Disability Insurance

Yes. If you exceed your maximum weekly unemployment amount in wages you will not get anything from the government. If for instance, your weekly benefit amount was $400 and you earned $200 from your part-time job, unemployment would pay you $200 and make up the difference.

My daughter is a hairdresser and she cut her hand today at home. Surgery is going to be on Tuesday. She is going to be out of work for 6-8 weeks. She only has medical insurance. Is there any disability insurance that she can collect under for the 6-8 weeks.

Short term disability replaces your income if you become injured or sick and can't work. The benefit period is limited to 3, 6, 12, or 24 months. The policy stops paying benefits if your disability lasts longer than the benefit period.

Yes. You and each qualified minor child will receive a separate check or direct deposit based on the number of months of back pay awarded multiplied by the monthly benefit amount. Your children's lump sum payments will be smaller than yours, but should be equal to each other unless one (or more) of your children was born during the settlement period. A child cannot receive back pay for any months awarded prior to his or her birth.

The Social Security Administration requires the representative payee to set up separate savings accounts for each child, showing the child as the owner of the account, to ensure the lump sum benefits are protected.

For more information, see Sources and Related Links, below.

It depends upon the elimination period in your policy. The elimination period is the length of time stated in the policy that you must be disabled before benefits begin being paid.

Sometimes the elimination period is shorter for accidents than for illnesses. You would also have to consider the reason for the surgery (was it brought on by an accident or sickness?).

A felon may receive SSDI benefits if he or she is not incarcerated for more than 30 days and has no outstanding warrants.

Social Security will not pay cash benefits to anyone living in a prison, jail, nursing home or other tax-supported facility; however, if the person remains eligible for disability under SSA guidelines, payments resume after release. Payees are not entitled to back benefits for the time spent incarcerated.

The U.S. Constitution specifies no minimum time of residence for members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

At the time a Representative is elected, he/she must be a resident of the state that includes the congressional district that elected him/her, and at the time a Representative takes office, he/she must have been a U.S. citizen for at least seven years. For example, someone who has been a U.S. citizen since birth but who has lived abroad since he was a baby would be eligible, as long as he lives in the state when elected and is at least 25 when he takes office.

Depending on your disability insurance policy, you can get disability benefits to age 65, 67, 70 or Lifetime. Some policies have limited benefits for 2, 5 or 10 years.

Check your schedule of benefits in your disability insurance policy, or contact an experienced agent who can find your best options available.

No, Social Security benefits continue unless you reenter the workforce and engage in Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA), which translates to earning more than an average of $1,000 per month for most disabilities or $1,640 per month for blindness.

If you remain unemployed or employed below the level of SGA, disability benefits automatically convert to retirement benefits when you reach full retirement age (for people born before 1943, age 65; for people born between 1943 and 1954, age 66). Your benefit amount will usually remain the same, except for standard cost of living adjustments (COLA), but there will no longer be a limit on the amount of income you can earn.

SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME (SSI) BENEFITS

the maximum Federal SSI benefit changes yearly.

SSI benefits will automatically increase in 2013 because there was an increase in the Consumer Price Index

Effective January 1, 2013, the Federal benefit rate is $710 for an individual .

Some States supplement SSI benefit with additional payment. total SSI benefit levels higher in those States.

SSI benefit amounts and State supplemental payment amounts vary based upon your income, living arrangements,

Alaska 1,036.00

California 866.40

Connecticut 842.00

Kentucky 846.00

New Jersy 824.05

Ohio 1,180.00

District of Columbia

$710.00

Vermont $762

The following States pay their own supplemental payments and you may contact the State for payment information.

Alabama 734.00

Alaska 1,036.00

Arizona NONE

Arkansas NONE

California 866.40

Colorado 699.00

Connecticut 842.00

Delaware 710.00

District of Columbia

Adult foster care home

1,159.00

Florida 752.40

Georgia ?

Hawaii 710.00

Idaho 727.00

Illinois ?

Indiana ?

Iowa 710.00

Kansas ?

Kentucky 846.00

Louisiana ?

