Fully Insured Status

When you work for most employers, you pay premiums into the Social Security Disability Insurance program through FICA payroll taxes. After you have worked (and paid into the Social Security Disability system) long enough, you become fully insured, and therefore eligible for Social Security Disability benefits, should you become disabled.

To determine whether you are fully insured, the Social Security Administration factors in how much you have worked in terms of “Quarters of Coverage.” You can earn up to four quarters of coverage each year.

In order to be fully insured for Social Security Disability purposes, you must have earned at least one quarter of coverage per year for each year since you turned 21 years old. A minimum of six quarters of coverage is needed to be fully insured at any age.

When you have achieved 40 quarters of coverage, you earn permanent fully insured status. At that point, you are fully insured for Social Security Disability benefits whether you continue to work or not.

While being fully insured is only one of the requirements for receiving Social Security Disability benefits, you can’t receive SSDI unless you are fully insured. SSDI, contrary to popular notion, is an actual insurance program and is funded by the premiums paid through FICA taxes.

If you are not sure whether you are fully insured, you should contact a Social Security Administration field office or a disability attorney experienced with Social Security Disability Insurance cases. If you are not fully insured, you will not be able to collect Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments.

It is worth noting that you may qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) even if you are not fully insured. SSI is a needs-based program, and its funding is not tied to FICA payments or to the quarters of coverage you have earned for SSDI. To qualify for SSI, you simply need to fall within the financial guidelines if you are disabled according to the Social Security Disability guidelines.