WHEN DOES SOCIAL SECURITY ELIGIBILITY END?

Like all other insurance programs, there is a date when your Social Security disability insurance expires.  You must prove to Social Security that your claim (disability) began before the insurance ended.

With SSDI, that expiration date is based on your work history.  This is called the Date Last Insured or DLI.  As a rule of thumb, you must have worked at least 5 out of the last 10 years to have a DLI that has not yet expired.  Since you can earn a maximum of 4 quarters of work coverage each year, 5 years of maximum work would earn 20 quarters of coverage.  The specific number of work credits required varies by age.  In short, you must have contributed to the Social Security trust fund through FICA payroll deductions to be covered.

A DLI in the past, known as a "remote DLI" can make your claim difficult to win.  This is because Social Security can only consider medical evidence prior to that date.  For example, if your DLI was 12/31/16, medical evidence after that date does not count.  If you are diagnosed with a new medical condition after your DLI, Social Security will not count it as evidence.

It is important to apply for SSDI benefits as soon as you feel you are unable to work a full-time job.  Delaying your application will only make the claim more difficult to win.  

While I'm here, let me state the basic rules to get SSDI benefits:

• Not currently working at substantial gainful activity.
• Have a severe medical impairment that has lasted, or is expected to last, for 12 straight months.
• Not able to work a full-time job now due to this impairment

Medical evidence is the key to being approved.  Social Security will require objective medical evidence of your impairment:  the nature of your impairment, when it began, its severity and how it limits your ability to do work-like activity.
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Charles W. Forsythe
THE FORSYTHE FIRM
7027 Old Madison Pike - Suite 109
Huntsville, AL 35806

CALL (256) 799-0297

SOCIAL SECURITY JUSTICE - OUR WEBSITE