Many individuals believe that social insurance through various government programs will provide for them and their families if they become disabled. Disability-Insurance.com believes that it is necessary for individuals to understand how social insurance may benefit them and to realize its limitations as well. Social insurance should not be regarded as a comprehensive disability insurance protection program. For many white-collar employees, business owners, professionals and executives, social insurance will not be adequate for their needs in the event they become disabled. Social insurance is not designed to maintain the lifestyle of a disabled worker, rather it is designed to help provide basic support for those who are unable to work and qualify for disability insurance benefits.

When thinking of social insurance providers that offer disability insurance, the most well-known program is offered through the Social Security Administration. Social Security disability benefits are restrictive and require the following conditions for individual to collect.

In general an individual must:*

1. be insured for disability insurance benefits;
2. be under the age of 65;
3. have a disability that is expected to result in death, or be expected to be disabled for at least 12 months, or have already been disabled for 12 months;
4. have completed the 5 month waiting period;
5. have applied for disability insurance benefits.

A disabled person's family may also be able to qualify for disability insurance benefits from Social Security if and when the individual becomes disabled and is himself (or herself) eligible for benefits.

Social Security may pay benefits to a disabled individual's family as follows:*

1. spouse at any age if such spouse is caring for the disabled individuals child or children who are under the age of 16 or if the spouse is disabled and also receiving benefits;
2. spouse whose age is 62 or older;
3. unmarried children including stepchildren and adopted children who are under the age of 18 or under the age of 19 if they are attending high school full-time;
4. an unmarried child or children aged 18 or older it is he or she has a disability that commenced prior to the age of 22 (the child's disability also must meet the definition of disability for adults).

A divorced spouse may be eligible to collect disability insurance benefits relating to an ex-spouse's disability, even if the disabled party is re-married. The ex-spouse needs to satisfy the following criteria to qualify for disability insurance benefits. He or she must have been married to the disabled party for at least 10 years, not currently be married, be at least 62 years old and not be eligible for a benefit for the same amount or more on his or her own Social Security record (or someone else's record).

Where a divorced spouse is eligible for Social Security disability insurance benefits on his or her former spouse's record, should the disabled party be re-married, his or her current spouse may still be eligible for disability insurance benefits that are unaffected by the former spouse's benefits.

In order to qualify for Social Security disability insurance benefits an individual must have worked for enough quarters covered by Social Security disability insurance benefits to satisfy either of the following work requirements:

1. If an individual is under the age of 24, he or she may qualify if they have 6 credits earned in the 3-year period ending when their disability started;
2. If an individual is between the ages of 24-31, he or she may qualify if they have credit for working half the time between age 21 and the time they became disabled. For example, if they became disabled at age 27, he or she would need credit for 3 years of work (12 credits) out of the past 6 years (between ages 21 and 27).

For ages 31-42, 20 credits are required. At age 44, 22 credits are required. Here is the chart from Social Security Online showing the number of credits necessary:

* Information taken from Disability Income Chapter 3-3, ©1998 The Life Underwriter Training Council, ISBN 1-58293-005-8.