Disability Terms and Definitions

DWB Disabled Widows (Widowers) Benefits. Title II benefit category for widows or widowers based on a deceased spouse's social security payments. Cost-of-living adjustments Each January, your benefits will increase automatically if the cost of living has gone up. For example, if the cost of living has increased by 2 percent, your benefits also will increase by 2 percent. Disability A general term used for the problems a person with a health condition (such as cerebral palsy or deafness) has because of barriers in his or her environment. Maximum Benefit Period (Benefit Duration) This is the maximum length of time for which benefits are payable under the plan as long as the employee remains continuously disabled. Conversion Privilege If included, this option allows employees who are terminating employment to continue some or all of their LTD coverage at their own expense without submitting evidence of insurability. 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. Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) Certification by a state as a licensed clinical social worker. Such licensure often requires at least two years experience with a direct client caseload under supervision. Indexing Indexing is designed to provide some protection against inflation. After the first year of disability, a disabled employee's pre-disability earnings are usually increased (or indexed) by a certain percentage on an annual basis. Social Security and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Monthly cash benefit administered by the federal Social Security Administration (SSA) to retired or disabled workers and their qualified dependents. Beneficiaries must be 62 years of age or older, or disabled, and have enough work "credits" to be qualified. PD Presumptive Disability. Only for SSI claims. Enables an early (presumptive) allowance of benefits for 6 months based on a substantial probability of a final allowance when all required documentation is obtained. A PD can be reversed to a denial, but the claimant does not return the PD benefits.

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	Did You Know?
	EPSDT stands for Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment Program A program mandated by law as part of the Medicaid program. The law requires that all states have in effect a program for eligible children under age 21 to ascretain their physical or mental defects and to provide such health care treatments and other measures to correct or ameliorate defects and chronic conditions discovered. The state programs also have active outreach components to inform eligible persons of the benefits available to them, to provide screening, and if necessary, to assist in obtaining appropriate treatment.