Hi I’m Sharon Christie your nurse attorney for Social Security disability benefits. I was recently asked this question. Once you get a fully favorable decision in your disability case how long does it take to get paid? That’s a great question. 

Now let me address first Social Security disability and then we’ll talk about SSI disability. So, if your case is strictly Social Security disability and you did not apply for and receive any state benefits while you’re waiting for the decision then generally you can expect to receive payments within 30 to 60 days. You will receive your back payment and then the monthly payment will begin. Now remember it’s Social Security everything in terms of payments by the month is a month behind. So, what do I mean by that? Well Social Security is going to calculate your back payment which is different for each person. It depends on when you became unable to work and the date of the decision but Social Security will make that calculation as to how much you’re to receive in your back payment and then for the month following the date of the decision. Then you will qualify to begin your monthly payments. 

So, if your monthly payment starts for the month of January you don’t actually receive that payment until February. So, you just need to be aware of that but typically you’re going to get the monthly payment and confirmation. I’m sorry you’re going to get the back payment and confirmation of when the monthly payment begins within 30 to 60 days of receiving the fully favorable decision. Now in some cases I’ve had clients who while they were going through this process have applied for state benefits called temporary cash assistance or temporary disability. It’s not available to all people it’s an asset-based program so you have to have very limited assets in order to even qualify. If you did receive those payments and they’re generally somewhere between 180 to 190 dollars a month that has to be paid back. So, it’s going to take longer for you to get paid because there has to be a calculation done by the state as to how much money is paid back. That information is transmitted to Social Security Social Security. Deduct that amount from your back payment and then the process continues to move forward.

If your case is under SSI it will take longer because the first thing that has to happen is, you’re going to have to get an appointment at your local Social Security office to go in and provide a lot of financial information so that they can confirm that you are still financially eligible to receive SSI benefits and how long it takes to get that appointment really depends on the local office. Sometimes it can be done very quickly within a week or two of the favorable decision. Sometimes the wait is longer and then once you provided that financial information it’s going to be at least another 30 to 60 days. Sometimes a little longer before the payments actually begin. 

But the good news is you’ve got a fully favorable decision so payments will be starting at some point in the near future for you.