Getting Social Security Disability After Age 65 (Before Full Retirement Age)

Not everyone who is 65 or older can afford to retire, or they might not want to stop working. But they might become disabled and aren't able to continue working. People who are age 65 or 66 and don't want to start collecting Social Security retirement may be eligible to receive disability benefits if they have a medical condition that keeps them from working full-time.

Whether you're 65 or older is also an important factor in determining eligibility for related benefits that are tied to disability, such as Medicare and Medicaid. Knowing how your age, disability status, and economic resources interact at ages 65 and beyond can help take some of the stress out of planning for your health and finances when you do stop working.

Can You Collect Social Security Disability After Age 65?

You can get SSDI disability benefits any time after age 65 until your full retirement age, which for people born in 1960 or later is at age 67. Once you reach full retirement age, Social Security will automatically change your disability benefits to retirement benefits. Note that at ages 67 through 70, you can't collect SSDI, even if you want to hold off on collecting your retirement.

Sometimes it can make more sense to collect SSDI disability benefits if you're over 65 rather than filing for retirement benefits. (Keep in mind that you can't receive Social Security retirement and disability at the same time.) For additional information—including examples illustrating when it might be preferable to pick disability benefits over retirement—see our article on disability and retirement.

Proving You're Disabled at Age 65

In general, it becomes easier to show that you're disabled the closer to full retirement age you get, thanks to some special Social Security rules that apply to people who are 65 or older. Some of the rules make it more likely that you'll meet the requirements of one of the agency's listed impairments, while others can help find you disabled even if you can still physically perform some types of jobs if you don't have the experience or training to do so.

Special Age 65 and Older Rules for Meeting or Equaling a Listing

Social Security's "Blue Book" contains a list of medical conditions ("impairments") that are considered automatically disabling for claimants whose medical records document all of the requirements in the listing. You can also "equal" a listing if you have an impairment that's very similar to a listing in the Blue Book.

Social Security uses the same procedures to determine whether claimants 65 or older meet or equal a listing as for younger claimants, but the agency requires some extra consideration for applicants 65 and up (described below).

Examiners and Judges Must Provide a Thorough Review

When you're 65 or older, Social Security rules require the claims examiner or administrative law judge (ALJ) assigned to your case to carefully review your medical records to identify any possible age-related impairments you may have due to the aging process, such as:

• decreased hearing ability
• poor eyesight
• decreased physical strength, or
• memory loss.

The examiner or judge must ask you to fill out a questionnaire to describe the limitations you're having in your activities of daily living. Additionally, when speaking to you, Social Security requires the examiner or ALJ to be on the lookout for statements that may raise concerns about age-related impairments—for example, "I don't read much anymore because I can't see too well," or "My son said he visited me the other day, but I don't remember seeing him."

The examiner or ALJ also should be aware that third-party statements from friends and family who know you well can provide useful information about possible impairments.

Examiners and Judges Can't Dismiss Your Impairments

Social Security prevents examiners and judges from dismissing age-related impairments such as arthritis, osteoporosis, diabetes, high blood pressure, poor eyesight or hearing, certain cancers, and memory loss as being normal for the person's age.

Length of Age-Related Impairments

Social Security requires examiners and judges to carefully consider the facts before determining that an individual over the age of 65 will not be disabled for at least 12 months (and therefore wouldn't qualify for disability benefits because of the durational rule). The reasoning is that age-related impairments are more likely to be long-term problems instead of ailments that can be cured or controlled within a short time span.

Medical-Vocational Allowances at Age 65 and Older

If you don't meet or equal a listing, Social Security will look at your limitations, age, education level, and work history in deciding whether you should be able to do your old job or other work. Qualifying for disability benefits by showing that you can't work is called a "medical-vocational allowance."

Medical-vocational allowances are easier to get at age 65 and older because you don't need to show that you can't do even the simplest, least physically demanding jobs to be found disabled (as you would as a younger individual). You may fit a special vocational profile or lack transferable skills under the "grid rules."

