SSI

Can one apply for SSI while waiting for the SSDI decision?

I would not bother; they first test to see if you are eligible for either so get an indication you have passed that eligibility test first and then apply for the other if you wish. Having multiple applications in the system, if they allow it, could confuse things and slow them down.

I am applying for SSDI. As of mid-May, I will have no income whatsoever and I have no assets. I was told by my law firm to start the paperwork to apply for SSI.

They tell me that I am so low in income and assets that I will be classified as "in dire need." My chances of getting SSI will be IMPROVED by the very fact that I have an application for SSDI in the works.

Being poor does not get you SSI. You have to be poor AND over age 65, or poor AND disabled. While my application for SSDI is in the process, which can be lengthy, there is a presumption that I may indeed be disabled. I am age 59, and thereby too young to get SSI just for being old and poor. But I am in the other category by virtue of my having applied for SSDI. It's not guaranteed. The people at SSI can say "We don't believe you are disabled." But, from what I read and am told, they are not real likely to do that. Also they don't require the level of proof that SSDI requires.

So I have been told lawyer after lawyer, and I asked more than one or two, that I should be applying for both. In fact, the law firm starts the ball rolling on both.

Also, many states provide a couple of hundred bucks that they give to poor persons based on the fact that they are applying for SSDI. My state will automatically give me this money once my claim is securely in the works. (I have some stuff left to sign to get there.) Hopefully, I will get SSI and the money from my state and Section 8 housing.

If SSI were not available to people pursuing SSDI, many of us would be in the streets waiting for SSDI. That's why, if you are poor enough (income below six or seven hundred dollars per month), you absolutely should apply for SSI - IMO.

If I get turned down from SSI, I will literally face homelessness. The system fully expects that poor people claiming disability from earning a livelihood will be filling for SSI. It can take quite awhile for SSDI to get approved. SSI can kick in much quicker.

If you do get approved for SSDI and it gives you an income of more than 700 dollars per month, then once the SSDI kicks in, the SSI will kick out. You can't collect SSI, if your income from any source including SSDI is above a certain amount, which I think is about 6 or 7 hundred dollars. If your SSDI is so low that it is below that, then you can get your SSDI plus some portion of SSI. Every lawyer I talked to said they would automatically apply for both, on my behalf, from the get go. That's what my law firm and I are doing at this time. I hope the SSI will kick in by June or July, and I expect it will because there is not the same burden of proof required before the checks can be issued.

I am sorry to dispute the reply above my own, but I am going by fresh advice from law firms and my own reading of current material.

There is no confusion caused by having both applications in the system at the same time. Just remember that getting SSDI has nothing to do with how poor you are. There are millionaires getting SSDI. On the other hand, SSI is given ONLY to the poor who are either elderly or reasonably presumed to be disabled. That presumption is sometimes based simply on the fact that you have filed a claim for SSDI and there is some evidence that you are being treated for what may prove a disabling illness. SSDI requires much more proof.

If I'm off base, please, anyone, let me know, cause this impacts me personally. Also, if what I say sounds unlikely, just google "criteria for getting SSI."

Being broke is when to file SSI. If you have ANY money over $2000, don't bother. If you get SSI you automatically get Medicare. If you are only approved for SSDI, you have a 2 year wait for Medicare. Make sense, no.
If you get sick, I wish you / me lots of luck.

Please disregard my post above, as I found out I really was way wrong on a lot of what I thought.

Psych Central Social Security Disability forum:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum28.html