Social Security Disability Benefits Pay Chart
The Social Security Administration (SSA) makes critical annual adjustments to Social Security disability Benefits. This means making changes to both the programs run by the SSA – the Supplemental Security Income program (SSI) as well as the Social Security Disability Insurance program (SSD or SSDI). Here is an overview of what will impact the Social Security Disability benefits pay chart for 2018.
COLA Adjustments in 2018
Cost of Living Adjustments or COLA, is the adjustment made to the benefits payout to account for inflation and the increased cost of living. This number is usually calculated using the Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index or CPI (W) for clerical or wage earning workers and urban area workers. In the last few years, the COLA has been minimal – almost non-existent. In 2018, the government increased the COLA by 2%, which is the biggest jump seen since 2012. Thanks to this, there has been an increase in the Social Security disability benefits pay chart for this year, which is benefitting more than 60 million people across the US.
The changes in the Social Security disability benefits pay chart will be:
- SSI payout for singles will increase to $759 from $735
- SSI payout for couples will increase to $1,125 from $1,103
- Average monthly benefits for disabled workers will go up to $1,197 from $1,173.
Other Changes in the Social Security Disability Benefits Pay Chart
Besides the big ticket COLA changes for 2018, there are other changes that have been made by the SSA in the disability benefits pay chart.
SGA is a term the SSA uses to define the level of activity or work that a person is unable to do to qualify as being disabled. So, basically, to qualify for Social Security disability, you should not be able to engage in SGA. If a person is able to earn more than a certain amount of money per month, then he or she is considered to be engaging in SGA and therefore not eligible for disability benefits. The SGA limit for a blind person in 2018 is $1,970 per month. The SGA limit for a non-blind person in 2018 is $1,180 per month.
Full-time students who are disabled and are SSI recipients are allowed to have limited earnings that will not be counted against their SSI benefits. In 2018, student exclusions will also increase by 2% to $1,820 a month. However a student’s annual income cannot be more than $7,350.
SSI is a needs based program designed to help those who are financially destitute. Therefore, applicants for the program must have limited resources as well as income to qualify for its benefits. The resource limit for 2018 has not changed from the previous year. The limit for singles stays at $2,000 and for couples at $3,000. To get a complete picture of all the changes made in 2018, you can check the Social Security Disability benefits pay chart fact sheet.
