If you are injured or have an illness that prevents you from working, you may qualify for disability benefits provided through Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).
SSDI is Federal Job Disability Insurance
Just like your medical or car insurance, SSDI is an insurance program that is set up as a safety net to keep you from financial ruin if a major negative medical event happens in your life. If you are hospitalized, your medical insurance will pay your healthcare bills for you. If your car is wrecked, your car insurance will take care of the cost of fixing or replacing your vehicle. SSDI will pay you disability benefits if you are no longer able to work and support yourself because of your health.
Following the Rules of Insurance
Any insurance policy will expire if you stop paying the premiums. SSDI is paid for by the Social Security taxes that are taken out of your work paycheck. If you stop working, you aren’t paying for that coverage and eventually your disability insurance expires.
However, SSDI coverage does not end immediately as you walk out the door on your last day of work There is a longer grace period where you can maintain insurance coverage without being employed. For SSDI purposes, the last day you remain covered is called your Date Last Insured (DLI) and is critically important to your claim for disability benefits.
Why is the Date Last Insured (DLI) so Important?
To be approved for SSDI benefits, Social Security must find that you became disabled on or before your DLI. If your disability began after your DLI expired, you generally will not qualify for SSDI.
Your DLI is essentially the expiration date on your Social Security Disability Insurance.
How is the DLI calculated?
To remain insured for SSDI benefits, a worker must be employed more than a just few hours here and there, but working a full time job is also not required. So, if employment has not been consistent, how does the SSA figure out the DLI?
Look At Earnings History and Work Credits
The SSA breaks down your last 10 years into quarters (or three-month periods), ending on the last day of March, June, September, and December.
The SSA then reviews these 40 calendar quarters to see if you meet these requirements:
- You have worked for 5 out of the last 10 years (or 20 out of the last 40 quarters) before you became disabled.
- In each of those quarters, you have to have earned the minimum income set by SSA and paid Social Security taxes.
If you meet these requirements, you will receive a work credit for that quarter. You must earn 20 work credits out of the 40 quarter time periods to be considered insured.
Your DLI is the last day of the calendar quarter (last day of March, June, September, or December), in which you meet the requirements to receive a work credit.
Is An Expired DLI a Death Sentence For an SSDI Claim?
No! Even if your coverage has expired, your disability claim can still be approved if there is medical proof that you were disabled before your DLI.
Dating Medical Documentation
In any disability claim, there must be timely medical documentation to support that fact.
Social Security cannot assume that you were disabled before your DLI based solely on your current condition or what you say you could do as of your DLI. There must be medical records, testing, treatment notes, medical opinions, or other strong evidence showing that your impairments were severe enough to prevent full-time work before your insured status expired.
What About Medical Records Dated After The DLI?
Medical records created after your DLI may still be helpful if they support the conclusion that your disabling condition existed and was severe before your insured status expired and that you continue to meet the requirements to be found disabled. However, evidence showing that your condition became disabling only after DLI generally will not support an approval.
Did I Wait Too Long?
Unfortunately, many people wait years after stopping work to file for disability benefits. As a result, there may be very little medical evidence from the period before their DLI. When that happens, proving disability can be extremely difficult, even if the person is clearly disabled today.
In short, the key question is not whether you are disabled today. The key question is whether the medical evidence proves that you were disabled on or before your DLI.
Contact an Expert
If your DLI has passed or you need assistance establishing your onset date, reach out to Disability Advocates for personalized guidance.