How should you prepare for a Continuing Disability Review (CDR) or notice of proposed termination? It depends on how vulnerable you are to losing. I received the following question from one of my readers:
I received a letter from SSA saying that they are reviewing my current SSDI benefit and possible to end my benefits due to substantial work between 2004 and now. I would like to have your advisement how I should handle this and what options I can do to keep my SSDI benefits. I only have Medicare insurance and living with AIDS. Also, I am deaf.
My response: Social Security is saying that you engaged in “substantial activity” from 2004 to the present. “Substantial activity” is a term of art and refers to activity that is work or work like activity. Substantial activity can be work for pay, volunteer work, school or other similar activites.
In a CDR context, Social Security is most likely looking at your earnings record. As you know, when you work your employer files copies of all W-2’s and 1099’s generated on behalf of employees. If you were working and your employer was withholding taxes as the law requires there is a written record of your earnings.
I have posted a table on this blog setting out what you can earn and still fall below SGA (substantial gainful activity). Social Security will look at your earnings month by month to calculate how many months you exceeded SGA. You could, in theory, could be asked to repay SSA for each month that you received earnings over SGA and also collected SSDI.
Note that a couple of other concepts apply hear. After you are deemed disabled, you are eligible for a trial work period of 9 months in which you can earn over SGA but still receive full benefits. Beyond that, you are placed into an extended period of eligibility (EPE) for disability for an additional 36 months. While in your EPE, you will be paid for months where you were under SGA and not paid for months over. So, your overpayment problem will reflect amounts paid to you during your EPE in months when you were over SGA.
If you take the position that you were not actually performing work at SGA level despite payment at or over SGA amounts, you will need to put on evidence to convince a judge that your benefits should not be terminated. This evidence can include your testimony, testimony from any employer and medical evidence. For example, if a relative gave you a “job” for the purpose of supporting you and getting a tax deduction and building up your Social Security account, and you were not doing anything of value you might have an argument.
I was getting a ssI check and it was terminated do to my work incame and now I have a child who is sick he have seizures thay what pay my child do to my income and his dad income my son who need help. he ant but two year old what do I need to do about this please help on this
Jonathan,
Here I am with my funny name again. I know I’ve written to you before, but something new has come up. I was granted SSDI after an appeal in 2004, and have worked on and off since then. I have repaid about $10,000 in overpayments, and am currently repaying $18,000 more. My question is this: My EPE ended in June of this year, and the same month I took a 6-month contract programming job. I know that if I want continued benefits I have to apply for reinstatement. If I do so, do you know whether the decision will be made on the basic of my health (which has not improved), or on my work history since 2004, or both? Thank you again for your time.
I’ve been on SSDI since 1992 with HIV. No CDR until 2002, which was followed by start of full medical review. After I completed medical review forms (still in 2002), I received letter from local soc. sec. office apologizing for putting me through all those forms… stating they had just learned people determined disabled with HIV after 1991 are not subject to CDR’s and medical reviews. The letter said I would not be receiving any more reviews. Nine years later, and living in a different state the past 7, still no CDR’s. I’m 57 now with 18 years on SSDI with HIV/AIDS. Is the policy they informed me of in 2002 still in effect? I’m worried because I just obtained a copy of my medical record. Despite there’s plenty of medical documentation as to my continued disability, an inept VA social worker I saw for therapy (and quit seeing a year ago because I experienced his behavior & tactics in session as unprofessional, inattentive, and questionably prejudicial) recorded multiple times in his notes that I was working part time when i was in fact volunteering. In one session’s notes he stated I was “working full time for under the table money while still collecting SSDI”. These statements are blatantly untrue, but I already lost a life insurance disability benefit because of his notations, and I’m scared to death I could lose my SSDI if they review and see his notes. I’m working toward requesting a correction to my VA medical records, but am not optimistic. It’s his word against mine. The stress of this revelation the past few weeks is so extreme, my health, which has been half way decent the last couple years, is already in a downhill slide. If my record isn’t amended, can I deny social security access to those specific notes? I saw a local legal aid attorney, but he wasn’t much help other than to tell me to request amendment to my medical record.
been collecting disability for ptsd since 2006 and hadnt beeen under doctors care and am up for review filled out long form and sent back my condition hasnt improved and has gotten worse what are chances my checks will stop really worried here and scared can u please email me answer soon
@james gauntt: hi james,part of a persons responsibility while collecting disibility benefits is to continue to prove to the social security that you are still disabled by continuing to go to your doctor and takeing medication.if you can’t prove to social security that you are still disabled by not haveing been to see a doctor in awhile for your disabling condition then this proves to them that you are no longer disabled and that your ssdi benefits could stop.
