What's the difference between SSI and SSDI?

I am confused.

I had a phone appointment with Social Security this morning, and was told that since 07/14 I have qualified for SSDI (instead of the SSI). I was told that I would still have MA, but there are benefits to me being on SSDI.

I tried to get my examiner to elaborate and explain what she was saying, but she could not put what she was saying in other terms.... and I am confused.

Apparently, I need to make more than $500/month for 8 months, ant then the SSDI will begin. What?? She also stated that my SSI would continue, along with the SSDI, but that it would be affected. What in the world are they trying to convey to me? It makes no sense to me. I cannot understand the benefit/s and I am worried that my SSI will end soon.

Can anyone help me interpret what this Social Security employee was trying to get across to me, please? In advance, thank you very much!

I think you were being told that you have been disabled for a required 'waiting period' and are now qualified to receive SSDI benefits. Apparently you've been receiving SSI benefits and will continue to do so while receiving additional benefits from SSDI. Hope this helps:

The difference between SSDI and SSI

SSDI is Social Security. SSI is not. SSI is supplemental help to disabled who do not meet the number of hours of work needed to qualify for Social Security. Sometimes though, the amount of Social Security one might qualify for, if one qualifies, is not as much as one might need to live on in your area (Social Security and how much one gets is standardized) so you also get the supplemental amount which can be standardized (it's passed out to states by the Feds) or your state might add to it for its citizens, etc. so the combination would be more than you'd get with just SSI. However, the tax status and extra benefits one is entitled to (Medicare versus Medicaid) might differ also. Apparently Minnesota has MSA?

DB101 Minnesota - Minnesota Supplemental Aid (MSA): The Basics

Are you sure you were talking to a Social Security person? If so and you don't understand, maybe calling or going in to see your State benefits person/department, maybe they can explain it better.

What Perna says is how I understand it as well.
Just to offer the same info but in a story form, I'll tell you what happened when I was on disability.

When I was on disability I had SSI and SSDI.
I had SSDI because I had worked enough quarters to qualify for Social Security.
But my SSDI benefits were less than my States SSI benefit so I also received an SSI benefit.
I received both benefits via direct deposit, they were deposited separately into my bank account.
After 2 years on disability I qualified for Medicare. Originally I had Medicaid. Because of my low income (actually no income but you can have some) I had Medi/Medi or both but my primary was Medicare. This was a good thing because Medicare is much better than Medicaid.

I'm not sure how they did the calculations but I received more in benefits (only about $20 but one could receive hundreds more a month) because I had SSDI. You won't receive less, hopefully more, maybe the same as SSI only.

This IS a good thing!!!

It really frustrates me how confusing gov stuff is, it seems unnecessarily confusing. You're not alone trying to decipher this wacky system. Sorry it's so stressful. I'm happy for you tho because SSDI is much better.

If it makes you feel any better, I have followed this thread and still don't understand it! lol I live in Ky and am on disability but Im not sure if I get SSDI or SSI.

I am disabled, but have been making it on SSI since
5 years (or so).

Here's my take, you were granted SSI because you were poor and disabled AND had not worked long enough to qualify for SSDI. (To get SSDI, you don't have to be poor. If he were too disabled to work, Brad Pitt could get SSDI. You just have to be too disabled to sustain "substantial gainful" employment, which means able to earn over $1,090 per month.) However, if you keep working and earning over $500 per month for another 8 months, you will finish earning the needed "work credits" to qualify for SSDI.

Once you get SSDI, you may or may not keep getting SSI. It all depends on the size of your SSDI check. If your SSDI check is just as big as the SSI check that you've been getting, then you won't be getting anymore SSI checks because the SSDI check will completely replace the SSI check. However, if the SSDI check is smaller than the SSI check that you were receiving, then you will still get an SSI check big enough to bring your income up to what it was when all you got was SSI.

The SSA employee has figured out that your earnings were small enough, or your time in the workforce has been small enough, that your SSDI check is going to be smaller than the SSI check that you've been getting. So you will get some continued SSI income, but it will be smaller than what you've been getting.

