It is sometimes necessary for a person to go on SSDI and use their long-term disability insurance in Colorado, especially if they have experienced a traumatic brain injury. These resources can be essential for the support and well-being of a person with a disability.
How to qualify for SSDI
There are two federal programs for people with disabilities. SSDI, or Social Security Disability Insurance, is for people who used to work and therefore had accumulated some Social Security credits by paying federal income tax. The other is SSI (Supplemental Security Income). SSI targets people who have a meager income or who are too old to work. Most people will qualify for one or the other based on past and current income.
Once you clear the income requirement, you also need to have a qualifying disability. The Social Security Administration has a book of conditions and symptoms that allow you to qualify for their programs. These can be hard to understand because they don’t necessarily have the same names and definitions as real-world diagnoses, so it might take time and legal assistance to figure out how to navigate the system and get the benefits to which you are entitled.
When you have a disability, pushing through the bureaucracy surrounding disability benefits is that much harder. More work is still necessary once you understand how the system works and what you have to show to be qualified. Still, it is a big step towards successfully filing for disability benefits after a TBI or any other disabling event, whether it happened at work or otherwise.