Special Vocational Profiles

Social Security Ruling SSR 24-1p identifies three kinds of "special vocational profiles," meaning categories of (generally older) workers who automatically qualify for benefits. These categories may be applicable mainly to claimants 55 or older, but Social Security is required to see if they apply to any applicants who are age 65 or older.

You may fit a special vocational profile if you've performed heavy labor for 35 years and you have a marginal education; you've never worked and you have a limited education; or you've worked in the same field for at least 30 years but have a limited education and no transferable skills. These are respectively referred to as the "arduous unskilled work" profile (or the "worn-out worker" rule), the "no work" profile, and the "lifetime commitment" profile.

Grid Rules

When determining whether there are any jobs you can do, Social Security will consider your age as a factor. The agency places age ranges into different categories, the highest category ("closely approaching retirement age") representing people 60 years and up. This is the age bracket Social Security will use for people age 65 and older.

Social Security applies the grid rules by pairing your age bracket with your "residual functional capacity" (RFC). Your RFC is a set of limitations that reflects the agency's assessment of the most you can do in a work environment, despite your physical limitations. Social Security classifies physical limitations into five different "exertional levels," labeled sedentary (sit-down), light, medium, heavy, or very heavy work.

Using the grid rules for the 60 and up age bracket, Social Security will find you disabled—and eligible for a medical-vocational allowance—in the following situations:

• You're limited to sedentary or light work, you haven't finished high school (or you don't have recent training for a specific occupation), and you don't have skills that you can use at another job that has very little difference in the tools or setting from your past work.
• You're limited to medium work, you haven't finished high school, and you don't have any work experience, or you haven't finished 6th grade and you've only done unskilled work.

If you don't meet a special vocational profile or the "grid rules" don't direct a finding of disability in your case, you can still get benefits if you can show that you're unable to work at any job as a result of your medical condition. (This is a common method of getting disability for people of any age and older claimants who have mental health issues that cause few, if any, physical limitations.)

Long-Term Disability After Age 65

If you have a long-term disability policy with a private insurance company, some special rules might apply if you're 65 or older. Some long-term disability policies say that, if you become disabled at age 65 or older, you'll only get a limited number of months of benefits, such as 24 or 18 months, even if you're disabled for longer. If you become disabled at age 66 or 67, you may get even fewer months of benefits, such as 21 or 12. Check your policy's "Maximum Benefit Period" to see how long your policy will pay you benefits.

I Qualify for Medicare Through SSDI Disability, What Happens When I Turn 65?

Disabled people who are awarded SSDI become eligible for Medicare 24 months after they begin to receive benefits. Your Medicare coverage will continue for as long as you remain disabled, so if you're still disabled when you turn 65, nothing will change.

It's important to remember that while you're entitled to Medicare as a result of collecting SSDI, the Medicare conversion from disability-based to age-based happens at 65, rather than the SSDI cash benefits conversion from disability to retirement that happens at age 67. Practically speaking, this transition is in name only and shouldn't affect how you receive either benefit.

For more information, check out our articles about when someone on SSDI can get free Medicare, how receiving SSDI affects your eligibility for Medicaid, whether you can decline Medicare to avoid certain insurance premiums, and if you can stay on Medicare when you return to work.

What If I Don't Qualify for SSDI?

Not everybody will qualify for SSDI disability or retirement benefits. As a disabled and retired workers insurance program, you'll have to have acquired enough "work credits" (the SSDI "premiums" you pay by contributing to the program through payroll taxes) to establish coverage. If you haven't earned enough income to pay taxes or you haven't worked in a long time, you might not be "fully insured" and won't be eligible for benefits.

If you aren't eligible for SSDI, however, you may be able to collect SSI. SSI isn't an insurance program, so there's no "retirement age." You can qualify for SSI before 65 if you're disabled and have limited resources, or at age 65 if you have limited resources regardless of whether you're disabled. If you aren't sure whether you're eligible for SSDI or SSI, a representative at your local Social Security field office should be able to tell you. You can also create a "my Social Security" account and check your earnings record and work history online.