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Applying for disability benefits
For anyone in the United States whose health, physical or mental, keeps them from working. The two federal programs, SSDI and SSI, and which one fits. What to have ready, how to apply, and what happens next. What to do if you are denied, and the 60 days you have to do it. Who can help you for free, and the words to say when you call. One thing at a time.
A word with a dotted line under it, like this, opens its official definition, quoted from a U.S. government glossary.
Right now
- Ready to apply, or to ask? Call Social Security, 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778), Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Got a denial letter? You have 60 days to appeal. Find the date on it today.
- No food or nowhere to sleep tonight? Call 211.
- At the end of your rope? Call or text 988, any hour. Danger: 911.
More help
- Bills, benefits and collectors while you wait? When the money runs out.
- Not enough food in the house? When you need food.
- A doctor without insurance? When you need a doctor and can’t pay.
- A denial, an overpayment, a hearing? When you need a lawyer and can’t pay.
- A medical appointment coming up? Appointment prep.
- Phones and offices are hard for you? Speak for me and How I work.
- Still working, and need changes to keep the job? Ask for what helps you work.
- Someone else manages your care or your money? When you’re caring for someone.
- All our free tools and Get help now.
Other guides on this site that go with this page
Free to read. We chose these ourselves; no professional did. Each guide was written with AI and has not been reviewed by a professional. They are general information, not advice.
- When pain doesn’t go away: pain that has lasted for months: describing it so a doctor hears it, treatments that are not medicine, and what pain does to sleep and mood.
- When a medical bill is too much: what to check before you pay, the financial help nonprofit hospitals must offer, surprise bills, and debt collectors.
- Taxes: free help, and what to do if you can’t pay: whether you need to file, the credits many people miss, where a return is done for free, and what to do when you owe.
- When it’s your kidneys: your kidneys: who should be tested, what the two numbers mean, the pain relievers that can damage kidneys, dialysis, transplant, and Medicare at any age.
- When it’s Long COVID: Long COVID: the symptoms, why tests can come back normal, getting ready for an appointment, work and disability, and children and school.
- When you can’t afford medical equipment: wheelchairs, walkers, oxygen and hospital beds, what Medicare and Medicaid cover, and where to borrow: when you can’t afford medical equipment: what Medicare counts as equipment, the question to ask a supplier first, how oxygen rental works, what Medicaid may not refuse outright, and the program in every state that lends and reuses devices.
- When you need help at home and can’t pay for it: home health care, aides, bathing and meals, what Medicare and Medicaid cover, and who to ask: when you need help at home and can’t pay for it: the home health care Medicare covers and the daily help it leaves out, the short deadline when an agency says your care is ending, what Medicaid must cover at home and may add, the VA programs, and the local agencies behind home-delivered meals.
- Living on your own terms with a disability: Centers for Independent Living, leaving an institution, your right to live in the community, work, and savings: living on your own terms with a disability: the local Centers for Independent Living, the law against unnecessary segregation, who to ask about leaving an institution, the advocates who do not charge, the two work programs, and ABLE savings accounts.
- Working while you get disability benefits: the SSDI trial work period, how earnings change SSI, keeping Medicare and Medicaid, reporting your work, and getting benefits back: working while you get SSDI or SSI: the trial work period, how SSI counts earnings, how long Medicare and Medicaid can continue, what to report, an overpayment letter, and how benefits start again if the job does not last.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). The facts come from the Social Security Administration’s own pages (ssa.gov, including its guide “Understanding Supplemental Security Income”, 2026 edition, and choosework.ssa.gov) and from USAGov, with one line each from the National Disability Rights Network and Policy Research Associates about their own work. The phone numbers, hours, deadlines and dollar figures were read on those pages on October 1, 2026. The dollar figures are Social Security’s for 2026 and change every year, and rules change too, so check with Social Security before you rely on any of them. Where we could not confirm something, such as how long a decision takes or what a representative’s fee would be, the page says to ask and does not guess. This page saves nothing: no account, no cookies, nothing you tick is stored or sent, and no analytics (privacy). Scarlet Beast is not a government agency or a law office, and is not connected to Social Security. Found a mistake? Email [email protected].