Hello i was layed of my job due to my diability, I was let go and they told me i should be getting unimployment pay but now i got aproved for ssdi can you get both? im worried but im still not able to work. please help me.
thanks steve
I just started working a month ago for a residential care facility for the elderly. Our pay periods are every other friday. Our pay period begins on a sunday and ends 2 weeks later on a saturday. My question is this, I am afraid that because I started part way thru Sept and received that check in Oct that I will bring home more than 1,000 in October even though it was earned in Sept. I will be earning less than 1,000 a month but it is possible to get paid 1000 or more in a month. Please help me!
SS counts your gross total by the month it was received, not earned. But what I discovered that really made me angry is if you get paid more often than once a month there will be a few times a year your income will go over & it will be deducted no matter how low your income was the month(s) before. Hubby gets paid weekly so in Dec. he had 5 paychecks. Thus everything over $759. was deducted from MY ssi check at 50 cents for every extra dollar.At the end of the year he was well below the threshhold of what he could make yearly before it affected my ssi BUT they don’t give me the ssi they took.Once upon a time they gauged it by the 3 month average. But not anymore. The ticket to work thing might help you for awhile but I don’t think it will if you’ve already started working.Sorry.
@Sylvia:
I have a mental disability and have been getting benefits since 2002. I worked in December 2011 and received $235 gross. In January 2012 I received $725 gross. I stopped working on February 6 but received $193 gross (my last pay check). Five days later I got from the SSA a Continuation of Disability Benefits Review form in the mail, filled it out and sent it back. I am afraid that my benefits will discontinue due to these earnings. Also, I was hospitalized for two and a half weeks in Oct.- Nov. due to my disability. Are they going to take this into consideration? How much should I be agonizing? Please help!
Chris, based on those earnings I would be surprised if SSA made any effort to terminate your benefits.
i love your blog, i learned so much, thank you for helping us.
simple question,never saw anywhere yet reading your blog so far…..
Do investment payouts, such as from a 1031 exchanged property that i dont do anything, but receive monthly contributions of $1200/mo. arround 25k a year (could not handle a regular rental property due to permanent disability, so i exchanged it to investment property that is not in my State) or devidents on 401 k or saving accounts , affect our SSDI payments or benefits? its all connected to my SS # and i file taxes and shows up as investments income in my fillings.
any help in this question would be appreciated.
Cale, investment income does not disqualify you from SSDI. However, if your earnings record shows income, that may trigger an inquiry from Social Security. You would need to show that your earnings are not from labor and thus should not be considered evidence of your capacity to work.
Hello! I was approved for ssi first and only received two payments before being approved for ssdi.. My question is will I have to repay the monies I received through ssi with my ssdi payments? Thank you!
I believe that SSDI will compute any overpayment and offset by withholding some of your SSDI.
Just had my first CDR after 3 years of receiving benefits…sent the short form in. Got a response 1 month later saying my benefits will continue. when will I be scheduled for my next review?
It depends on the workload for the CDR program in your area.
Is the amounts that is stated above that you can make workiing while on SSDI after or befoe taxes?
Before taxes. The amounts refer to gross income.
When you say “gross income”, are you referring to: “MAGI” {“Modified Adjusted Gross Income”} ??
I am in the process of requesting SSID benefits. I have a company handling the process for me and they will receive a portion of back payments if awarded.
I am also diligently looking for full time work. My question is: If I am awarded a back pay sum and then am able to find work and discontinue my monthly award, will I have to pay back the back pay?
Jerry, if you are approved, you will then be eligible for a trial work period during which you can work for pay and still collect your disability payment. After the trial work period is over then you will run into trouble if you collect benefits while working.
I have been receiving ssdi since 2008 three years after getting approved for ssdi they did a cdr and determine that I am still disable. this year I got another cdr in the mail I am scared that my benefits might be stop. I have been going to my doctors taking my meds. I was also diagnosed with cancer at the same time I was diagnosed with aids. my cancer is in readmissions but it is still there since they said it would never go away. I major pain in my feet that cause me to stay in bed for long period of times in a day/