Other Benefits & SSA
How Workers' Compensation And Other Disability Payments May Affect Your Benefits.
Disability payments from private sources, such as private pension or insurance benefits,
do not affect your Social Security disability benefits. However, workers’ compensation
and other public disability benefits may reduce your Social Security benefits. Workers’
compensation benefits are paid to a worker because of a job-related injury or illness.
They may be paid by federal or state workers’ compensation agencies, employers or
by insurance companies on behalf of employers. Other public disability payments
that may affect your Social Security benefit are those paid by a federal, state
or local government and are for disabling medical conditions that are not job-related.
Examples are civil service disability benefits, military disability benefits, state
temporary disability benefits and state or local government retirement benefits
that are based on disability. If you receive workers’ compensation or other public
disability benefits and Social Security disability benefits, the total amount of
these benefits cannot exceed 80 percent of your average current earnings before
you became disabled.
Some public benefits do not affect your Social Security disability benefits
If you receive Social Security disability benefits and one of the following types
of public benefits, your Social Security benefit will not be reduced:
Veterans Administration benefits;
State and local government benefits, if Social Security taxes were deducted from
your earnings; or
Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Figuring the reduction Your monthly Social Security disability
benefits, including benefits payable to your family members, are added together
with your workers’ compensation or other public disability payment. If the total
amount of these benefits exceeds 80 percent of your average current earnings, the
excess amount is deducted from your Social Security benefit. Example: Before you
became disabled your average current earnings were $4,000 a month. You, your spouse
and your two children would be eligible to receive a total of $2,200 a month in
Social Security disability benefits. However, you also receive $2,000 a month from
workers’ compensation. Because the total amount of benefits you would receive ($4,200)
is more than $3,200 (80 percent of your average current earnings), your family’s
Social Security benefits will be reduced by $1,000. Your Social Security benefit
will be reduced until the month you reach age 65 or the month your other benefits
stop, whichever comes first.
How SSA determines your average current earnings SSA uses different formulas to calculate your average current earnings. Which formula they use depends on your specific circumstances. Contact us for information about how your average current earnings were calculated. If you get a lump-sum workers’ compensation or other disability payment in addition to or instead of a monthly benefit, the amount of the Social Security benefits you and your family receive may be affected.
