What’s the Difference Between SSI and SSDI?
You’ve also heard about Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), which is another disability benefits program run by Social Security. People often confuse the terms SSI and Social Security Disability or use one in place of the other.
What is the difference between SSI vs. SSDI?
Here’s how it breaks down:
- Work Background: SSDI requires you to have worked and paid a certain amount into the Social Security system. SSI doesn’t require a work history. So, if you haven’t worked much, or in a long time, SSI could be right for you.
- Financial Resources: You saw the extremely low (not updated in decades) financial resources you must have to qualify for SSI. For SSDI, you can have any amount of savings, investments or real estate and still get benefits. SSDI only limits how much income you can have from working. It has no limits on money in the bank.
- Additional Qualifiers: People over 65 can also get SSI regardless of disability (instead of Social Security retirement if they didn’t have enough work history to get that). And people with blindness are in a special category qualifying for SSI.
- How Benefits Are Calculated. They come up with the amount of your monthly checks differently for the two types of disability benefits. SSDI uses a formula that includes your past income. SSI is based on a standard, national number, minus some other forms of benefits or income you may have as long as you don’t have high enough other income to disqualify you for SSI.
- Health Coverage You Get. SSI comes with immediate Medicaid eligibility. SSDI gets you into Medicare before the usual age to qualify, though only after a waiting period from when your disability eligibility starts.
It can sometimes get complicated knowing whether to apply for SSI, SSDI or both.
Maybe you worked enough to qualify for SSDI, for example, but your past income was low enough that your SSDI payment would be lower than what you would get from SSI.
Then you can get both SSI and SSDI. Since SSDI reduces the amount you get from SSI, the total will be the same as what you would get if you were on SSI only.
Getting both has some significant benefits. First, you can qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. In that case, Medicaid will pay your Medicare premiums and co-pays and work as secondary insurance.
Additionally, if you receive an inheritance that puts you above the SSI asset limits, you will continue to get SSDI.
Another part of SSI is that a child with disabilities can get benefits.
If you have a child with special needs, they may qualify if you can prove that they cannot function like other children their age, and if your family qualifies financially. Childhood SSI benefits can be a major help to a family facing expenses from a child’s impairment.
The reason for disability lawyers is to help you sort out this process, so you can feel more confident you’re doing it right. The lawyers at Barnes Disability can talk to you about your situation for no charge.
How Much Does SSI Pay?
It’s a myth that disability benefits provide some kind of cash bonanza. The money you receive is enough to help you survive, and that’s it.
With Supplemental Security Income, Social Security sets a rate every year, usually raising it a little as the cost of living goes up.
In 2025, this is where the SSI standard rate stood:
- $967 for an individual
- $1,450 for a couple (when both members of the couple qualify for SSI)
These are maximum numbers, meaning if you have other types of benefits, or financial help from family members, or other sources of money, it will subtract from your monthly SSI amount.
There are a lot of reasons to work with a disability attorney in Utah when you’re seeking SSI:
- Lighten the load of all the paperwork
- Avoid mistakes
- Keep updated on your case
- Represent you in a hearing with a disability judge if needed
- Improve your chance of winning benefits in the end
At Barnes Disability Advocates we go into this type of law because we want to see our Utah neighbors getting the dignity and independence you deserve in the face of life-altering health issues.
We will listen and provide the kind of personal attention Social Security doesn’t offer.
Do You Want to Know More About Our Disability Lawyers in Utah?
Barnes Disability also helps with long-term disability claims when you have a private insurance policy to protect your finances if you lose the ability to work. Our disability attorneys have decades of experience and a mission to help everyday people find peace and dignity in difficult times.
