait and Medicare from the first month of entitlement. Here's how to file and what evidence SSA needs.