Disabled persons may collect Social Security Disability Insurance benefits at any age, if a claimant has paid Social Security taxes, most U.S. workers have under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, typically abbreviated as FICA on paycheck stubs. The claimant must have a serious physical or mental impairment that his doctors and the Social Security Administration's doctors agree will prevent him from performing substantial work for a year or more. Social Security Disability Insurance doesn't cover partial or short-term disabilities, but the state disability insurance may provide such coverage. A few statesﾗincluding California, Hawaii, Rhode Island, New Jersey and New York at this writingﾗoffer disability insurance benefits programs. Typically, state disability insurance benefits are administered by the same agency that administers unemployment insurance and people with disabilities may be covered by state disability insurance even if they are unemployed when your disability starts.