Disability insurance: eligibility: waiting period.

(1) Under existing law, a disabled individual is eligible to receive disability benefits equal to 17 of his or her weekly benefit amount for each full day during which he or she is unemployed due to a disability if the Director of Employment Development makes specified findings, including that the individual has been unemployed and disabled for a waiting period of 7 consecutive days during each disability benefit period. Existing law provides that during this 7-day waiting period, no disability benefits are payable. This bill, beginning July 1, 2016, would waive the 7-day waiting period for an individual who has already served the 7-day waiting period for the initial claim when that person files a subsequent claim for disability benefits for the same or a related condition within 60 days after the initial disability benefit period. The bill would also require the director to submit a report regarding the effect of the modified waiting period to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2020, as specified. (2) Existing law provides that if an individual receives 2 consecutive periods of disability benefits due to the same or a related cause or condition and separated by not more than 14 days, they are considered as one disability benefit period. This bill, beginning July 1, 2016, would extend to 60 days the time between claims for the same or related cause or condition to be considered one disability benefit period.