Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)

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Updated April 15, 2024
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
Overview
disabilities. Children of disabled workers generally qualify
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is part of the
for SSDI benefits if they are unmarried and (1) under age
Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI)
18, (2) age 18 to 19 and full-time students in grade 12 or
program, commonly known as Social Security. OASDI is a
below, or (3) age 18 or older and have qualifying
federal social insurance program that provides monthly
disabilities that began before age 22.
cash benefits to insured workers and their eligible family
members in the event of the worker’s retirement, disability,
Cash and Medical Benefits
or death. Workers obtain insurance protection by working
In February 2024, Social Security provided $11.8 billion in
for a sufficient period in jobs covered by Social Security
benefits to about 8.4 million SSDI beneficiaries, including
and its payroll tax. The program’s SSDI component
7.3 million disabled workers, 86,000 spouses of disabled
provides benefits to insured workers who are below full
workers, and 1.1 million children of disabled workers
retirement age and experience long-term, work-limiting
(Table 1). The average monthly SSDI benefit was about
disabilities (often referred to as disabled workers or SSDI
$1,537 for workers, $419 for spouses, and $493 for
worker beneficiaries). It also provides benefits to their
dependent children.
eligible spouses and children. The Social Security
Administration (SSA) administers OASDI.
Table 1. SSDI Beneficiaries, February 2024
Eligibility Requirements
Total
To qualify for SSDI, a worker must (1) be below Social
Number
Average
Monthly
Security’s full retirement age (FRA), which is 65-67,
(Thousands
Monthly
Benefits
depending on year of birth; (2) be insured in the event of
Beneficiary
)
Benefit
(Millions)
disability; (3) meet the statutory definition of disability; and
Total
8,445
$1,395
$11,781
(4) have filed an application for benefits.
Workers
7,303
$1,537
$11,224
To be insured in the event of disability, workers must have
Spouses
86
$419
$36
worked in Social Security–covered jobs for about a quarter
of their adult lives and for at least five of the 10 years
Children
1,056
$493
$521
before disability onset. However, younger workers may
Source: SSA, “Monthly Statistical Snapshot, February 2024,” Table 2.
qualify with less work experience based on their age. In
Notes: Components may not sum to totals due to rounding.
2023, about 160 million workers had sufficient work
experience to qualify for SSDI in the event of disability.
Workers’ initial SSDI benefits are based on their career-
average earnings in covered jobs, indexed to reflect changes
To meet the statutory definition of disability, a worker must
in national wage levels. The benefit formula is progressive,
be unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity
replacing a greater share of career-average earnings for
(SGA) due to any medically determinable physical or
low-wage workers than for high-wage workers. The benefit
mental impairment that (1) is expected to result in death or
for a spouse or child of an SSDI worker beneficiary is up to
(2) has lasted, or is expected to last, for at least 12
50% of the worker’s basic benefit amount. Following
consecutive months. SSA uses an earnings limit to
entitlement, SSDI benefits are generally adjusted each year
determine if a person’s work activity constitutes SGA,
to account for inflation through cost-of-living adjustments.
which for 2024 is $1,550 per month for most workers and
$2,590 per month for blind workers. These amounts are
SSDI dependent benefits are subject to family maximum
generally adjusted annually for average wage growth. In
provisions, which limit the total amount of benefits that can
general, workers must have severe impairments that prevent
be paid on a worker’s earnings record. SSDI benefits may
them from doing any substantial work that exists in
be offset if disabled workers also receive WC or certain
significant numbers in the national economy, taking into
other public disability benefits and the combined amount of
consideration their age, education, and work experience.
their SSDI and other disability benefits exceeds 80% of
The work need not exist in the immediate area in which the
their average current earnings before their disabilities
worker lives, nor must a specific job vacancy exist for the
began.
individual. Unlike workers’ compensation (WC) or
veterans’ disability compensation, SSDI does not pay
SSDI benefits begin five full consecutive months after a
benefits for partial or short-term disabilities.
worker’s disability onset date. This requirement is known
as the five-month waiting period and does not apply to
Spouses of disabled workers qualify for SSDI benefits if
workers with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Disabled
they are (1) age 62 or older, or (2) any age and care for
workers also qualify for Medicare after 24 months of
eligible children who are under age 16 or have qualifying
entitlement to SSDI (29 full consecutive months after their
