COPD & Emphysema Support Group
COPD is a progressive disease characterized by airflow obstruction or limitation. Emphysema is characterized by loss of elasticity of the lung tissue, destruction of structures supporting the alveoli and of capillaries feeding the alveoli. Both have symptoms that include shortness of breath, among other respiratory troubles. If you are a COPD or Emphysema sufferer, join...
if im retired and on social security am i considerd disabled now that ihavecopd?
Buickoreo, as usual Jim is right
Hugs
I did some research and found these two interesting articles:
Q: I have a 40-year-old friend who is getting Social Security disability benefits. I know that she was averaging only about $20,000 per year while she was working. And she told me she is getting $1,600 per month from Social Security. I am 63 years old and I get about $1,400 per month in Social Security retirement benefits. I worked all my life, and when I retired, I was making about $30,000 per year.
Why is my friend getting more than I am from Social Security, even though I made more money and paid Social Security taxes for many more years than she did?
A: It really doesn't seem fair, does it? But it all has to do with how Social Security benefits are figured.
A Social Security benefit is intended to replace a portion of a person's average earnings during his or her working lifetime. Although you were making more than she was at the time you both stopped working, your friend's average earnings during her shorter working life were probably greater than your average earnings during your longer working career. Does that make sense? If it doesn't, maybe a look at some actual numbers will help.
Your Social Security benefit was based on your average wage during your highest 35 years of work. (And that formula applies to all retirees.) For most people, their highest 35 years of earnings were their last 35 years. Let's say you retired in 2010. That means your Social Security benefit was based on your earnings between 1975 and 2010. I've got a hunch that back in the 1970s, you were selling fries at McDonald's (or some similar job) making minimum wage. Factoring in all those low-earning years from more than three decades ago, your overall average lifetime wage will be reduced, which in turn lowers your Social Security benefit.
On the other hand, your disabled friend's Social Security benefit was based on fewer years of earnings. The formula is complicated, and I won't get into it here. But assuming she started getting benefits last year, my guess is that they went back about 15 years to figure her disability payment. That means they based that payment on her earnings between 1995 and 2010. And it is likely that her average wage between 1995 and 2010 is greater than your average wage between 1975 and 2010. So, that's one reason her Social Security benefit is higher than yours.
The other reason is that she is receiving a full payment while yours is reduced.
Social Security disability benefits are always paid at the full (100 percent) rate. But your retirement benefit was reduced about one-half of 1 percent for each month you started those payments before age 66.
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Generally, one cannot receive Social Security retirement and disability benefits at the same time. (There is a limited exception, discussed below.) Social Security retirement benefits and Social Security disability benefits serve the same purpose: to provide some financial security when someone can no longer work. Disability benefits may be thought of as early retirement benefits. They are provided when people become disabled before they reach retirement age. When retirement age is reached, the disability benefits are converted into retirement benefits.
Early retirement exception
The one exception is if someone takes advantage of early, reduced retirement benefits, which can be done at age 62, and then is approved for disability benefits. If the disability is found to have started before the person began receiving early retirement benefits, then the person will be eligible for retroactive payments equal to the difference between the full benefit amount and the amount he or she was receiving as an early retirement benefit. Also, the person will receive the full retirement benefit amount upon reaching full retirement age, because he or she should have been receiving disability benefits rather than taking early retirement.
Also, if the disability is found to have started before the person began receiving early retirement benefits, then the person will benefit from a disability freeze. Retirement benefits are calculated based on earnings, and a period of low or no earnings would normally reduce the benefit amount. However, if a person was not working because he or she was disabled, then a disability freeze applies and the period with low or no earnings will not reduce the benefit amount. To take advantage of the disability freeze, it is necessary to apply before one year after reaching full retirement age.
However, if the disability is found to have started after the person began receiving early retirement benefits, then there are no retroactive benefits and no disability freeze. Instead, during the period between when the disability began and full retirement age, the person will receive his or her full disability benefit amount. Upon reaching full retirement age, the retirement benefit amount will still be reduced based on the number of months the person received early retirement benefits.
If you are getting SSI because you've reached "official" retirement age (as opposed to taking it early), you cannot get SSDI. Unless I'm mis-remembering, my understanding also is that if you are getting SSDI, when you reach retirement age it changes to regular SS anyway.
My benefits were several hundred dollars larger each month because I also took early Social Security at age 62.