How to Qualify for SSD

SSD is the acronym for Social Security Disability. It is a government-run program that pays cash benefits to those people who qualify and apply for it. Many Americans are on SSD because they are no longer able to work due to a disability. There are three main qualifications to be able to apply for SSD. Once these qualifications are met, you must complete the application process. Once you are able to work again, your benefits will cease.

Instructions

• 1

  Work in jobs where you pay into Social Security. Whether it is through self-employment taxes or through a regular job, you must have some kind of job where contributions are made to Social Security using your Social Security number. The time you spend being paid cash "under the table," may seem to pay off now, but should you become disabled, you have fewer financial protections.

• 2

  Assess the level of the disability. The Social Security Administration defines disabled as "the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity." That word "any" has serious connotations in that the disability must prevent you from obtaining any substantial gainful work in the national economy. The location or availability of a position in the disabled person's area is irrelevant. If he can travel to the location and perform even the most menial of tasks, disability benefits may be denied.

• 3

  Check the Social Security Administration Blue Book. This book is divided into two parts, Part A is for adult-disabilities and Part B is for childhood disabilities. Check the section that describes the type of disability you have, whether it be of the musculoskeletal system, speech senses or respiratory system. If the condition you have is not listed in the Blue Book, it doesn't mean you won't qualify, it just means you will have to prove that your condition is equally severe to one of those listed. This is known as "medical equivalence."

• 4

  Wait for more than a year. If you have not been able to work for more than a year due to your disability, you will have to have been out of work for longer than a year or you will be denied and will have to reapply when the time period has passed.

• 5

  Obtain statement regarding disability and prescriptions needed from your physician. You will need it when you are in the application process.