Spondylitis Association of America Forums General Discussion Questions About USA Social Security Disability Benefits SSD/Medicare benefit during medical leave vs returning to work

I am still in the process SSD.

1) If I get SSD, how does this benefit work if I have been receiving CA state disability? Do they start paying SSD when State Disability runs out or they give me retroactive amount of SSD benefit from the day I stopped working?.

2)Am I eligible for Medicare if I get SSD? I am not eligible for SSI or Medical or Medicaid...

3) What happens if I tried to return to work full time with restriction/accomodations? In the past, I went back to work multiple times but got worse so went out on leave again. I am not sure if I can sustain working but want to try to go back to work in the future but want to know what this could means to me for SSD/Medicare benefit (e.g., Do I lose SSD benefit if go back to work?) I heard there is a way SSD can send me back to work on trial for 6-9 months. If so, how do I negotiate this with the company and SSD?

Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

http:/www.ssa.gov/ may answer some of your questions, also many times I have called my local ssa and asked them, they were very helpful, or you can call the national hot line 1 800 772 1213

Hi, LAGalAS and cajunlady.

LaGalAS:

RE: California benefits and Social Security Disability benefits, there may be an offset involved. I believe that I came across this question some time ago and did some research on it, but I don't have it available to me at this time. You can check with SSA and California regarding this issue.

Re: Medicare, one is eligible for Medicare 24 months after first being eligible to receive Social Security Disability Insurance benefits.

Re: returning to work - SSA does have programs to allow you to work and continue to receive your full benefit. One of these programs is called the Trial Work Period. It is not a mandatory program, but an opportunity to test your ability to work and still receive your full benefits.

Let me know if you have further questions.

Rich

Rich, Thank you for your response. Trail Work period is what I was looking for. In the past, I tried to get back to work but got sick again multiple times so my doctors and I are not confident whether I can sustain working if I ever tried to go back to work again. How does it work?

Hi, LAgalAS. I'll quote from SSA's web site:

During a trial work period, a beneficiary receiving Social Security disability benefits may test his or her ability to work and still be considered disabled. We do not consider services performed during the trial work period as showing that the disability has ended until services have been performed in at least 9 months (not necessarily consecutive) in a rolling 60-month period. In 2006, any month in which earnings exceed $620 is considered a month of services for an individual's trial work period. In 2007, this monthly amount increases to $640.

Here's the link to the page I quoted: http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/twp.html.

Let me know if you have further questions.

Rich