Do you live with spinal stenosis? If so, your condition may prevent you from working and, thereby, earning an income.
If you have spinal stenosis and can’t work, you may be eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) through the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA). When applying for SSDI, you’ll likely want to have a general sense of how much it might pay.
Further Reading: What Conditions Qualify For Disability?
In 2024, the maximum monthly SSDI payment is $3,627. However, as this overview will explain, various factors can influence how much disability pay you might be eligible for.
How To Calculate How Much Disability You’ll Get With Spinal Stenosis
SSDI monthly payments can vary from one person to another. Factors that may affect how much someone receives include (but are not necessarily limited to) the following:
- Medical expenses
- General cost of living
- Your average lifetime earnings before you developed a disability
No one can guarantee you will receive a specific amount of disability pay when you submit an SSDI application to the SSA. That said, a disability benefits lawyer might be able to help you gather evidence demonstrating you are eligible for a certain amount of SSDI.
Getting Back Pay For Spinal Stenosis
When you submit a claim or application for SSDI, it can take several months to hear back from the SSA. If the SSA approves your application, you may be eligible to receive back pay. This consists of payments for the time between when you submitted an application and when the SSA reached its decision.
However, there is a five-month waiting period to receive benefits when you develop a disability and submit an application accordingly. To understand how this might impact back pay, imagine that, once the SSA finally approves your claim, you have established that 15 months elapsed between the time you applied for benefits and the time you received an approval from the SSA. This means you might be eligible for up to 10 months of back pay.
Retroactive Payments For Spinal Stenosis
Some SSDI applicants believe back pay and retroactive payments are the same. This isn’t the case.
A person with spinal stenosis or any other such condition might be disabled for a certain period of time before they choose to submit an application for SSDI. If you can demonstrate that you were disabled for some time before you applied for benefits, you might be eligible for up to 12 months of retroactive payments from the time you submitted your application. However, the five-month waiting period still applies.
Work With An Attorney
The process of applying for SSDI when you have spinal stenosis is often complex. As such, it is not uncommon for the SSA to deny initial applications for benefits.
This is why it is smart to strongly consider enlisting the help of an SSDI lawyer. An attorney can guide you through the process and assist you with various tasks, potentially improving your chances of receiving the full amount of SSDI for which you may be eligible. Get started today by taking the Free Case Evaluation form on this page to get connected and speak with a disability attorney today—at zero cost to you.
