Social Security disability coverage usually begins after you have been disabled for six months, provided you meet Social Security’s rather tough requirements. About 70 percent of applicants fail to meet the requirements. If you qualify for benefits, the monthly payments are quite low. Social Security benefits are usually integrated with other disability payments so that the maximum benefit from all sources does not exceed the maximum allowable benefit – which may be close to 100 percent for the short term, but usually does not exceed 70 or 75 percent for the long term.