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How Financial Relief from Social Security Disability Is Calculated
You were working hard and making plans for the future. Then an illness, injury, or a debilitating condition derailed your dreams. You can’t do your job and, suddenly, you don’t know how you’ll pay your bills.
It’s a gut check that can leave anyone feeling frustrated, hopeless and scared. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits exist to ease that strain. For many, it’s a financial lifeline.
You get two important forms of support with Social Security Disability:
- Monthly checks to help with your expenses
- Access to health care plans through Medicare or Medicaid
How much are the monthly disability checks?
It can vary a lot depending on how long you worked and paid taxes into the Social Security system and how much you earned.
You can’t expect disability income to completely replace your work income. It’s there to improve stability in your life by providing for essential needs.
Keep reading below for more on how much disability benefits pay in Washington State.
And for help getting benefits in the first place, talk to us at Bothwell & Hamill.
We’ve helped thousands of people win benefits for years in Yakima, Kennewick, Sunnyside, Spokane, Richland, Ellensburg, Wenatchee, Walla Walla and across Central Washington.
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How Much Does Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Pay?
Social Security runs two major disability benefits programs.
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is for people with substantial work records and payments into the system. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is for someone with limited financial means who isn’t required to have a work history.
For SSDI, those Social Security payments deducted from your paychecks when you worked are what give you coverage now that you’re facing a challenge continuing to work.
SSDI pays a different amount to each person depending on their own earnings background. To give you a general idea of how much SSDI pays:
- Average monthly SSDI payment for an individual worker in 2024: $1,537
- Maximum amount of SSDI a person could receive in 2024: $3,822
Few people, only the top lifetime earners, get the maximum amount in Social Security Disability benefits.
The benefits application process is daunting. Denials are common.
A lot of people choose to go it alone, but you can avoid mistakes by getting help from a disability lawyer. And it’s low-risk because you don’t pay a lawyer fee until you win benefits.
Start getting help building your best claim for benefits with a FREE CASE CONSULTATION from Bothwell & Hamill.
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How Much Does Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Pay?
Since SSI isn’t based on your record of working and paying into Social Security, the amount of the monthly benefits you could receive isn’t tailored to you, either. Instead the Social Security Administration (SSA) sets a standard SSI payment for everyone.
SSI pays less than the SSDI average. It helps with basic needs, nothing more. It’s still a great financial comfort for so many people who can’t work for a living.
These were the standard, national SSI monthly amounts as of 2024:
- $943 for an individual
- $1415 for a qualifying couple
But you still may not receive exactly those amounts from SSI.
Social Security subtracts your “countable income”—anything you can use each month for food and shelter that doesn’t fall under Social Security’s long list of exclusions—from that monthly amount. On average, recipients in Washington collect about $639 a month under SSI.
And then there’s the question of getting your health insurance. For some people, access to a health plan is just as valuable as the monthly checks from Social Security Disability.
SSI immediately qualifies you for Medicaid health coverage. SSDI gets you into Medicare after a waiting period—but long before you reach the usual retirement age for Medicare.
Dealing with serious health limitations and navigating Social Security are two challenges no one needs to go through alone.
Give Bothwell & Hamill a call today to get started toward greater peace of mind.
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