Bad news

Unfortunately, some people do not qualify for either program. For example, if a wife has become disabled, but she never worked, she will not usually qualify for Disability benefits. If her husband has too much in income, she will not qualify for SSI benefits. In addition, since most child cases are SSI (since most children do not have work credits for Disability), Social Security looks to the parents income for income/resource determination. If the parents make too much income, the child will not qualfiy for SSI benefits, no matter how severe their illness.