There are many people here in the Mobile area who receive Social Security Disability benefits for a disabling injury or illness. Many of these people also receive financial benefits from other sources such as the state’s workers’ compensation program and other state-funded benefits or from private sources such as personal insurance or private pension schemes.
Usually, benefits from private sources do not affect the SSD benefits. In addition, there are certain other public benefits, such as benefits provided by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and Supplemental Security Income, which do not affect SSD benefits. Also, if Social Security taxes are deducted from the earnings, SSD benefits are not affected by any state and local government benefits.
However, state-funded workers’ compensation benefits or disability benefits can cause the SSD benefits to reduce. Some examples include benefits that are paid for by federal, state or local governments for medical conditions that are not related to employment-linked injuries or illnesses. In such cases, the Social Security Administration reduces the SSD benefits based on certain rules.
Per those rules, the aggregate of all state-funded benefits cannot be more than 80 percent of the average current earnings of the recipient prior to becoming disabled. If all government benefits, taken together, are more than the 80-percent amount, the SSA reduces the SSD benefits of that individual by the amount which is in excess of that threshold. This reduction continues until the age of 65 years or until the other benefits stop, whichever is earlier. SSD benefits can also be affected if anyone receives any other lump-sum disability payment in addition to or instead of monthly payments.
Therefore, if your SSD benefits were reduced recently or if you just wish to understand clearly how your SSD benefits can be affected by the other disability payments that you may be receiving, you may either get in touch with the Social Security Administration directly or seek guidance from legal professionals.