How to Get Disability Benefits and Services

The help available in New Hampshire to a person with a disability, and how to apply: Social Security's disability benefits, the state's cash and medical assistance, services for developmental disabilities, and help getting or keeping a job.

Checked against its sources October 12, 2026.

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APA: Granite Record. (n.d.). How to Get Disability Benefits and Services. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://graniterecord.org/guides/disability-help
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BibTeX: @misc{guides-disability-help, title = {How to Get Disability Benefits and Services}, howpublished = {Granite Record}, url = {https://graniterecord.org/guides/disability-help}, note = {Accessed 2 Nov. 2026} }

At a Glance

Social Security pays two kinds of disability benefits: SSDI, if you have worked and paid Social Security taxes, and SSI, if your income and savings are limited. Apply as soon as a condition keeps you from working. New Hampshire adds cash and medical assistance for adults with a long-term disability, Medicaid for people with disabilities who work, services through a regional area agency for a developmental disability, and vocational rehabilitation to help you get or keep a job. Free help with any of it is a phone call away.

What do you need?
- Income, because you cannot workApply to Social Security for SSDI or SSI, and to the state for cash assistance.
- Health coverage while you workAsk the state about Medicaid for workers (MEAD).
- Services for a developmental disabilityApply to your region’s area agency.
- Help getting or keeping a jobApply for vocational rehabilitation.
If you are turned down, read the notice: it says how to appeal, and by when.

Step by Step

Where to apply

Apply to Social Security for SSDI or SSI
Social Security counts you as disabled if a medical condition keeps you from doing any substantial work and is expected to last at least 12 months or to result in death. It runs two programs:
- SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) is for people who have worked long enough, and paid Social Security taxes, to be insured.
- SSI (Supplemental Security Income) is for people who are disabled, blind or 65 or older, and whose income and savings are under its limits.
Apply as soon as you can, online on Social Security’s Apply page, or call 1-800-772-1213 for an appointment.
Apply for benefits (Social Security)Who can get SSI (Social Security)
Apply to the state for cash and medical assistance
New Hampshire’s Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled (APTD) gives cash assistance to residents between the ages of 18 and 64 who are disabled as Social Security defines it, except that the condition must be expected to last at least 48 months. Anyone who receives it also qualifies for medical assistance (Medicaid). You must also apply for any federal benefits you may be entitled to, such as SSI, and pursue their appeals.
Medicaid for Employed Adults with Disabilities (MEAD) gives medical assistance to working people with a disability between 18 and 64; a similar program, MOAD, is for those 65 and older. You must be working when you enroll.
Apply for either through NH Easy, or at a Department of Health and Human Services District Office, where a worker helps you through the application interview.
NH Easy APTD (Department of Health and Human Services)
The law: RSA 167:6
Services for a developmental disability: your area agency
For a developmental disability or an acquired brain disorder, the state’s services come through ten regional area agencies. Apply to the one for where you live. It arranges an evaluation, and makes its first recommendations within 21 days of your application. Its services include service coordination, help living in the community, and employment and day services.
Developmental services and the area agencies (Department of Health and Human Services)
The law: RSA 171-A:6, RSA 171-A:18, RSA 171-A:18-a
Help getting or keeping a job: vocational rehabilitation
The Department of Education’s Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation helps people with disabilities prepare for, find and keep a job, under the federal vocational rehabilitation program.
Any New Hampshire resident with a disability may qualify, whether looking for a first job or wanting to keep working after a disability. Its help includes career counseling, job training, help finding a job, and assistive technology. To apply, fill in the online referral form on its page.
Vocational Rehabilitation (Department of Education)
The law: RSA 200-C:1, RSA 200-C:24, RSA 200-C:25

Appealing a decision

If you are turned down
Social Security: you can ask it to reconsider, in writing, within 60 days after you receive its decision. The notice says how.
The state: you can ask for an administrative appeal hearing, in writing, on the Department’s form or in a letter. Generally you have 30 days from the date on your Notice of Decision. You do not need a lawyer, and free legal aid can help with benefits appeals (below).
Administrative appeals (Department of Health and Human Services)

Common Questions

When do SSDI benefits begin, and when does Medicare start?

Benefits begin after a waiting period of 5 months of disability. After 24 months of disability benefits, you get Medicare automatically.

Does SSI count what I own?

SSI also counts what you own, such as money in the bank and vehicles, up to a limit. Social Security’s Who Can Get SSI page gives the income and resource limits.

Is there help for a young child with a developmental delay?

For a child from birth up to age 3 with a developmental delay, or at risk of one, the Department of Health and Human Services runs Family Centered Early Supports and Services.

Is there help living more independently?

The Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation’s independent living program helps people with disabilities, and older people who are blind, live more independently.

Who Can Help

Social Security answers at 1-800-772-1213. For help with the state’s programs, and with finding your way among all of them:

Aging and Disability Resource Centers (formerly ServiceLink), a Department of Health and Human Services program with local resource centers: free counseling for older adults, adults with disabilities and caregivers, on benefits, applications, housing, Medicare and Medicaid, with no eligibility requirement. Call 1-866-634-9412, weekdays 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.
NH Easy, the Department of Health and Human Services’ benefits site: apply for cash, medical, SNAP (food) and child care assistance, Medicare beneficiary and long-term care assistance, or check first whether you might qualify. To speak to someone, call 1-844-ASK-DHHS (1-844-275-3447).
Free civil legal aid. New Hampshire Legal Assistance helps people with low income and limited assets, and adults 60 and over, mainly with housing (including property tax deeding), domestic violence and family law, and public benefits. Apply through 603 Legal Aid, online or at 1-800-639-5290; it also publishes self-help articles.

NH Easy 603 Legal Aid