Natalia Jofre: Hi, I’m Natalia Jofre. I am the Director for our Social Security section here at Hill and Ponton.
Shelly Mark: And I am Shelly Mark. I am the Senior Social Security attorney.
Natalia Jofre: We’re here today to talk to you about what a date last insured is. When you file for Social Security disability benefits, a lot of times Social Security will tell you what your date last insured is, or whether you have an expired date last insured. The date last insured is really, really important because it could make the difference between you qualifying for regular benefits or not. We’re going to actually do a series on date last insured all for itself because it is very complex.
Shelly Mark: Yes definitely.
Natalia Jofre: First of all, will you kind of explain to everyone what it is?
Shelly Mark: Sure. The date last insured is a date where an individual’s eligibility to receive benefits under the disability program expires. To be eligible for Social Security disability someone has to have worked five out of the past 10 years. When they stop working, basically their clock starts ticking as to when their date last insured is going to expire. They have to prove they were disabled by that date to actually receive Social Security disability.
Natalia Jofre: A lot of people will call us and ask us and they’ll say to us things like I have health insurance, or now I don’t have health insurance, so does that mean that now my date last insured is expired, or that I need to get health insurance in order to be able to qualify for disability benefits. Date last insured is a Social Security term. It has absolutely nothing to do with insurance through healthcare or any other program for that matter. If you’re getting long-term disability benefits, short-term disability benefits, workers comp, unemployment, that has nothing to do with that. Just keep in mind that date last insured is a Social Security term and it has nothing to do with any kind of privatized insurance.
Shelly Mark: Absolutely.
Natalia Jofre: Now there are some benefits, or some exceptions, to where if you haven’t worked five out of the last 10 years you can still qualify for benefits. It’s a matter of proving you’re disabled prior to your date last insured expiring, but we’ll talk about that in our next blog because this is enough to kind of simmer on just for today. We’re going to give it to you in morsels so it’s a little bit more digestible if you will.
Shelly Mark: Yes. Sounds great.
Natalia Jofre: You agree?
Shelly Mark: Yes, definitely.
Natalia Jofre: Sounds good, so we’ll see you next time. In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to call our office or visit our website.
Shelly Mark: Thank you.