Your SSI will not end before you get SSDI. Once you get SSDI, your SSI check will be reduced, but not to zero because your SSDI will be relatively small (less than the federal and/or state feel that you can live on.)

BTW - what is "MA?"

SSI means "Supplemental Security Income." It is not a form of Social Security. The reason why it is administered by the Social Security Administration is because they are set up to evaluate for inability to work due to disability, or advanced age. SSI is a form of federal income support to the poor who cannot sustain "substantial gainful employment" because they are too disabled or too old. Each state can add to the SSI check if they want, just like some states add to the amount of food stamps that people get.

I think I understand what Perna is saying, but I'm not clear on it, so I'll put it in my own words: What you get from the federal government in SSDI or SSI has nothing to do with where you live. The SSA, which is federal, doesn't care whether you live in NYC or some town in Mississippi. Making the money go far enough is your problem, not theirs, which is why some people (like myself) choose to live in a part of the country where the cost of living is low. I grew up in a rich state, where all my family still are. I might like to go back there, but I have to consider that my SSDI check would get me a lot less bang for the buck there, than it does here in the Southwest.

However, rich states tend to add some money to the supplemental security income that the feds provide for poor elderly/disabled people (who are poor either because they get no SSDI, or because their SSDI is very small.) Also, the feds give more generous housing subsidies to poor people living in expensive parts of the country than in poorer parts. I get a housing subsidy. If I were to move back to the expensive state where I grew up, I would get a larger housing subsidy.

MA= Medical Assistance

Thank you very much for breaking that all down for easier understanding, Rose!

Medicare kicks in after you are age 65, OR 2 years after you start collecting SSDI, so you won't be getting that anytime real soon. Meanwhile, you will continue getting your healthcare as you've been doing, through your state's program for low income people.

When you do get Medicare - in two years - try to hold on to that state medical assistance program, if you possibly can. It's really great to have both. Right now local income support offices are quite confused about who can and who can't keep Medicaid (the state plan for healthcare.) Keeping Medicaid, which has it's own name in your state, covers you for things like dental and eyeglasses, which Medicare often doesn't cover, unless you get into certain plans. And, if you ever need home care, Medicaid can make that easier too.

Thanks a million! Really!!

I sort of think of SSI as I do minimum wage; some states use the default, Federal amount, and other states give a higher amount. The Feds give the States a default amount of money, based on the numbers of people in their state who qualify for SSI and, as Rose says, some "richer" states add money or programs to that. SSI is qualified for the exact same way as SSDI is as far as the disabled part goes, the Federal test qualifies someone for either or both. That's how the Feds know how much money to give the state, it's their test and their default money, it's just not funded by Social Security.

I have a different understanding of how SSI is administered. I have never heard that the feds give hunks of money to the states to pass out to those approved for SSI. There are SSA offices all over the country, and those are operated by the federal government (I think.) The SSA, as far as I know, send the SSI checks to individuals all over the country. If a state wants to add to that amount, it has two options. It can set up a system for sending it's own checks to citizens, or it can give the money to the feds who will distribute it on behalf of the state putting the money right into the SSI check. Here us a reference I found:

Who Administers the Supplement

The Social Security Administration administers the state supplement for some states. The states with Social Security-administered supplemental payments are: California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, and Vermont. You can see the state SSI supplemental amounts for these states on the SSA's website. In these states, your application for SSI is an application for the state supplement as well.

In states that administer their own supplement program, you have to file a supplemental application with the state agency. You can find the amount of the supplemental payment for all states in our state-by-state disability pages.

What Are State Supplemental Benefits for SSI Disability? | Disability Secrets

Ah, my mistake, Rose, thanks for catching it. I thought it was like Education, Highway, HUD or insurance money and the States got the money and passed it out but they only decide on their "extra" monies. Nice info: http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/ssi_sc/

Difference is how the two programs are financed, SSDI is funded by the Social Security taxes paid self-employed people. SSI, is financed by general revenues that the Treasury Department. Why the differences? The two programs were established at different times and under different circumstances.

SSDI is funded by a tax on wages of all working people whether they are employed by an employer or self-employed. It is not funded by taxing just the self-employed.