Applying for disability benefits for your child involves a slightly different process compared to applying for disability benefits in general. You will need different information, documents, and evidence of your child’s disability. The application process can be lengthy, but talking with an experienced Philadelphia disability lawyer can help lessen the complexity of this process. A lawyer can also help you in situations when your disability benefits have been delayed or denied.   

Applying for Child Disability Benefits 

Applying for child disability benefits involves completing an application for supplemental security income (SSI) and a child disability report. You can also look over the child disability starter kit to figure out what you need to submit with your application and contact Social Security to figure out if your income is within the SSI limits.

The SSI has two different definitions that determine who counts as a child who is eligible to receive disability benefits. A child is considered someone who is either under the age of 18 or who is age 22, but also a student attending school. Children may be eligible for benefits if they are blind or have a medically diagnosed disability. This disability can involve mental or physical impairments.

These impairments must be predicted by a doctor to last at least 12 months or lead to premature death. When it comes to determining whether the child is eligible in terms of income and financial resources, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will look at the parent’s combined income and resources. The SSA will also look at whether any parent has disability insurance.

In some cases, your child may also be able to receive Medicaid benefits when SSI benefits are not enough to cover all of your child’s medical expenses.

How Child Disability Benefits Work

In order for your child to be eligible for disability benefits, your child’s condition will need to meet the SSA’s definition of a disability. The SSA considers a child disability to be a medically diagnosed physical or mental condition that causes severe functional impairments. This impairment must have a physiological cause or involve a psychological abnormality.

In other words, the SSA may not accept an application without sufficient objective medical evidence of your child’s disability. The SSA will also examine your child’s learning abilities, ability to complete tasks, attention skills, interactions with others, self-care, manipulating objects, and physical health.

Once disability benefits go into effect, you will receive monthly payments to cover expenses related to your child’s needs and disability. These payments can be used to help cover medical treatments for disability and basic living expenses like food. 

Denied Insurance Benefits Attorney in Philadelphia

Figuring out the application process for disability benefits for your child can be confusing at first. Try talking to a Philadelphia delayed insurance benefits lawyer if you have not heard back about your disability benefits application after 90 days. You can contact Edelstein & Nelson at 1-800-300-909 for a consultation today. We will work with you to figure out why your application has been delayed or denied. Our team of lawyers can also help answer any questions you have about the application process.