Is SSI the same as Social Security Disability ?

Yes and no. SSI stands for supplemental security income and SSD stands for social security disability (though social security is sometimes referred to as SSDI, which stands for social security disability insurance). These are both separate disability programs that are administered by SSA (the social security administration) and when an applicant for disability benefits goes to a local social security office, their eligibility to apply in either program will be determined. A person who has worked and earned a sufficient number of work credits will have an application taken for SSD benefits. A person who has not earned a sufficient number of work credits, or who has never worked (such as a minor child) will have an application taken for SSI benefits. In some cases, though, an individual who has worked enough to qualify for SSD--but whose benefit would be very low--may qualify to have separate applications taken in both the SSI and SSD programs.

However, regardless of whether or not an applicant has an application taken in the SSD (social security disability) or SSI (supplemental security income) program, or in both programs (this is known as a concurrent case), the evaluation process that is used to determine eligibility for disability benefits is still the same.

What is the process? It basically goes like this: a person seeking benefits will contact their local social security office and request that an application be taken for disability. Sometime following this, an interview will be conducted and an application will taken that includes information on the claimant's various disabling conditions and their various sources of medical treatment (doctors, hospitals, etc). Sometime after the application has been completed, it will be forwarded to an agency that specializes solely in rendering medical determinations on ssd and ssi disability claims, which, in most states, is referred to as DDS, or disability determination services.

It is at this particular agency that a disability applicant's medical records will be gathered and evaluated, and, eventually, a decision on an SSI or SSD disability claim will be made.

Unfortunately, whether an applicants claim is for social security disability or ssi disability, the process will, in most cases, take a number of months. How long will it take exactly? There is no way to know, but on average an initial claim will take at least three to four month, though the time to process a case can easily exceed 6 months or longer. And, of course, if the initial is denied and turned, as is the case with most ssd and ssi applications, the applicant will be face with the prospect of having to follow the SSA appeal process, making the need to hire a social security lawyer even more of a necessity.