Once you get diagnosed with your disability, you may require immediate medical intervention. You may be catapulted into around-the-clock medical care, which comes with hefty medical bills, not to mention a temporarily lost source of income with your inability to return to work. All of this to say, you may quickly find yourself in financial distress. Further, you may not be fortunate enough to be able to wait months for your Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits application to be processed by the Social Security Administration (SSA). If this is your current status, please continue reading to learn whether the SSA grants emergency SSDI benefits and how an experienced New Jersey SSDI attorney at The Law Offices of Sheryl Gandel Mazur can help you obtain these.
Does the SSA permit emergency SSDI benefits?
Unfortunately, the SSA does not have a specific program that offers emergency SSDI benefits to current applicants or even recipients. With this, your best option may be to submit a “dire need” letter to the SSA, which essentially petitions for the expedited processing of your applications.
Here, you may be qualified to make this request if the SSA recognizes your disability in its Terminal Illness Program (TERI). This may be if you are a candidate for a heart, lung, liver, or bone marrow transplant, you have metastatic, stage IV, persistent, inoperable, or unresectable cancer, etc. Or, if your case constitutes a compassionate allowance. The SSA lists over 280 conditions that fall under this category, which are mostly comprised of cancer types, rare diseases, etc.
Of note, though, there is such a thing as emergency Social Security Insurance (SSI) benefits. You may be eligible for this opportunity if you currently lack sufficient income or other financial resources to meet your immediate health and safety needs, such as food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, etc. Or, if the SSA confirms you are due to receive SSI benefits, whether you just got your application approved or are a current recipient, but there is a significant delay in the payment process.
How do I apply for an emergency advance payment?
One method for receiving emergency SSI benefits is through an emergency advance payment (EAP). This is a one-time payment to fund your immediate financial emergencies, at an amount that cannot exceed the federal benefit rate. As of 2025, this amount is $967, plus New Jersey’s optional state supplement. You must understand, though, that these are not extra funds. Rather, the amount you receive in advance may be subtracted from the future SSI payment due to you.
Nonetheless, to apply for an emergency advance payment, you must give the SSA an abundance of proof of your current disability and financial emergency. Some of this may be similar to the evidence you provide within your SSI benefits application. But mainly, you should provide copies of your medical records, medical bills, household bills, past pay stubs, letters from financial institutions, etc.
If you are ready to make matters right, please retain the services of a skilled New Jersey SSDI attorney as soon as you can. We at The Law Offices of Sheryl Gandel Mazur look forward to receiving your outreach.
