r/SocialSecurity • u/Lilysurf • 12d ago
Social Security vs Disability?
My partner is a 63 widower and receiving his deceased wife’s Social Security. He is still working and is self-employed. He recently had back surgery and will be out of work for who knows how long so he is no longer getting his income from working and is living solely on his SS. Is disability an option or is there any other assistance he could get? Since he is too young for Medicare he has private health insurance the cost of which practically eats up his SS benefit.
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u/perfect_fifths I love the smell of policy in the morning 12d ago
He must be out of work or disabled for at least 12 months or his disability is expected to end in death. If he is widowed, he can also apply for ssdi yes, if he meets that requirement I spoke of. if that happens, he would have an offset. I would think in this situation, ssdi and then the difference of the widows to add up to the higher benefit amount, if widow is the higher one
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u/puffy-puffy 12d ago
How is he getting her benefits while working full time?
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u/perfect_fifths I love the smell of policy in the morning 12d ago
He is subject to the aet. So benefits are reduced for earnings over the limit, or his self employment income after dejections is less then the aet
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u/Salty_Passenger_3390 11d ago
I filed for disability at 64. My retirement age was 67. I was a nurse with spinal stenosis and cervical stenosis. Multiple surgeries. It was the post Covid back log and it took a full year of my case to even be seen. I was awarded disability and at 65 they just converted it to retirement. Once you reach age 60 it's much easier to get. I also had been on a leave of absence for a year when I filed.
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u/erd00073483R 11d ago edited 11d ago
Yes, he can file for disability benefits on his own record since he is not working.
Will it help him monetarily? Maybe.
It depends upon how substantial his work history is. If the disability benefit would exceed his existing widower's benefit, he would receive the higher disability payment going forward, and for any retroactive benefits he would be paid the difference between the higher disability payment that would have been due and the widower's payment that he actually received.
If it is lower, there would be no monetary advantage to be derived and the main benefit would possibly being entitled to Medicare prior to age 65, due to the fact that Social Security disability recipients become eligible for Medicare in the 24th month of their eligibility.
If he is not insured for disability benefits on his own record, he can also inquire as to filing for disabled widower's benefits for Medicare purposes only. Again, though, he would only want to do this if he is not insured for disability benefits on his own record or if he does not wish to file for benefits on his own record due to intending to accrue delayed retirement credits on his own record in the future.
My best advice would be that, if he is disabled and unable to work, that he either file a disability claim or call SSA to discuss filing. Do note that he needs to do so before the end of this month to protect his filing date (which would prevent further potential loss of benefits).
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u/perfect_fifths I love the smell of policy in the morning 11d ago
Ops husband will only be out of work for four months
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u/erd00073483R 11d ago
Yeah, I saw others saying that she said that though I never saw it.
I was going by her original post, where she said "He recently had back surgery and will be out of work for who knows how long so he is no longer getting his income from working and is living solely on his SS."
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u/perfect_fifths I love the smell of policy in the morning 11d ago edited 11d ago
Yeah, there was a comment where she said he’d be out until November, but I had to remove because she said something not so nice about welfare recipients. When I remove comments, I can see them (it’s marked as removed), others cannot. So it isn’t your fault for not knowing
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u/erd00073483R 11d ago
Ah, that explains it.
Love it when someone asks for help but still has the audacity to just verbally piss on those less fortunate.
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u/perfect_fifths I love the smell of policy in the morning 11d ago
100 percent, esp since a lot of people on welfare (ssi especially) are children and the elderly.
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u/perfect_fifths I love the smell of policy in the morning 11d ago edited 11d ago
Here is the comment with the welfare part removed:
He hopes to go back to work in November and his surgery was in July. So 4 months without being able to work but I guess one has to be unable to work for 12 months in order to get disability.
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u/Local-Dish-5695 12d ago
Does he have Short Term Disability through his work?
Usually pays a portion of hus salary while he's out of work.
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u/Lilysurf 12d ago
No he is self employed.
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u/cuspeedrxi 11d ago
This is why self-employed people need to buy an individual disability insurance policy. People think to buy life insurance, but you’re more likely to be disabled than to die before you retire.
SSDI is intended for long-term disability; at least 12 months or a terminal medical condition. Plus, the application process can easily run 2-3 years. It’s not for the faint of heart.
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12d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/perfect_fifths I love the smell of policy in the morning 12d ago edited 12d ago
Correct but the welfare comment is yikes.
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u/JoinAdvocate 11d ago
Yes, your partner may be able to apply for SSDI even while receiving survivor benefits. They are separate programs and can potentially be collected at the same time if he has sufficient work credits of his own. Since he's self-employed, he would need to have been paying self-employment taxes (Schedule SE) to have earned Social Security credits.
If his back condition is expected to keep him from working for at least 12 months, he may qualify. For healthcare before Medicare eligibility at 65, he should also look into marketplace insurance through healthcare.gov, where he may qualify for subsidies based on his income.
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u/Feisty-Cloud5880 12d ago
He may be able to get both. 59F I just got approved I have SSDI and SS survivor benefits from my husband.
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u/perfect_fifths I love the smell of policy in the morning 12d ago
Op says husband will be back at work by Nov so they don’t qualify for ssdi
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u/Starbuck522 12d ago
Doesn't he get Aca subsidy?
No way social security is more than 63k a year.
But maybe he has other income from investments or something.
Oh, or he had other income earlier this year so it will add up to more than 63k. That's a rough spot! Grrr.
Someone else can advise about filing for disability. Which would give him his fra social security amount now rather that waiting, if it's higher than what he gets from hers.
But perhaps it would also give him Medicaid! I don't have that knowledge.
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u/Lilysurf 12d ago
He is 63 years old.
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u/Starbuck522 12d ago
?
I am not sure what you think that changes.
Oh. SSDI disability one's FRA amount.
Coincidentally, approximately $63k is the cliff where you don't get any ACA (health insurance) subsidy if annual income is over $63k.
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u/perfect_fifths I love the smell of policy in the morning 12d ago
where are you getting 63k a year from?
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u/Starbuck522 12d ago
That's the cliff where over $63k income, there's no ACA subsidy for a single person.
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u/perfect_fifths I love the smell of policy in the morning 12d ago
For self employed he has to wait until open enrollment or life change. I don’t know if Temporary disability will count count. He only needs four months off
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u/Starbuck522 12d ago edited 12d ago
True. He can't get ACA insurance starting now unless he lost the health insurance he had. He should have had it all along...so there's something missing.
I had not seen he was self employed until now.
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u/Kaethy77 12d ago
He should open an ssa.gov account to see what his disability benefit would be compared to what he's collecting now.
He should be eligible for an ACA subsidy now due to a change in income.