Upon being approved for Social Security disability benefits for lumbar stenosis, the amount you receive in your benefits plan will be based upon a calculation of your lifetime earnings.
Each year the Social Security Administration sends you a detailed statement outlining your total Social Security earnings to date, and this is the information used to create an estimate of your disability benefit payments.
This same statement will give you an estimate of how much money you’ll receive upon retirement, as well as the survivor’s benefits your family could receive in the future.
What Happens When You Get Approved With Lumbar Stenosis
Once you have filed your claim you will have to wait for the paperwork to be processed. Though the amount you can receive is based on a fixed calculation, you can make the application process easier when you have all of your medical documentation ready when you file.
If your Social Security disability benefits claim for lumbar stenosis is approved, you can expect to be paid starting the sixth month after the date when you first became disabled.
Lumbar stenosis is considered an official impairment by the Social Security Administration because of the degenerative aspect of the disease. If you can provide documentation of your condition and pass the SSA’s series of qualifications, you will automatically receive benefits if your case is determined to be severe enough.
Back Pay and Lumbar Stenosis
As we mentioned, your case begins when you file your claim, but given how many disability benefit applications are being reviewed at any given time there is no estimate of how long it will take for approval.
That said, the Social Security Administration provides back pay based on the time it takes for your application to be processed. If your application is approved, you will receive back pay for the time between when you filed your claim and when it was approved.
You can expect the first installment of back pay 60 days after your claim for Social Security disability benefits has been approved.
Retroactive Payments and Lumbar Stenosis
It’s possible to receive retroactive disability benefits payments for lumbar stenosis for up to 12 months prior to filing your claim, provided that you have documentation that you were already suffering from the condition during that time.
In order to file a claim to receive retroactive Social Security disability payments, applicants must be able to prove that they had the condition five months prior to filing the disability benefits claim. Once again, this is where your documentation will be critical, so make sure you have all of your paperwork together when you file.
How to Calculate How Much You Could Get with Lumbar Stenosis
The Social Security Administration will base your disability payment for lumbar stenosis upon the amount of Social Security taxes you have paid over the years. This is where your Social Security earnings statement will be a very useful resource, as it outlines your total income and how much you have paid in SSA taxes over the years based on your total income.
Your earnings history will be used by the SSA to calculate your average indexed monthly earnings (AIME), which will be used to determine your primary insurance amount (PIA).
Once these two calculations have been determined, the Social Security Administration will adjust your PIA for your age, and that’s what determines how much you will receive on a monthly basis for lumbar stenosis.