Disability Options For Veterans Needing Help
Posted on: 23 May 2016
After leaving the military with physical injuries, mental unrest or other conditions that can damage every day life, it can be difficult to transition to a productive life. Pain can be both a physical restriction and mental distraction, while behavioral issues can make every day a motivational challenge. If you don't know where to get help, consider the Social Security Administration (SSA) and Veterans Affairs (VA) for different forms of support.
What Can Social Security Do?
Social security disability insurance is a social safety net designed to help people recover while surviving on the economy. Although the benefits can help people who are permanently disabled, there are limits to the amount of support you can receive. The maximum payment is calculated based on past earnings, but the payments are mostly for survival. It's possible to work while on disability, but such arrangements must be discussed well before being approved, and your employment earnings can lower your disability payment.
Getting approved for disability isn't exactly easy. In order to prevent fraud, you'll be faced with obstacles of proving that you're both suffering from a condition that prevents you from working and unable to survive on the economy. A background of your condition and finances will be reviewed, which can be difficult if you're suffering from problems like chronic pain without physically-observable evidence. Unfortunately, personal observations such as grimaces, painful facial expressions and other self-reported pain problems are not sufficient proof.
Instead of search for the medical evidence to support your claim alone, it's probably better to contact a social security attorney. The attorney can look through your evidence to design a claim that speaks the business language of the SSA, and can connect you with medical professionals who have experience with writing documentation that fits with claim systems. The easier your evidence can be understood, the more likely you'll succeed in your social security claim.
The VA May Have Better Benefits
An attorney with social security disability experience can also help you with a veterans affairs claim if you've been denied in the past, or even give you advice into how to write your first claim. Although the VA is a different organization with its own suggested certification for lawyers, the general issue of preparing medical evidence in a neat and orderly fashion is still relevant.
The difference between VA disability and social security disability is that VA disability is yours for life as long as you don't do anything to debunk your claim. The VA system is actually compensation for your sacrifice during duty. You didn't serve for free, and the agreement to support veterans was in place before any existing veterans were born--albeit in different forms.
If you can prove that your connections are related to military service, you can look forward to percentage-based monetary compensation as well as medical coverage from the VA. Connecting your condition to military service requires evidence with dates, such as medical reports or service record reports that show you were in the right place and time for your condition.
While you work on a social security claim, don't neglect to tell your attorney about your veteran status. There are times when both social security and VA benefits are necessary, and if the attorney isn't willing to work on the VA side, they can bring colleagues into your claim to help you in as many ways as they can. Speak with a social security attorney today and at least get an idea of what you'll need for your claims.
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