Veterans in Florida and elsewhere who have suffered a disability related to their service may understand that they can receive veteran’s benefits related to their partial or total disability. However, they may not fully understand how this differentiates from Social Security disability and his or her eligibility to also receive these disability benefits as well. Thus, it is important that a disabled veteran fully understands their options when it comes to recovering disability benefits.
Eligibility for disability benefits
Anyone seeking disability benefits form the Social Security Administration must meet their requirements, proving eligibility for these benefits. The same is true for disabled veterans, even when they have a 100% rating for Permanent and Total disability. Such a rating will not guarantee that one will receive disability benefits from the SSA.
In order to obtain these benefits, one must meet the SSA’s definition of disability. This means that he or she must be unable to do substantial work because of the medical condition or conditions he or she suffers from. Additionally, his or her medical condition must have lasts a year or is expected to last at least a year or result in his or her death.
It should be noted, however, that if one is receiving VA compensation, this will not impact the benefits received by the SSA if he or she meets the definition of disabled.
SSD benefits for disabled vets
It is possible to have the Social Security disability application process expedited as a veteran. In most cases, the SSA is able to self identify most veterans that meet the 100% Permanent and Total disability compensation rating of the VA; however, that is not always the case. A vet may have to self-identify, proving that he or she meets this rating by providing a VA notification letter.
The length of time this process takes is based on different factors. This includes the nature of one’s disability, how quickly evidence proving this disability is received from medical sources and whether a medical examination is needed to obtain evidence to support the claim.
Serving one’s country is a noble and brave endeavor. While some veteran’s are able to retire or end their service, others do not experience the same fate. For some veterans, he or she suffered a disability stemming from their service in the military. Thus, it is important to understand how the benefit options for a disabled veteran may differ from those of a civilian, as well as what qualifies a vet for SSD benefits in addition to veteran’s disability benefits.
