20 C.F.R. § 404.315 Who is entitled to disability benefits?
Title 20 - Employees' Benefits
(a) General. You are entitled to disability benefits while disabled before attaining full retirement age as defined in §404.409 if— (1) You have enough social security earnings to be insured for disability, as described in §404.130; (2) You apply; (3) You have a disability, as defined in §404.1505, or you are not disabled, but you had a disability that ended within the 12-month period before the month you applied; and (4) You have been disabled for 5 full consecutive months. This 5-month waiting period begins with a month in which you were both insured for disability and disabled. Your waiting period can begin no earlier than the 17th month before the month you apply—no matter how long you were disabled before then. No waiting period is required if you were previously entitled to disability benefits or to a period of disability under §404.320 any time within 5 years of the month you again became disabled. (b) Prohibition against reentitlement to disability benefits if drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor material to the determination of disability. You cannot be entitled to a period of disability payments if drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor material to the determination of disability and your earlier entitlement to disability benefits on the same basis terminated after you received benefits for 36 months during which treatment was available. [44 FR 34481, June 15, 1979, as amended at 48 FR 21930, May 16, 1983; 51 FR 10616, Mar. 28, 1986; 51 FR 16166, May 1, 1986; 53 FR 43681, Oct. 28, 1988; 57 FR 30119, July 8, 1992; 60 FR 8145, Feb. 10, 1995; 68 FR 4704, Jan. 30, 2003]
Title 20: Employees' Benefits
PART 404—FEDERAL OLD-AGE, SURVIVORS AND DISABILITY INSURANCE (1950– )
Subpart D—Old-Age, Disability, Dependents' and Survivors' Insurance Benefits; Period of Disability
Old-Age and Disability Benefits
§ 404.315 Who is entitled to disability benefits?
