Close to 14,500 students may have lost out on the Social Security disability and other benefits that they were eligible for due to internal agency errors. An investigation by the Social Security Administration finds that about 14,470 students were not paid the benefits that they were eligible for when they turned 18.
The Social Security Administration allows children to receive disability, retirement or other benefits if their parents are receiving SSDI benefits. They may continue to receive these benefits even after they have turned 18, provided they meet certain conditions. The Social Security Office of the Inspector General recently conducted an independent audit which seems to indicate that thousands of students stopped receiving the benefits that they were receiving as soon as they turned 18. Children of beneficiaries
The investigation found in a sample of 100 students that 87 of them stopped receiving their payments when they turned 18. The Office of the Inspector General investigation believes that as many as 14,470 students might have been underpaid their benefits and estimates that the total underpaid benefits could be as high as $59 million.
Children of Social Security disability and retirement beneficiaries may be eligible for benefits until they turn 18 if they are unmarried. They may continue to receive benefits even after they turn 18 provided they maintain their student status in high school. They can do this by enrolling in a full-time educational program at an institution. To qualify as a full-time program, the student must be attending at least 20 hours of class per week.