Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is a federal program that pays monthly benefits to people who have worked and paid Social Security taxes long enough and can no longer work because of a medical condition expected to last at least a year or to result in death. Mesothelioma is on the agency's Compassionate Allowances list for fast decisions.

Origin

Congress added disability benefits to the Social Security program in 1956. The Social Security Administration runs SSDI, and its Compassionate Allowances program, started in 2008, speeds up decisions for conditions that clearly meet the disability standard.

Significance in Asbestos Context

For a working-age person diagnosed with mesothelioma or another serious asbestos disease, SSDI can replace part of lost income while treatment goes on. Because mesothelioma is a Compassionate Allowances condition, a well-documented application can be decided quickly; other asbestos diseases, such as asbestosis or lung cancer, are judged on how much they limit the ability to work. SSDI depends on work history, not on income or savings, so asbestos settlements and trust payments do not normally reduce it. (Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, is a separate needs-based program where they can.) There is a waiting period of five full months before benefits start, and Medicare coverage generally begins after 24 months of SSDI entitlement. Benefits may also go to certain family members. People at or past full retirement age receive retirement benefits instead, so SSDI matters most for younger patients, including those exposed through a parent's work clothes or in schools and buildings.

Example Sentence

Two months after her peritoneal mesothelioma diagnosis, her SSDI claim was approved under Compassionate Allowances.

Related Terms

Compassionate Allowances, Impairment Rating, VA Disability Compensation, Medicare Secondary Payer Act, Pathology Report, Economic Damages

Notes

• Include the pathology report confirming mesothelioma with your application; it is the key document for a fast decision.
• Apply soon after you stop working; the waiting period runs from the onset of disability.
• If you receive SSI rather than SSDI, ask before accepting any settlement, because it can affect eligibility.