Opinion ID: 4540321
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Conversion to Old-Age Benefits

Text: DIB and old-age benefits are authorized under Title II of the Social Security Act (Act), 42 U.S.C. §§ 401-434. They are funded by employment taxes and are administered through statutorily authorized trust funds. Eligibility for DIB or old-age benefits depends on insured status, which generally requires that the insured has paid into the Social Security fund for a designated period. See id. §§ 414, 423(a). In 1939, Congress established the “Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund,” which is used to provide old-age insurance benefits to qualifying recipients. Social Security Act Amendments of 1939, Pub. L. No. 76-379, § 201, 53 Stat. 1360, 1362; codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. § 401(a). By the 1950’s, Congress became concerned about disabled workers who were insured for old-age benefits under the Act but were no longer able to work and therefore faced “a period of destitution after the onset of their disability until they were eligible to receive old- 4 age benefits.” Sanchez v. Schweiker, 656 F.2d 966, 968 (5th Cir. 1981). To remedy this problem, “Congress expanded the Social Security program to provide [DIB] as an adjunct to old-age benefits.” Id. DIB funds provide “early eligibility for old-age benefits,” id., but are held in a separate fund known as the “Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund,” 42 U.S.C. § 401(b). When a disabled person reaches full retirement age, she is no longer eligible for DIB payments and instead becomes entitled to old-age benefits. See 42 U.S.C. § 423(a)(1)(B); 20 C.F.R. § 404.316(b)(2); Sanchez, 656 F.2d at 968 (“Because disability insurance was, in fact, early eligibility for old-age benefits, Congress provided that when the insured became eligible for old-age benefits his monthly disability benefits would cease.”). These benefits are then paid from the fund set aside for old-age benefits rather than the disability fund. In contrast to DIB and old-age benefits, SSI is authorized under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1381-1383f, and is funded from general tax revenues. SSI is a public assistance program that provides a benefit to the aged, blind, and disabled who meet certain income and resource requirements. It was designed to prevent the recipients from falling below the poverty line. See id. § 1382. An individual who is disabled and meets the requirements for both DIB and SSI may receive benefits from both programs. See 20 C.F.R. §§ 416.350, 416.420. As noted, Ms. Ford applied for both DIB and SSI benefits in 1990, but the SSA determined she was ineligible for SSI. The evidence she submitted to the Appeals 5 Council confirms that she has been receiving DIB, not SSI benefits, since 1990. See R. at 96-98, 100.1 She does not contest that she has reached her full retirement age. In light of the evidence, she fails to show that the agency erred as a legal matter by converting her DIB benefits to old-age benefits.2