An injury at work may send you immediately applying for workers’ compensation benefits. This is the correct first move, but what can you do when these benefits run out and you still are not able to work? You may then consider applying for Social Security disability benefits.
The Social Security Administration explains that to qualify for SSDI benefits, your disability must be long term.
Long-term disability definition
The SSA defines a long-term disability as something that will last at least a year. Typically, though, most people who receive SSDI will die from their disabilities. So, while one year is the threshold minimum, the SSA has other requirements that will make it difficult to get benefits if the disability is not severe enough and will not last a significant amount of time.
Other benefits
The SSA has such strict qualifications for SSDI because it wants to reserve these benefits for people who really need them and cannot seek assistance from somewhere else. For work injuries, the first thing you have to do is try to get workers’ compensation benefits. Workers’ compensation will offer you a lot of help and you can get it for a long time if your disability is something from which you do not have a speedy recovery.
It is possible to get SSDI and other benefits from other organizations. However, to qualify for SSDI, you also have to have enough recent work hours. So, if you have not worked in years and your workers’ compensation runs out, you may not qualify for SSDI because you do not have enough work credits.