If you are receiving SSI payments you know that your monthly check does not go very far. In 2022, the maximum an individual can receive from SSI is $841 per month. Obviously $841 per month does not go very far.

Do you have the option to “upgrade” to SSDI disability benefits?

Unfortunately the answer to this question is most likely “no.”

SSDI is only available if you have sufficient earnings credits based on past work you have done and taxes paid into the Social Security system. If you applied for and were awarded SSI in the past, that means that you met SSA’s definition of “disability” but that you did not have enough credits for SSDI.

Both SSI and SSDI use the same definition of disability – that being a person is disabled if he/she can no longer perform substantial gainful activity due to a medically determinable condition that has lasted or is expected to last 12 consecutive months or result in death. Continue reading →