What Happens If You Receive Four Different Disability Benefits?
If you have a disability that prevents you from working and earning a living as you did before, you may be eligible for disability benefits from multiple sources. For instance, the application you complete for disability benefits through the Social Security Administration is processed to determine eligibility for the Social Security Disability Insurance and the Supplemental Security Income programs so that you can be awarded benefits from SSDI and SSI together.
This blog post explains the various disability programs available from the federal and state governments and long-term and short-term disability programs or plans available from an employer or that you purchase through an insurance company. It also explains how multiple disability benefits may conflict with each other and create challenges. If you have questions about the impact of multiple disability benefits or need representation or assistance with a disability claim or appeal, Clauson Law Firm has experience with all types of disability claims, including resolving the challenges caused by multiple sources of benefits.
Managing Payments From SSDI And SSI Together
SSDI and SSI have different eligibility requirements, but many people qualify for benefits through both programs. You need a work history at jobs where your income was subject to payment of Social Security taxes to be eligible for SSDI disability benefits.
Whether you have a long enough and recent enough work history for SSDI eligibility is determined by work credits. You earn one work credit for each $1,810 in wages in 2025. The earnings amount per work credit changes annually, and you can earn up to four credits each year.
You generally need 40 work credits to qualify for Social Security retirement benefits. Of the 40 work credits, 20 must be earned within 10 years of the onset of a disabling condition to qualify for SSDI. However, you need fewer credits when you become disabled at a younger age. For example, a person who becomes disabled before age 24 needs can qualify for SSDI with only six work credits earned within three years of their disability onset date.
How much you earn during your work history determines the monthly disability or retirement benefit you receive. The Social Security Administration uses a formula that includes monthly earnings from working to how much you get each month for retirement or SSDI benefits.
SSI eligibility is based on the financial needs of its recipients, so it does not require a work history for eligibility. It does, however, have strict income and resource limits because the purpose of SSI is to provide people in need with money each month to pay for food and shelter.
Eligibility for SSI is open to adults and children who are blind or disabled. You can qualify for benefits without a disability or being blind, provided you are at least 65.
The definition used to determine if adults applying for SSI and SSDI have a disability is the same and requires medical documentation of the following:
- A medically determinable physical or mental physical or mental impairment.
- The impairment or combination of impairments must prevent a person from doing substantial gainful work activities.
- The impairment or impairments must last or be expected to last for at least one year or be expected to result in death.
It is possible to qualify for SSDI and SSI together by meeting the requirements for both programs. The benefits you receive from SSI will not impact your SSDI benefits. However, the monthly payments you receive from SSDI will affect the amount paid by SSI.
What you receive from SSI is reduced by payments from SSDI. An example may help explain how it works.
Assume your lifetime earnings subject to Social Security taxes entitle you to receive $500 monthly as SSDI benefits, and you do not have income from other sources. The maximum federal SSI monthly benefit payment for an individual in 2025 is $967, but SSDI benefits count as unearned income that reduces your SSI benefits.
You’ll receive the $500 monthly payment from SSDI and $487 from SSI for a total of $987. That may not make sense until you realize that up to $20 in unearned income does not count toward reducing your monthly SSI benefit payment.
Workers’ Compensation And Your Social Security Benefits
If a work-related injury or illness prevents you from working, you may qualify for workers’ compensation benefits through a program administered by your state. Although the eligibility criteria for workers’ compensation benefits and the disability programs administered by Social Security differ, many people receiving compensation benefits through a state also qualify for SSDI or SSI.
Workers’ compensation will impact the benefits you receive through SSDI and SSI. Benefits through SSDI are subject to an offset when you concurrently receive workers’ compensation benefits. The combined benefit payments cannot exceed 80% of your average current earnings before the onset of your disability.
If combined benefit payments exceed the 80% limitation, you will receive your full workers’ compensation benefit payment. The amount you receive from SSDI will be reduced to bring your monthly combined benefits to no more than what you would have received from Social Security Disability had you not been entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.
If you receive SSI monthly benefits, what you receive from Workers’ compensation is treated as unearned income. The compensation benefit payment minus $20 reduces the amount you receive for the month from SSI.
Disability Benefits Through The Veterans Administration
Disability benefits that you receive from the VA affect SSDI and SSI differently. As a needs-based program, SSI counts VA disability benefits as unearned income subject to a $20 exclusion before deducting the remainder from your monthly SSI benefit payment.
For example, if you are entitled to the maximum monthly SSI benefit of $967 and a monthly VA disability benefit of $460, a $20 exclusion applies to the VA benefit to reduce it to $440. The $440 unearned income from the VA reduces your monthly SSI benefit to $527. Your combined benefits for the month become $987.
VA disability benefits do not have the same effect on benefits you receive from SSDI as they do on SSI. The SSDI program does not reduce or offset your monthly benefits by payments you receive as VA disability benefits.
SSI considers VA disability benefits to be unearned income. The $20 unearned income exclusion applies with a dollar-for-dollar offset of the balance of the VA disability benefits, reducing your SSI payment for the month.
Short-Term And Long-Term Disability Payments
Private disability insurance policies or employer-sponsored plans provide another source of benefit payments when a medical condition prevents you from working. If your employer does not offer a disability plan, you can purchase one from an insurance company that offers them.
Short-term policies or plans provide wage or salary replacement for disabilities lasting less than one year. If you still cannot return to work, a long-term plan or policy, if you have one, takes over. How long the benefits last and how much they pay depends on the terms of the plan or policy that provides coverage for you.
The money you receive from a disability plan or policy does not affect your SSDI benefits. However, some short- and long-term disability plans or policies provide for an offset of benefits you receive through SSDI. If you’re thinking about not applying for SSDI until after your private disability benefits run out, you may not have that option.
It takes a long time for SSDI applications to be processed and benefits approved, particularly if your Clauson Law disability lawyer must file an appeal to get them for you. You could be entitled to retroactive SSDI benefits, but the terms of a disability insurance policy may give the insurance company the right to recoup from the retroactive pay some of the money it paid to you.
The insurance company behind the short-term or long-term policy or employer-sponsored plan may require you to apply for other disability benefits available to you as a condition of receiving benefits. This would include applying for SSDI, which may work in your favor if you do not have medical insurance. After receiving SSDI benefit payments for 24 months, you become eligible for medical insurance coverage through Medicare.
If you receive SSI benefits, the money you receive from short- or long-term disability represents unearned income. You must report it to the Social Security Administration. It is subject to the $20 monthly unearned income exclusion, and the balance reduces your SSI benefits.
Get Help From Clauson Law Coordinating Disability Benefits
This blog post answers the question, “Can you have multiple disability benefits?” by identifying a few of the disability programs available to make it possible to be receiving 4 disability benefits payments simultaneously. You should understand by not that receiving the benefits brings the challenge of coordinating them.At the Clauson Law Firm, our disability lawyers take pride in the work they do helping people like you to overcome the challenges associated with SSDI and SSI. Let us help you with your claim for disability benefits or appeal a claim denial by contacting us today for a free consultation.
