SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY CASES EXPLAINED

Social Security Disability cases require an experienced, established legal partner like Abrams Landau. We'd be happy to give you our initial thoughts on if you have a case. You can also review some of the fundamentals of Social Security Disability Law.

Social Security Disability cases usually involve claims by workers who have, or expect to be disabled for 12 months or more or have fatal conditions. To qualify, their disability must be substantial and keep them from not only being able to perform their current and past jobs, but essentially ALL jobs that exist in the national economy.

CONSIDER...

1. Negligence claims with serious, permanent, long term injuries can develop into Social Security Disability Income claims.
2. Personal Injury / Negligence claims that are Workers Compensation claims with chronic injuries can become Social Security Disability Income claims.

Comparison Chart for Different Claims

Workers Compensation	Personal Injury	Social Security Disability
Past Medical benefits	Past AND Future Medical Benefits	Only future medical benefits
66% of past weekly wage and no benefits	100% average weekly wage and benefits (all sources)	80% of earnings (all reported sources)
Mileage, Prescriptions, etc.	Mileage, Prescriptions, etc.	Prescription card
None	Pain, suffering, emotional distress	Medical coverage for all ailments and family coverage

More Differences between Workers Compensation and Social Security Disability:

1. Social Security wage loss benefits based upon past earnings from ALL sources, and medical benefits cover ALL maladies.
2. Workers Compensation Act was designed to be a "no-fault" medical bill payment and partial wage replacement system only.
3. As with many STD and LTD plans, Workers Comp requires disability from "own occupation" (and covers only medical care resulting from the work related injuries) and SSDI requires total disability from "any occupation" (and covers all ailments).