Disability Terms and Definitions

Section 1619(b) Status The special SSI recipient status for Medicaid purposes provided to working disabled or blind individuals when their earnings make them ineligible for regular or special cash payments. Deeming The process by which the income and resources of an ineligible individual are considered to be available to a recipient when determining eligibility or payment amount. Mental disorder In DSM-III, a mental disorder is conceptualized as a clinically significant behavioral or psychologic syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual and that typically is associated with either a painful symptom (distress) or impairment in one or more important areas of functioning (disability). ADA Americans with Disabilities Act The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, State and local government, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications. It also applies to the United States Congress. Reasonable Accommodation Any change in the job application process, work environment or work process, or modification to the benefits or privileges of employment, that results in equal employment opportunity for an individual with a disability. Elimination Period This is the period of time between the date the disability commences and the beginning of the benefit payment period. It is the period during which an employee must be disabled before payment of benefits begins. It is sometimes referred to as the Qualifying Period. Representative Payee Individual appointed by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to manage the cash benefits of a recipient of SSI or Social Security benefits, or both. Optional Supplementation The payments made by States to help persons meet needs not fully covered by Federal SSI benefits. The State determines whether it will make a payment, to whom, and in what amount. Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) The level of work activity used to establish disability. A finding of disability requires that a person be unable to engage in SGA. Windfall Offset A provision to prevent a person from receiving monthly SSI and OASDI benefits in excess of the total amount which would have been paid if the OASDI benefits had been paid when they were due rather than retroactively.

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	Did You Know?
	SSDI stands for Social Security Disability Insurance A system of federally provided payments to eligible workers (and, in some cases, their families) when they are unable to continue working because of a disability. Benefits begin with the sixth full month of disability and continue until the individual is capable of substantial gainful activity.