Milford chronicle., 1957-03-15
If You Become Disabled

Since Congress amended the So
cial security law last summer to
provide disability insurance pay
ments, our Office has had many
Inquiries from people past so who
considered themselves eligible for
monthly disability payments. Many
Of these people who were totally
disabled still couldn't qualify for
payments. They had not worked
long enough TO meet the work re-
iuirements of the law.
To qualify for disability insur-
ance benefits at age so you must
lave worked in employment or self
employment covered by the law for
L certain amount of time. You must
have had at least years of work
hat counts towards social security
n the 10 years before your dis
ability began. At least 11a years of
hat work must have been in the
hree years just before the begin
hing date of your disability.
If you have been disabled for
long time, say before 1856, be sure
to make an application to establish
disability before June 80 of this
year. An application made before
the end of June, if it is approved,
will freeze" your social security
earnings record back to the time
your disability began, but not prior
o October 1941, the first time
person could meet the earnings
requirements. An application made
after June can freeze" your earn
ings record for only one year back
from the date the application is
made. This means that on an ap-
plication made before the close of
June we do not use any of the
months during your period of dis
ability when you had no earnings in
figuring your average monthly earn
ings upon which the amount of
your benefit payments is based. If
you applied after June, we would
have to use some of the months
when you had no earnings because
by law your period of disability
could begin only one year before
the application was made. 1t is
easy to see that delay in applying
in situation like this will lower
your average monthly earnings and
the amount of your benefits.
Ii you have been disabled for a
long time, failure to apply before
the end of June may mean COM
piete loss of your eligibility for dis
ability benefit payments. 1t would
work this way: suppose you were
disabled so that you could not work
at any time before January 1866
say March 1854 1t you delay an ap.
plication to establish your disabil-
ity until July 1857, the period Of
your disability by the terms of the
law must begin with July 1856. Re.
member, one requirement for eli
gibility for disability benefits is thai
you have 11a years of work in the
years just before the date youl
disability began, Figuring bacE
from the beginning date July 1856,
of your disability, in this case, yol
now have only q of year of worl
and therefore cannot be eligible fol
disability benefit payments.
If you have worked under socia
security and are disabled and i
you feel that your disability il
severe enough to meet tho require
ments of the social security law
get in touch with our district offic,
as soon as possible.
If you were disabled more thai
year ago, it is especially impor
tant for you to get in touch witt
us before the end of June. If yol
wait until later, it may be too Late
In my next article | shall discus
the Importance of the 'disabilit
freeze" to all disabled persons re
gardles of age and regardless O
their immediate right to disabiliti
insurance payments.
Dad ~ Io