Termination of Social Security Disability Benefits

Once a disabled person receives approval for Social Security Disability or Supplemental Security Income, the benefits are usually considered to be lifelong and permanent.

There are, however, a few circumstances where benefits could be terminated. These include:

• If you engage in “Substantial Gainful Activity” (SGA). The Social Security Administration uses this term to determine if any activity – including working or attending school full-time – is substantial enough to make a person ineligible for benefits. Examples of activities that may disqualify you for benefits are:
  • You go back to work full-time.
  • You go back to work part-time and earn over approximately $830 gross per month. (as of January 2005)
  • You attend college or business/trade school full-time.
• If the Social Security Administration reviews your case and feels your condition has improved, they may terminate your benefits. Periodically , the Social Security Administration will review cases. When your case is reviewed, they check to make sure you still have disabling impairments, are still in treatment, and are compliant with treatment and medication.
  • If medical improvement is "expected", your case will normally be reviewed within 6 to 18 months.
  • If medical improvement is "possible", your case will normally be reviewed no sooner than 3 years.
  • If medical improvement is "not expected", your case will normally be reviewed no sooner than 7 years.
• If you become incarcerated or institutionalized against your will for over 30 days, you are ineligible for benefits during this time period.

Reinstatement of Terminated Benefits

If your benefits have been terminated, and you would like to have them reinstated, you have the right to file an appeal within 60 days.

If you want to continue to receive your checks while the appeal is pending, you must file an appeal requesting this continuation within 10 days of having your benefits terminated. Please note: If you are unsuccessful with your appeal, and you continued to receive checks while the case was pending, you will be required to pay back the money you received while the case was pending.

Injured and unable to work? Put our experience to work for you

It is important to know your legal rights if you are injured and unable to work. Our attorneys have been helping injury victims for over 25 years. We have represented over 30,000 people and have answered 350,000 injury-related questions. Let us put this experience to work for you.

Free Legal Evaluation

If you are injured, unable to work, and have been denied social security disability benefits, you should contact our law firm for a free consultation on your rights to collect benefits by:

• Filling out a simple online form so we can evaluate your claim
• Calling toll free 1-866-867-9914. Our phones answer 24 hours a day/7 days a week

It won't cost you a dime to have our staff take a look at your claim. We will listen to what you have to say and will let you know what options you have based on what you have shared. It's free and there's no further obligation. And, as always, there is never a fee unless we get money for you.