Dear Liz: This is regarding the writer whose daughter is a 21-year-old single mom with bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. Adults who are disabled before age 22 can be eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance under the Disabled Adult Child program. After two years of SSDI, she would be eligible for Medicare. An attorney who handles Social Security disability cases can help her apply for this valuable benefit.
Answer: Thank you. Normally, Social Security requires someone to have worked to earn benefits, but there are exceptions, and the Disabled Adult Child program is one of them. Benefits are based on a parent’s earnings record, so the adult child does not need to have a work history.