Maine 684.00

Maryland 740.00

Massachusetts 788.39

Michigan 710.00

Minnesota 735.00

Missouri ?

Mississippi NONE

Montana 710.00

Nebraska 679.00

Nevada 710.40

New York 761.00

New Jersy 824.05

Montana 710

New Hampshire 688.00

New Mexico NONE

North Dakota NONE

North Carolina ?

Ohio 1,180.00

Oklahoma 716.00

Oregon ?

South Carolina NONE

South Dakota 689.00

Tennessee NONE

Texas NONE

Virginia ?

Washington 720.00

West Virginia ?

Wisconsin 757.78

Wyoming699.00

The states with Social Security-administered supplemental payments are:

Maximum payment for individual

living independently (2013)

State

It depends - on your short term disability elimination period.

If you live in a state with mandated coverage, check with your state's department of labor. If you have a private policy, see what elimination period you selected. The elimination period can be as short as 0 days for accidents, and 7 days for sickness, or as long as 3 months or more.

A cancer diagnosis makes it difficult but not impossible to get short term disability coverage. If you have been cancer free for 5 years you may qualify. Also, if your employer offers a short term disability option for the first time the offer may come with a guaranteed issue option based upon participation.

Yes, a widow or widower can draw reduced survivors' benefits at age 60, even if the spouse's source of income was SSDI. In order to receive the full amount, you would have to wait until normal retirement age (65 for people born before 1943; 66 for people born between 1943 and 1954) to file.

Yes, a person can collect California State disability payments if he or she is living in another state. A person's eligibility for California State disability benefits is determined by the amount of money that he or she contributed to the SDI while they were employed in California, not by the state that they are currently living in.

Yes, it is very common for disability insurance plans to include a clause for social security disability, meaning the insurance company will pay a portion of the monthly benefit, expecting that you would apply for social security benefits to pay for the "Supplemental Social Security benefits". In the event you get declined by Social Security, then the insurance company would cover the additional supplemental benefits.

Employer group plans as well as individual disability insurance plans can include that clause.

Unemployment insurance replaces your income if you lose your job.

Short term disability insurance protects your income if you become disabled, and are physically unable to work.

The two are mutually exclusive, unless your employer lays you off during your disability.

Your employer does not. Under a federal act known as COBRA (1985), you are entitled to continue your coverage through your employer's health insurance company at the full rate (your premium plus whatever your employer paid) or you may elect a lesser coverage plan under the same health provider, for up to 18 months (in most cases).

While there is an additional act known as ARRA (2009) in which the government provides some eligible individuals with up to 65% of their health insurance through COBRA, the ex-employee is fully responsible for the full cost of the insurance - the employer has no responsibility to pay.

No your social security benefits payments will be issued to you monthly. Unless you happen to qualify for some back payments then you could receive a lump sum to bring you up to the year that you started receiving your SSB amounts.

Yes, under certain circumstances. If you are the spouse or ex-spouse (married at least 10 years) of a worker who has earned at least 40 social security work credits, you would qualify for "spousal benefits" equaling 50% of your husband's or wife's retirement payment. You can only receive retirement benefits if you are at least 62 years old and your spouse has applied for his or her own benefits.

The widow, widower, or ex-spouse (if married at least 10 years) of a qualifying worker may receive survivors' benefits as early as age 60 for retirement, or age 50 for disability. You may collect benefits at any age if you are caring for the decedent's minor children under age 16.

If you don't qualify for regular Social Security benefits, you may be eligible to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) if you are at least 65 years old or disabled. SSI is means-tested assistance for people with no or low income and few assets.

For more information, see Sources and Related Links, below.

No, If you are on ssdi, it is a paid into program and there is no money cap. If you are on SSI then yes. To receive money in this program you must be both disabled and poor. Married persons income are looked at as one income. To receive SSI there must be 2,000 dollars or less in your bank account. Again SSDI will not be affected.

This is actually quite common. The FMLA provides 12 weeks of job protected leave, but applies only to employers with more than 50 employees. If your disability lasts beyond 12 weeks, or you work for a small employer you may legally lose your job. Several states have laws which fill in some of the holes in FMLA. Check your state rules where you work.