What is the number of credits required for fully insured status for Social Security disability?

Question:

How is it that work credits expire? And how long does it take before they do start to expire?

Answer:

• The SSA program which concerns “work credits” is Disability Insurance Benefits (DIB or Title II).  To be eligible, an applicant (who is the wage earner) needs “insured” status which depends on the quarters of coverage that have been acquired as a result of gainful, “covered“ employment [FICA taxes].  A “quarter of coverage” is based on 1 of 4 calendar year quarters, i.e. the 3-month time period that ends on March 31, June 30, September 30, or December 31. 

  A wage earner must have sufficient quarters of coverage to be “fully insured,” and therefore, entitled to DIB.  The maximum quarters of coverage needed is 40, but 6 quarters of coverage are required at a minimum. In addition to being fully insured, the wage earner must also be “currently insured.” This is the part of your question about “expiring credits.” For the period of 40 quarters immediately preceding disability, the wage earner must have a least 20 quarters of coverage in that 40 quarter period. This is the “20/40 rule.” 

  In other words, the wage earner must have worked steadily and fairly recently until disability. Insured status will lapse if she or he stops working, or becomes disabled, and fails to earn quarters of coverage for 20 quarters (about 5 years).  So, if the wage earner did not work steadily during the 40 quarter periods, the insured status lapses sooner than 5 years. The wage earner must be fully insured at the time of becoming eligible in the first full month of becoming disabled. Lapse in insured status means that the wage earner is not eligible for disability insurance benefits. 

  The date that the insured status lapsed becomes critical for establishing that disability began before that lapsed date in order to be eligible for DIB. The SSA field office can compute the wage earner’s date last insured, also known as “DLI”. Note: quarters of coverage are computed differently for younger wage earners.  Read more at https://www.ssa.gov/oact/progdata/insured.html

Question:

I read your answer on getting Medicare before you're 65 and it talked about being currently insured. If my husband is currently insured (he worked for awhile a couple of years ago), does that mean I can get Social Security benefits when he dies? He is in poor health and I don't think he's fully insured, because he can't get Social Security retirement benefits.

Answer:

There are very limited Social Security benefits for those who are currently insured or for the spouses of those who are currently insured. For most Social Security benefits, such as retirement benefits, you need to be "fully insured," which generally means you have 40 work credits, or 10 years worth of work. For disability benefits, you need to be "insured for disability benefits," which means you need at least one work credit for each year that has passed since you turned 21 (plus you need to have worked a certain amount in recent years).

To be currently insured, on the other hand, an individual needs to have earned only six credits in the three years before he or she became eligible for disability benefits or passed away. A credit is earned by making $1,160, and an individual can earn up to four credits per year. (A person can earn six credits in as little as 13 months if he or she makes a total of at least $6,960. )

However, the only time currently insured individuals can benefit from this insured status during their lifetime is if they have end-state renal disease (ESRD). In that case, they can get Medicare Part A, premium free, while being currently insured instead of fully insured.

While someone who is just currently insured is not eligible for Social Security retirement benefits or disability benefits, after the currently insured individual dies, his spouse and children may be eligible for survivors benefits. The following survivors benefits are available to the dependents of someone who was currently insured:

Child's insurance benefits, for children who are unmarried and either:

• under 18
• between 18 and 19 and in school, or
• disabled, with a disability that began before age 22.

Mother's or father's benefits, for surviving spouses who care for a child of the deceased spouse. The child being cared for must receive survivors benefits based on your spouse's record and either be:

• under 16, or
• disabled.

A surviving child or a surviving spouse who has a surviving child in his or her care will receive 75% of what the deceased individual's Social Security payment would have been, up to a family maximum. (If there is more than one child, each family member would get less than 75%.) Keep in mind that if the deceased individual wasn't fully insured, the survivors benefit payment may be quite low. Also, as an aside, you should know that a currently insured individual's spouse or children are not eligible for dependents benefits during the individual's lifetime.

For more information, see our article on currently insured status for Social Security disability.

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