Reinstatement of Social Security Disability Benefits

There are various ways you can lose your Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. The most obvious way, of course, is by recovering your health and going back to work. The Social Security Administration offers these incentives to help make this happy ending a likelihood:

Trial Work Period

During a trial work period, you are allowed to test your ability to work for at least nine months. These nine months do not have to be consecutive, and can be any nine months within a 60-month period.
Any month in which you earn more than $720 is considered a trial work month. Regardless of how much you earn, you can continue to receive your full disability benefits during this period as long as you are working while disabled.

Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE)

After your trial work period ends, there is a 36-month period in which you can work and still receive disability benefits for any month your earnings fall below the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) amount. During this period you will not receive disability benefits for any months in which you earn more than $1010 ($1690 if you are blind).

If your gross earnings exceed the SGA amount during any month of your Extended Period of Eligibility, you will enter a three-month grace period. During this grace period you will continue receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments regardless of your earnings. After the grace period ends you will not receive SSDI payments for any months in which your earnings reach the SGA amount. If your earnings remain below the SGA amount, your SSDI payments will resume, but if your earnings remain at the SGA amount or above, you will no longer be eligible for SSDI benefits.

If, during the next five years, your condition makes it impossible for you to continue working, you will not have to file a new SSDI application.

Expedited reinstatement of benefits allows you to ask the SSA to resume your benefits immediately, and you will not be required to file a new disability application or to wait for your benefits to start while your medical condition is being reviewed.  Some people lose SSDI benefits for reasons they could easily have avoided.

You can lose SSDI benefits for reasons including:

  • Failure to respond to the periodic reviews that the Social Security Administration makes to determine if you remain disabled
  • Failure to submit updated records or to follow other instructions as required by the SSA
  • Failure to advise the SSA of any change of address or incarceration in prison
  • Failure to advise the SSA if you are receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
  • Failure to notify the SSA of any increase in household income
  • Regardless of how lose your benefits, you can always reapply for SSDI, and you retain every right of appeal.

Making an informed decision is always the best thing you can do. If you would like to know more about your SSDI options, click here for a free SSDI evaluation to help determine where you stand. If you have any further questions about Social Security Disability, a qualified MedicareMall agent will be happy to answer them. We’ll also be glad to answer any questions you may have about Medicare Part A, Medicare Part B, Medicare Advantage, or Medigap plans.

Contact MedicareMall now and we’ll make it our priority to help you make the best-informed decisions possible.

Social Security Disability Conditions
Back to top