The law makes certain distinctions between a period of disability and a freeze period.
The period of disability is the time period that is excludable from the computation
of retirement, disability, or survivor benefits because the insured individual is
determined to be unable to work.
In general, excluding the period of disability from a computation results in a higher
benefit because years where the worker is unable to work are not used to determine
the worker's average earnings. The period includes any freeze months and months of
entitlement to DIB (cash benefits). However, months in an extended period of eligibility
(EPE) after the last month cash benefits are paid are not included in a period of
disability. See RS 00605.238 for details on EPE.