Filing for Disability in South Dakota

If you live in South Dakota and you can no longer work due to a physical or mental condition, you may be eligible for Security disability insurance benefits (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSDI and SSI are federal programs run by the Social Security Administration (SSA), but the State of South Dakota plays a hand in deciding whether you're disabled and how much SSI you receive.

We discuss these differences below and include approval and denial statistics for South Dakota claims and contact information for disability-related offices in South Dakota.

Who Decides Whether I Get Disability Benefits in South Dakota?

You can apply for disability benefits online (for SSDI) at the SSA's website or you can apply at a local Social Security field office. For SSI, you can start the process online, but Social Security will then make an appointment for you to help you finish the application, either over the phone or at a field office.

Social Security Field Offices in South Dakota

There are six Social Security field offices in South Dakota: Aberdeen, Huron, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Watertown, and Yankton. You can also use SSA's field office locator to find the one closest to you.

A claims representative at the field office will review your application to make sure you've met the work history requirements for SSDI or the financial requirements for benefits for SSI.

The field office will then send your application to a state agency called Disability Determination Services (DDS).

Disability Determination Services in Sioux Falls

South Dakota's Disability Determination Services office is in Sioux Falls. The Department of Human Services (DHS) administers the DDS program. Here are the phone number and address for DDS:

South Dakota Disability Determination Services
3109 W. 41 ^st St, Ste. 100,
Sioux Falls, SD 57105-8155
605-367-5499
800-658-2272

A claims examiner at DDS will decide whether you're medically eligible for disability, with the help of a medical consultant (doctor or psychologist) on staff.

If DDS denies your claim, you can request a reconsideration, where a different claims examiner will review your file.

If DDS denies you again after the reconsideration, you can request an appeal hearing.

Appeal Hearings for South Dakota Residents

If you request a hearing, DDS will send your file to Social Security's Office of Hearings Operations (OHO), where an administrative law judge (ALJ) will decide your case at a disability hearing.

South Dakota has only one hearing office, in Sioux Falls, called the Office of Hearings Operations (OHO). (The Sioux Falls location is a satellite office of the Fargo, North Dakota OHO.) Claims from the field offices in Aberdeen, Huron, Sioux Falls, Watertown, and Yankton are heard in Sioux Falls. But claims from the Rapid City, South Dakota field office are handled by the OHO office in Billings, Montana.

Here are the phone numbers and addresses for the hearing offices:

Sioux Falls OHO
3904 West Technology Circle, Suite 102
Sioux Falls, SD 57106
Phone: (877) 378-9080
Fax: (833) 330-0045

Billings OHO
2900 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 500
Billings, MT 59101-1266
Telephone: (877) 545-5512
Fax: (833) 311-0102

Before your hearing, you may want to check for address and phone number changes with Social Security's hearing office locator.

What Are the Disability Approval Rates and Wait Times in South Dakota?

South Dakota DDS approved 39% of disability claims at the initial application level and a further 17% of the denied claims at the reconsideration level.

As far as the approval rate for ALJ hearings, Social Security doesn't release hearing statistics for South Dakota residents. But since disability claims from the Rapid City, South Dakota field office are heard by ALJs from the Billings hearings office, and claims from the other South Dakota field offices are heard in Sioux Falls, a satellite of the Fargo, North Dakota office, we can look at the statistics for the Billings and Fargo hearing offices.

In the Billings office, 56% of claims were approved after a hearing, and it took an average of 12 months for a decision to be entered on a case (from the date the hearing was first requested). In the Fargo office, 63% of claims were approved after a hearing, and it took an average of 9 months for a decision to be entered on a case (from the date the hearing was first requested).

*Note: Approval rates and wait times are reported for the Billings office followed by the Fargo office instead of an exact hearing approval rate and hearing wait time for South Dakota.

Source: ALJ Disposition Data Fiscal Year 2023 and Average Wait Time Until Hearing, June 2023 (Social Security).

How Much Are SSDI Benefits in South Dakota?

The average SSDI payment in South Dakota is $1,391 per month, but some people receive up to $3,822, depending on the income they made over their lifetime. (And widows and disabled adult children receive less.) Read more about how Social Security calculates your SSDI payment.

South Dakota doesn't collect state income taxes on SSDI income (or any income), so you get to keep it all. People with higher incomes may owe federal taxes on a portion of their SSDI benefits.

How Much SSI Will I Receive in South Dakota?

The federal government pays a monthly SSI benefit of up to $943 per individual and $1,415 per couple (in 2024), but this payment is adjusted if you have additional income above the allowable limit. Because most SSI recipients have some type of extra income (including free food and shelter), the average SSI payment in South Dakota was only $578 at the end of 2022.

South Dakota provides a small supplementary payment to the federal SSI amount for most SSI recipients. An individual adult or an adult couple living independently will receive a $15 supplement each.

To be eligible, the recipient must have no sources of income other than SSI. The supplemental payment is administered by South Dakota's Department of Social Services (DSS). South Dakota uses the SSA's roster to determine eligible recipients who are still living independently. For more information, visit South Dakota's DSS website.

In addition, South Dakota provides an optional state supplement (OSS) of $791 to some SSI recipients who live in assisted living facilities. This amount is in addition to the federal payment of $943, but most of it goes toward paying for the facility.

SSI benefits are never taxed.

How Does Medicaid for SSI Recipients Work in South Dakota?

SSI recipients in South Dakota are automatically eligible for Medicaid, which the state calls "Medical Assistance." The Social Security Administration makes Medicaid eligibility determinations when it issues SSI disability award letters, and the State of South Dakota will contact the newly approved recipients directly about Medical Assistance benefits.

How Much Will It Cost to Get My Medical Records?

In South Dakota, a doctor or hospital can charge no more than $10.00 for the first ten printed pages of your records, and $0.33 for each additional page (or $0.25 for each page of an electronic copy). For a printed copy of an X-ray, MRI, or CT scan, the fee can't exceed $10 (or $15 for a digital version). (S.D. Codified Laws §36-2-16.4.)

Can I Get Help to Go Back to Work?

South Dakota offers rehabilitative services through the Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS), which is part of the South Dakota Department of Human Services (DHS). The DRS works with people with disabilities to see if they can find and keep jobs that fit with their disability. Sometimes the DRS helps individuals who are severely disabled to get jobs in sheltered work. The services that DRS provides include job training, respite services, and assistance with daily living. For more information, visit the DRS website.

South Dakota also has Tribal Vocational Rehabilitation programs; for more information, see American Indian Employment Services.

_{Other Sources:
Annual Statistical Report on the Social Security Disability Insurance Program, 2022
Annual Statistical Supplement, 2023}