Workers and employers pay for the Disability Insurance Benefits program with part of their Social Security taxes. Each worker and employers pay a Social Security tax that is 6.2% of the worker’s earnings up to a cap of $110,100 in 2012.

The cap is adjusted each year to keep pace with average wages. Of the normal 6.2%, 5.3% goes to pay for Social Security retirement and survivor benefits, and 0.9% pays for disability insurance.

The combined tax paid by the workers and employers for disability insurance is 1.8% of wages, while the combined tax for retirement and survivor benefits is 10.6%, for a total of 12.4%.