The Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program provides financial assistance to individuals who are unable to work due to a disability. And since many veterans become disabled as a result of their active military service, you may wonder whether SSDI offers financial assistance to veterans with service-connected disabilities.
The SSDI program offers benefits to veterans with service-connected disabilities. However, unlike the Veteran Affairs (VA) disability system, the SSDI program does not consider whether the disability is service-connected. Instead, it requires that the disability be total and long-term.
Read below to find out more about SSDI benefits for veterans.
SSDI Eligibility Criteria
Social Security Disability Insurance is a government-funded program managed by the Social Security Administration (SSA). SSDI payments are only limited to those who have both contributed toward Social Security taxes and held employment for a predetermined number of quarters.
Those who are younger may be able to qualify for SSDI benefits even with fewer credits and a less recent employment history.
An applicant must also be disabled to be eligible for benefits. A total disability is one that prevents an individual from retaining any kind of employment.
You will not be eligible for benefits if your medical condition is expected to be short-term. To qualify for benefits, you must not be working full-time or expected to be unemployed for at least 12 months.
When evaluating your disability, the SSA will consider whether or not you have a medical condition that is included in the SSA listing of impairments (also known as the Blue Book). If not, you may still be eligible for benefits through a medical-vocational allowance.
SSDI for Veterans With Service-Connected Disabilities
You can receive SSDI benefits, regardless of whether your disability is service-connected.
As noted in the eligibility criteria, the SSA does not consider how an applicant became disabled. Rather, it takes into account any disabilities, both physical and mental, that might affect your ability to work, provided that these impairments are long-term (at least a year).
The amount of SSDI that an applicant receives is determined by the amount of tax money that they have contributed to the system throughout their employment history. In addition, depending on the date that you initially filed for benefits, you might be entitled to back pay for up to a year.
This is in sharp contrast to the VA disability system. The VA disability system aims to provide financial assistance, education, vocational rehab, and more to veterans only.
To be eligible for veterans’ disability compensation, the veteran must have a medically determinable condition or impairment that is connected to their active service in military, naval, or air duty.
A VA disability application must address two main requirements. Firstly, the applicant must establish that they have a medically determinable disability. After that, they need to show that their disability is directly related to their military service.
This may seem like it would be easy to prove, but in reality, many cases get rejected because of insufficient proof of a condition being related to military service.
Once these two requirements have been met, the VA decides the applicant’s degree of disability. This is done by assigning each applicant a disability rating.
The rating system takes into account impairment in 10% increments, ranging from 10% disabled to 100% (completely) disabled. This rating then determines the benefit amount provided to each beneficiary.
Social Security Disability Insurance vs. VA Disability
While it is possible to get benefits from both Social Security and the VA at the same time, the two programs have some major differences.
Different Entities
The Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration are two different government entities. If you submit an application or appeal to one agency, it will not have any official implications for the other agency.
Additionally, just because you qualify for one benefit doesn’t mean you’ll automatically be eligible for the other. Applicants must go through the entire application process for both of these benefits.
Different Eligibility Criteria
The Veterans Affairs and Social Security Administration both have their own set of eligibility requirements. You may be eligible for benefits from the Social Security Administration and Veterans Affairs for meeting completely different requirements or having different medical conditions.
Different Evidence Evaluation
The Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration will examine the same evidence but in different ways. For example, while both the SSA and VA will evaluate your medical records, the SSA will look for evidence of a long-term disability, whereas the VA will look for a service-connected disability. It is important to be aware of the requirements of each agency and to provide them with the necessary information.
Different Benefit Amounts
Your VA benefit amount is determined by the disability rating assigned to your claim, whereas your SSDI benefit amount is determined by how much you contributed to Social Security taxes during your earning years.
Different Application Durations
The Social Security Administration processes claims at a significantly faster rate than the Department of Veterans Affairs. It can take years for the VA to determine certain disability benefit claims.
Expedited SSDI Applications for Veterans
Veterans who get a 100% disability rating from the VA may be able to get their claims expedited. This means that their waiting period will be significantly reduced, and they will only have to wait for the SSA to evaluate and process their medical records, which typically takes a few weeks.
You can easily prove your VA disability status when applying for SSDI by including the letter notifying you of your VA disability rating with your SSDI application. However, this expedited processing is only available to veterans who became disabled due to active military service after October 1, 2001.
Conclusion
Many veterans became disabled as a result of their time in the military and are now unable to work due to their disabilities. Fortunately, they can apply for SSDI benefits as long as their disability is total and long-term. Applicants who are already receiving VA benefits may be able to get their SSDI claims expedited.
