When Georgia residents suffer a debilitating injury or illness that prevents them from working, they typically need financial assistance to help them replace the lost income. Fortunately, there are programs available to provide this assistance, including, most notably, Social Security disability benefits for injuries.
There are a number of injuries that qualify one for Social Security disability benefits. For instance, spine injury and musculoskeletal disorders are among the most common problems that place individuals on benefits. This includes disorders of the muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage, neck and lower back. Benefits based on these types of injuries have increased significantly over the past two decades.
At the same time, there are different distributions of people receiving disability insurance among different states. While northern states like Maine and New Hampshire see a higher number of people with mental illness receiving benefits, southern states have higher rates of people with circulatory disease receiving benefits. Southerners are also more likely to receive disability benefits in general.
The numbers also show that more than half of women, and one-third of men, receive disability insurance benefits below $1,000 per month. This may dispel the belief of some that higher rates of benefits are paid out.
Ultimately, the issues discussed above are generalizations, which may or may not hold true in a particular case. For instance, someone in Georgia who suffers a spine injury may be able to receive disability benefits, but the person will still need to establish one’s eligibility for the benefits in that particular case, regardless of the numbers among the general population. Attorneys are available to assist with this process.
Source: The Fiscal Times, “Who gets the most in disability pay? 8 key Social Security facts,” Eric Pianin, Feb. 26, 2016