Certified Senior Advisor (CSA) Practice Test

To qualify for Social Security disability benefits, a worker must meet certain eligibility criteria, which include having a disability that is expected to last at least 12 months. In addition, the worker must have the necessary work credits to be eligible for benefits. The most definitive way to ensure this is by being both fully insured and currently insured.

Being fully insured means that the worker has earned a sufficient number of work credits over their lifetime, typically requiring 40 credits, with at least 20 of those credits earned in the last 10 years. This is essential to establish entitlement to Social Security benefits, including disability.

Currently insured status, on the other hand, is evaluated based on a worker's recent work history. This can be satisfied with fewer credits (ranging from 6 to 20, depending on the worker's age) and denotes that the worker has recently engaged in work activity.

Therefore, both conditions—being fully insured and currently insured—must be satisfied for someone to qualify for Social Security disability benefits.