Can I Get Disability After a Greenville Workers’ Compensation Settlement?

Yes, you can receive disability after a Greenville workers’ compensation settlement, but a workers’ compensation settlement can impact disability payments.

It’s important to know what to expect and how to maximize your payments from all sources.

Our experienced Greenville workers’ compensation lawyer at Bobby Jones Law explains.

Can I Get State Disability After Workers’ Compensation?

Yes. You can receive state disability after workers’ compensation. The South Carolina workers’ compensation program and the U.S. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program are distinct. They each have their own eligibility criteria and benefits. If you qualify for both programs, you can get state disability after workers’ compensation.

Workers’ compensation wage benefits may reduce your Social Security Disability payments. Generally, you won’t receive more than 80% of your pre-injury wages through both programs combined.

What Happens to Workers’ Compensation Benefits After Settlement?

The terms of a workers’ compensation settlement determine how it is paid. Usually, payments are made in a lump sum. The settlement should explain how medical benefits will be handled going forward, if applicable.

When workers’ compensation payments result in an SSDI offset, SSDI benefits are reduced by that amount each month. When workers’ compensation benefits stop, SSDI payments are made in full.

What percentage of SSDI recipients also receive workers’ compensation?

About 17% of SSDI recipients also have a public disability claim or award.

Can You Qualify for SSDI After a Workers’ Compensation Case?

Yes. You can qualify for SSDI after or concurrently with a workers’ compensation case. You may qualify for SSDI if you have a disability that is expected to last one year or more or result in death. You must not be able to do the same work, and the disability must interfere with your ability to work. Work credits aren’t required for workers’ compensation benefits, but you must have a minimum work history to collect SSDI.

Because the eligibility criteria differ, it’s possible to qualify for workers’ compensation but not SSDI. The opposite can also be true. You must assess your eligibility separately under each program.

How a Workers’ Compensation Settlement Affects Social Security Disability

A workers’ compensation settlement can offset an SSDI payment, so that the person doesn’t receive more than 80% of their pre-injury wage.

Understanding the workers’ compensation offset rule

Here’s how it works.

Let’s suppose a person earned $5,000 per month before their injury. Because of their injury, they qualify for SSDI at $2,000 per month. (SSDI depends on long-term work history, so another person’s award might be different.) Their workers’ compensation payments are $3,333 per month, for a total of $5,333 combined.

Without the offset, the person would receive more than they earned before their injury. But because of the 80% rule, the person can receive $4,000 total. When the offset applies, their SSDI will be reduced to $667. Combined with workers’ compensation of $3,333 per month, the person will receive 80% of their pre-injury wages, or $4,000. It’s still beneficial for the person to receive SSDI benefits in this scenario.

The combined payment will not be less than the total SSDI benefit would have been without workers’ compensation factored in.

What Happens If You Settle Your Workers’ Compensation Case? Can you get Disability After a Workers’ Compensation Settlement?

It may seem like the best way around the rule is to settle your workers’ compensation claim for a lump sum. Then, you don’t have periodic benefits to reduce your SSDI award. However, lawmakers addressed that scenario.

If you settle your case with a lump sum, the lump sum is prorated monthly. The monthly rate calculates the SSDI workers’ compensation offset. Medical and legal expenses are not offset.

Do You Have To Apply for Disability Before Settling?

You don’t have to apply for disability before settling your workers’ compensation case. But the timing of each application can significantly impact offsetting. It is best to apply for SSDI as soon as you know that your disability is long-term. The SSDI application process is often long.

An attorney can explain how varying timelines may impact your entitlements through each program.

Also, remember that you’re required to report your workers’ compensation payments to SSDI. You must also report any changes to payments. That way, SSDI can correctly offset benefits.

What about private disability policies and pensions? Are they affected by workers’ compensation payments?

Usually not. Unless the private pension specifically addresses it, collecting workers’ compensation benefits won’t diminish a private disability payment. Check the exact terms of the policy to make sure.

Do workers’ compensation benefits affect Supplemental Security Income?

Yes. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a needs-based program. Workers’ compensation wage benefits are considered income. SSI payments also depend on countable resources, so a person with assets over a certain threshold will not qualify for SSI payments.

Social Security Disability Benefits and Workers’ Compensation

The workers’ compensation SSDI offset has been in effect since 1965.

The intersection of Social Security benefits and workers’ compensation has evolved in response to legal changes over several decades. In the 1970s, SSDI payments outpaced workers’ compensation benefits as a percentage of wages. Then, in the 1980s, as SSDI eligibility rules tightened, workers’ compensation payments outpaced SSDI. Today, SSDI payments again exceed workers’ compensation awards. As one program declines with legal changes, there are more demands on the other program, as disabled workers seek financial relief.

See Reno et al., Workers’ Compensation, Social Security Disability Insurance, and the Offset: A Fact Sheet.

Which payment is reduced: the workers’ compensation payment or the SSDI payment?

South Carolina does not have a reverse offset for concurrent workers’ compensation and SSDI benefits. It’s the SSDI payment that will be reduced, not the workers’ compensation payment. Reverse offsets were removed as a state option when SSDI laws were amended in 1981.

Greenville Workers: When To Talk to a Greenville Workers’ Compensation Attorney

If your workplace injury prevents you from working, it’s time to talk to a Greenville workers’ compensation attorney. They can explain if you can get disability and workers’ compensation. At Bobby Jones Law, we help clients strategize to maximize their benefits from all sources, including SSDI. We can explain how payments from one program may impact the other in your case.

Call or message us now.