If you qualify and are approved for Social Security Disability and you are also receiving other government benefits, the amount of your Social Security Disability benefits may be reduced.

Some public benefits will not affect your Social Security disability benefits.

If you receive Social Security disability benefits from one of the following types of public benefits, your Social Security benefit will not be reduced:

• Veterans Administration benefits;

• State and local government benefits, if Social Security taxes were deducted from your earnings; or

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Your Social Security disability benefits may also be reduced under the Windfall Elimination Provision. This provision affects how the amount of your disability benefit and that of your spouse and minor dependent children will be calculated if you receive a pension from a job where Social Security taxes were not withheld from your pay. So, if you were an employee of an employer who does not withhold Social Security taxes from your salary, such as a government agency or an employer in another country, the pension you get based on that work will reduce your Social Security Disability benefits.

Joel T Nowak MA, MSW