Individuals who receive disability benefits from the Social Security Administration generally must have worked for a certain number of years prior to their disability prior to qualifying for access to such support. During the period in which they work credits are earned toward receiving benefits from the Social Security Administration and may be applied toward their disability benefits when they are unable to work. In most cases, a person’s work history is used to assess just how much they may receive in support in the form of disability benefits.
Imagine that an Oklahoma worker had twelve years of work history that counted as credits toward later receiving disability benefits. If they then suffered a disabling injury and could not work, then they may seek to collect benefits, but their years of qualifying work would cease to grow. In fact, if the Social Security Administration continued to count years out of work on account of disability against years of qualifying work, then a disability benefit recipient would later find himself or herself no longer eligible to receive q benefits.
Fortunately, a disability freeze stops the Social Security Administration from counting years of disability against an individual’s work history when it comes to determining whether that individual qualifies for benefits. This allows workers to retain access to disability support even if their disabilities keep them out of work longer than they were able to hold down jobs.
The disability freeze can help a person retain or qualify for Social Security disability benefits, and it may help them extend the duration during which those benefits are received. To learn more about this and other important topics relevant to this area of the law, readers are encouraged to speak with their disability benefits attorneys.