What onset date should you use for your Social Security disability claim? Choosing the earliest possible onset date can benefit you in many ways – you may qualify for additional months of past due benefits – which can put hundreds or thousands of dollars in your pocket.

The earlier your onset date, the earlier you qualify for Medicare. When you are awarded SSDI, you become eligible for Medicare two years after the date you first become eligible for disability payment. So choosing an earlier onset date can qualify you for Medicare that much earlier.

In some cases, an early onset date can qualify you for SSDI when at first glance you only qualified for SSI. Remember that to qualify for SSDI, your disability must begin – your onset date – before your date last insured for SSDI. So an earlier onset date may put you back into SSDI status.

A common problem I see happens when a claimant confuses his last day of employment with the date he became unable to work. I have had clients who stopped coming to work on, for example, May 1 but they were not formally terminated from employment until August 15. In such a case, May 1 is the appropriate onset date.

I have even represented clients who were able to prove an onset date prior to the date they stopped coming to work. It doesn’t happen often but sometimes a long time, well liked employee may be allowed to stay on the payroll at full salary for several months even when he is not able to do any work. In such a case, the onset date would be the last date that employee was physically or mentally able to actually perform basic work activities.

I have also had claimants tell me that “the lady at Social Security” told them to use their date of application or some other date. It is not a good idea to take advice from such a person. Don’t be confused – your onset date should be the last date you were able to reliably perform any type of work 8 hours a day, 5 days per week.

While you can change your onset date to move it back in time, doing so can be difficult as your case progresses. Social Security adjudicators request records based on the date you allege as your onset date. If you come to a hearing and say “I was actually not able to work 2 years prior to the date I put on my application” the judge may very well send your case back to the state agency adjudicator to update the medical record, and delay a final decision in your case.

I hope you can see that your choice of an onset date is important and can affect the money you receive, your eligibility for Medicare and the time frame for a decision in your case. If you are not sure about what date to choose, please ask us – we’re happy to help you.