Social Security Disability Benefits - Eligibility Criteria

Social Security Disability Benefits are meant to help those who cannot fend for themselves. Some remain disabled throughout their lives forcing them to rely on external help permanently, but some more fortunate ones recover in the course of time and give up the free help.

An aspiring applicant should clearly understand what the rules say in evaluating disability. A visit to the doctor to get certified as an invalid person, either permanently or temporarily, sets the ball moving. The disability should hinder the applicant to take up any job and earn money. Disabilities can be of different and varied kinds. Not only physical weaknesses, but psychological disorders that hinder the earning capacity of a person make him eligible to apply for the grant.

The work or job history plays a big role in deciding his eligibility. In the United States, an applicant should have worked for at least five years of his last ten years of service, before he became incapacitated, in establishments which were paying social security taxes to the government. However, it is nowhere stipulated that those five years service should have been continuous.

The biggest requirement is a detailed medical report which should clearly state that the aspirant is having a physical or psychiatric complication which in turn prevents him or her from pursuing normal jobs and earn a living. If it is found that this weak state may not last for more than twelve months, the authorities will not consider the case on merit. For being eligible, the applicant should be found to be in an unfavorable physical or mental state of permanent nature or which may last for more than twelve months.

The job of finding out the medical status of the applicant is vested on the Disability Determination Services. Every state in the United States has such an agency. The disabled has to approach them to get oneself evaluated. The processing of an application usually takes more than three months. But the time taken and the cumbersome procedures are meant to cut out people seeking easy money by feigning disability. A responsible society need to have such strict rule interpretation and execution strategies. Otherwise it will be mayhem and free for all and resulting in the real weak getting ejected.

If you want to know more about Social Security Disability Benefits then feel free to visit http://www.disabilityappeal.com