The government has really created two programs that people can qualify for.
And the reason for that is to qualify for SSDI, you really have to have been working and you have to have paid into the Social Security disability system. And so if you haven’t paid into the system and you haven’t earned enough work credits, you can still qualify for SSI. Now, the medical standard, interestingly, is exactly the same. So, you need the same type of disabling condition that would prevent somebody from working at all. The only difference between the two programs really is that one person maybe has never worked their entire life or has worked a very spotted amount of time and hasn’t earned enough credits into the Social Security system and the other person is working regularly. Also, the difference is income. The SSI system is really designed for someone who’s impoverished and doesn’t really have assets, doesn’t have a pension, doesn’t have any form of real income coming into their household. Whereas someone on SSDI could have been a police officer and completed employment and at 40 years old and is collecting a pension and then is going on to another job, working and paying into the social security system and becomes disabled and now he’s not capable of any form of gainful employment. he could still collect SSDI even though he’s receiving a pension because he’s just disabled and not capable of gainful employment. Whereas that would clearly uh disqualify someone on SSI because they have assets. So that’s the difference between the two.
