Along with other public sources of disability benefits, workers’ compensation benefits can have an impact on your eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance (“SSDI”) benefits. The types of benefits that can impact your SSDI eligibility include workers’ compensation, civil service disability benefits, state disability benefits, and any other benefits that come from the government and are based on a disability or medical condition.
The Social Security Administration (“SSA”) wants to avoid paying SSDI benefits to someone who is already receiving benefits that are nearly the same amount as what the person earned before becoming disabled. For this reason, the SSA adds up all of the benefits outlined above that you are receiving and compares that total to 80 percent of your average earnings before you became disabled. The SSA deducts the amount that you are receiving above the 80 percent line from your SSDI benefits.
Some public benefits do not figure into the total figure that the SSA uses to determine whether it should reduce your SSDI benefits. Several of the types of benefits that do not impact this calculation include: Veterans Administration benefits, Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”) benefits from the SSA, and state and local benefits on which you paid Social Security taxes.
Have you received SSDI benefits and workers’ compensation at the same time? How did the two types of benefits impact each other?
Troutman & Troutman, P.C. – Tulsa Social Security Disability attorneys