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Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
disability onset dates). This requirement is known as the 24-
earnings up to an annual limit, which for 2024 is $168,600.
month waiting period and does not apply to disabled
The trust funds also receive income from the taxation of a
workers ages 65 to FRA or to workers below age 65 who
portion of some Social Security benefits and from interest
have ALS or end-stage renal disease.
earned on U.S. securities credited to the trust funds for
years in which total income exceeded total cost.
Termination of Benefits
In 2023, total Social Security trust fund income was $1.351
In general, SSDI benefits continue until a worker (1) dies,
trillion, with about $184 billion (or 14%) credited to the DI
(2) attains FRA, (3) medically improves, or (4) returns to
Trust Fund. That same year, total trust fund cost was $1.392
work (i.e., earns above the SGA limit). Most disabled
trillion, with $155 billion (or 11%) debited from the DI
workers who leave the SSDI rolls do so because they attain
Trust Fund. The trust funds held a combined $2.788 trillion
FRA. Disabled workers who attain FRA are transitioned
in asset reserves at the end of 2023, with $147 billion (or
automatically from SSDI to OASI; however, this change
5%) credited to the DI Trust Fund. The Social Security
generally does not affect the amount of Social Security
trustees project that the trust funds on a hypothetical
benefits paid to them or their dependents.
combined basis will be able to pay benefits in full and on
Working While on SSDI
time until 2034. Individually, the OASI Trust Fund reserves
are projected to be depleted in 2033, while the DI Trust
SSDI worker beneficiaries are generally afforded a trial
Fund is projected to have sufficient income and reserves to
work period (TWP), which allows them to test their ability
pay benefits in full and on time through at least 2097.
to work for up to nine months (not necessarily consecutive)
within a rolling 60-month period without having their
Characteristics of Disabled Workers
benefits suspended or terminated. During the TWP, SSDI
SSDI provides benefits primarily to older workers. In
worker beneficiaries may earn any amount and receive full
December 2022, about 79% of disabled workers were ages
benefits, even if their earnings exceed the SGA limit. In
50 to FRA. The most common diagnostic group for
2024, any month in which a worker’s earnings exceed
disabled workers ages 50 to FRA was musculoskeletal
$1,110 is counted toward the cumulative nine-month TWP.
disorders, while the most common diagnostic group for
This amount is adjusted annually for average wage growth.
those below age 50 was mental disorders (Figure 1).
Disabled workers who exhaust the TWP enter an extended
Figure 1. SSDI Worker Beneficiaries, by Diagnostic
period of eligibility (EPE), during which they can continue
Group and Age Group, December 2022
to receive benefits for months in which their earnings are at
or below the SGA limit. During the first 36 months of the
EPE, known as the reentitlement period, benefits are
effectively suspended for months in which earnings exceed
the SGA limit. SSDI worker beneficiaries who earn above
the SGA limit after the 36-month reentitlement period are
considered no longer disabled, and their benefits are
terminated. Under a three-month grace period, benefits are
paid for the first month in which earnings exceed the SGA
limit during the EPE and the next two months. Disabled
workers who are terminated due to earnings above SGA but
continue to have qualifying impairments retain Medicare
coverage for at least 57 months following the end of the 36-
month reentitlement period (93 months after the TWP).
Program Integrity
SSA periodically reevaluates the medical status of SSDI
worker beneficiaries by conducting continuing disability
reviews (CDRs). Workers with impairments that may

improve are scheduled for CDRs at least once every three
Source: SSA, Annual Statistical Report on the Social Security Disability
years, and those with the most severe impairments are
Insurance Program, 2022, Table 24.
scheduled for CDRs at least once every five to seven years.
Notes: “Nervous System” includes sense organ diseases;
SSA also performs work CDRs to determine if SSDI worker
“Musculoskeletal Disorders” includes connective tissue diseases.
beneficiaries are earning above the SGA limit and if their
benefit entitlement should continue.
For more information on SSDI, see CRS Report R44948,
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and
Financing
Supplemental Security Income (SSI): Eligibility, Benefits,
Social Security benefits and administrative costs are
and Financing.
financed primarily by payroll taxes levied on covered
workers’ earnings, which are credited to the Disability
William R. Morton, Analyst in Income Security
Insurance (DI) and Old-Age and Survivors (OASI) Trust
Emma K. Tatem, Analyst in Social Policy
Funds. The total Social Security payroll tax rate is 12.4% of
a worker’s earnings: 1.8% for the DI Trust Fund and 10.6%
IF10506
for the OASI Trust Fund. The payroll tax is levied on
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Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)

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