If after 36 months from your long-term disability effective date you are not receiving Social Security disability benefits and if you had five or more years of membership service as of July 31, 2007, your long term benefit will be reduced by an estimated amount equal to what you might have been entitled had you been awarded Social Security disability benefits.

If you had less than five years of membership service as of July 31, 2007, your long-term benefits and State Health Plan coverage will end after you have received 36 long-term disability benefit payments unless you have been approved for Social Security disability benefits.

If your long-term benefit is suspended because you are not receiving a primary Social Security disability benefit, it may be restored if the Social Security Administration grants retroactive approval for primary Social Security disability benefits with a benefit effective date within the first 36 months of the long-term disability period. State law requires your DIPNC long-term disability benefit to be offset dollar for dollar by the amount of your Social Security benefit, so when you receive an increase in your Social Security benefit, your DIPNC long-term disability benefit will be decreased by the same amount. This change is usually made in your January long-term disability benefit.