Social Security administers two individual disability programs each with it's own unique guidelines (though it should be said that the primary difference between the two programs involves non-medical criteria, while the medical eligibility requirements are identical). On this page, I am going to define how each program addresses back pay.
As I said earlier, Social Security administers two disability programs: Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income disability. Social Security disability eligibility is gained through "insured status" that is based upon an individual's earnings record (each year your wages are posted by the Internal Revenue Service to your earnings record), however Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is based upon need. This difference defines how each disability program handles back pay.
Individuals who are entitled to Social Security disability alone are entitled to receive their disability back pay in one lump sum regardless of the amount of the back pay, because their Social Security benefits are not based on need.
SSI, however, is a need based program and supplemental Security Income beneficiaries, therefore, are bound by certain income and resource limits as with all need based social programs
Individuals who are eligible for SSI or concurrent benefits (where an individual is entitled to both programs because their Social Security benefits are low, i.e. they are entitled to receive some money from SSI in addition to their Social Security disability benefits) must keep their resources below certain levels simply to maintain continued eligibility.
Therefore, in order to maintain resource and income limits, SSI back pay is released in installments that are equal to three times the current SSI disability benefit amount. These installments are issued six months apart. The remainder of the back pay is released in a lump sum at the end of a year, and the individual has a few months to spend the back pay before it is counted as a resource.
Consequently, depending which disability program you are entitled to, you may have your back pay released to you all at once, or in installments for the first year.
