Longitudinal Patterns of Participation in the Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income Programs for People with Disabilities

Abstract

Longitudinal access to disability benefits is affected by interactions in benefit eligibility between the Disability Insurance (DI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs and lags arising from processing time in receiving the first payment. Administrative records show that a quarter of the calendar year-2000 cohort of first-ever working-age disability awardees were involved with both programs over a 60-month period, indicating a higher degree of program interaction than apparent from cross-sectional data. Nonbeneficiary status is three times more prevalent 60 months after entry among those who entered SSI first compared with DI entrants, as a result of exits that are due to the SSI means test. Over half of new awardees qualifying for both DI and SSI benefits are eligible for SSI during 4 or 5 months of the 5-month DI waiting period, but many do not receive their first SSI payment until later because of lags in final award decisions.

Keywords: Disability benefits, duration, program interactions, Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income

JEL Classification: H55, I38, J14