When does the five-month waiting period begin if Sam applies for benefits on December 3, 2017, claiming an onset date of November 8, 2014?

The correct choice relates to the determination of the onset date and how it impacts the five-month waiting period for benefits. When an individual applies for benefits, the waiting period does not start on the date of the application itself, but rather after the individual is found to be eligible for the benefits.

In this case, since the onset date of the disability is noted as November 8, 2014, the five-month waiting period begins five months after that date. Thus, calculating five months from November 8, 2014, leads to an end date of April 8, 2015, meaning that the individual would then be eligible to start receiving benefits from that point onward.

However, for purposes of determining the next available benefit payment, the period would be reviewed against the prior disability determination, leading to a waiting period that runs until an eligibility determination is made. The five-month period stretches through to July 1, 2016, thus providing a contextual understanding of how the waiting period functions in relation to the onset date of the disability, rather than the application date.

This highlights why the starting point of July 1, 2016, is critical to this determination, as it is the completion of the five-month waiting period post the