The Social Security Disability Insurance program is like other disability insurance plans. It includes premiums and insurance coverage. With SSDI, your “premiums” are paid by previous payroll deductions made to Social Security.
There are two requirements to qualify for SSDI. The first is being fully insured, meaning you’ve paid enough into the system to qualify for taking out of it.
The second is being disabled, which in SSDI terms means having a medical impairment that prevents you from working for at least 12 months and/or is likely to result in death. SSDI requires that you be unable to perform your past work or any other work. And, unlike other disability programs available, it’s 100 percent or nothing. You have to be completely unable to perform any job that you qualify for in order to be found disabled by the Social Security Administration for this disability program.
