How Much Disability Can You Receive?
Brian O Sutter
Personal Injury
The amount of social security disability you can receive depends on a number of factors. First you must prove that you qualify for disability. Then the Social Security Administration (SSA) will take into account the severity of the injury or illness, the length of the injury or illness, and your current and past earnings. Though there is no set standard amount of disability a person can receive, there are some standard factors in how the amount of your benefits will be estimated.
How Disability Benefits Are Calculated
Benefits are calculated by the SSA through a combination of your average indexed monthly earnings (AIME) and the primary insurance amount (PIA). To determine your AIME the SSA will look at your past earnings up to 35 years, current earnings, and project your potential future earnings. Then they take the years with the highest indexed earnings added together and divided by the total number of months. That average is then rounded down to determine your AIME. The SSA has provided a chart so you can better understand the math behind AIME you can read on their website: https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/ProgData/retirebenefit1.html. The PIA is the benefits you will receive at normal retirement age. To determine the PIA, the SSA uses the fixed percentages of your AIME.Benefits Based On The Type Of Disability
Another factor in the amount of your disability benefits is the type of disability you receive. There are four types of disability and each has different benefit allocations including:- Temporary Partial Disability: With a temporary partial disability you will typically receive a supplementary income of ⅔ of your AIME you have lost as a result of the injury until you can return to work.
- Temporary Total Disability: With a temporary total disability you will receive a bi-monthly check of ⅔ of your AIME until you can return to work.
- Permanent Total Disability: With a permanent total disability you will get a bi-monthly check for ⅔ of your income for the rest of your life.
- Permanent Partial Disability: With permanent partial disability there are two determinations for benefits: Schedule and non-schedule loss of use. Schedule covers the loss of body parts, while non-schedule covers all other injuries. For schedule of loss of use, compensation is fixed by the SSA to a certain number of weeks depending on the body part. For non-schedule, the benefits are based on AIME.