Can Veterans Get SSDI Benefits?

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Qualifying for Multiple Disability Benefits in Baltimore, Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Veterans receiving VA disability benefits can also apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, but these are different programs with different sets of requirements.

The VA awards benefits if you have partial impairments and can still work a job, not just when you have total disability. SSDI is only for people who have paid significantly into the Social Security system but can no longer work a substantial amount, or at all, due to their health.

And while the VA only awards benefits for health issues that are connected to your military service, Social Security doesn’t look at the origin of your health problems, only the severity of them.

You could receive disability benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and still easily be denied Social Security Disability.

Showing the Social Security Administration (SSA) that you meet its particular standards is difficult, but it can be easier when you work with an experienced Alexandria disability advocate.

The disability advocates of Mathis & Mathis have been helping people in Northern Virginia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and across the country with their SSDI claims for more than 30 years.

Winning Social Security Disability benefits can take significant effort, but the monthly payments and medical coverage can make a major difference in your life when your health stops you from working.

Our disability advocates don’t charge an upfront fee for help with your disability claim. You pay a fee only if you win benefits.

So if you’re receiving VA disability benefits and you think that you may also qualify for SSDI, don’t go through this process on your own.

Work with disability advocates from Mathis & Mathis who will give your SSDI application the personal care and attention it deserves.

Social Security Disability Is All We Do.

How Can Veterans Apply for Social Security Disability Benefits?

Getting approved for VA disability doesn’t mean that Social Security will also approve you for SSDI. This isn’t automatic.

When you apply for Social Security Disability, you need to show the SSA that you meet all of the requirements that every SSDI recipient must meet.

A claims examiner will look for evidence that:

You can’t work a substantial amount at any job due to your health.

Your health issue will last 12 months or longer, or it’s terminal.

You have worked and paid enough into Social Security—and military pay DOES count.

Important note for military veterans: If you have a 100% permanent and total disability compensation rating from the VA, or you became disabled while on active duty in October 2001 or later, you can get faster processing of your Social Security Disability claim, although approval still isn’t guaranteed. Make sure Social Security knows your status as a disabled veteran.

Social Security won’t take your word for it that your health prevents you from working. They want proof.

Although it doesn’t qualify you automatically, the information from your VA disability case can help here.

Before you received VA benefits, you may have gone through a Compensation and Pension (C&P) Exam. This gives the VA more information about your health and helps determine if you qualify for their benefits.

You may have also completed a Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ) that asked about your capabilities and what you can do in spite of your health issues.

This is similar to Social Security’s measure of your “residual functional capacity” (RFC), which covers what kinds of physical and mental tasks you’re able to complete.

The findings from your C&P Exam and DBQ from Veterans Affairs can help in your case for Social Security. Reviewers at the SSA will consider them, but they won’t treat them as decisive.

Our Washington, D.C., disability advocates can help you use information from your VA claim and strengthen your SSDI claim with more medical evidence.

These kinds of items can give the SSA a better picture of your health limitations:

Results of lab tests

Imaging results, including X-rays and MRIs

Psychological or psychiatric evaluations

A list of prescription medications you take, their dosages and their effects

Logs of treatments you’ve tried and their effectiveness

Your doctor’s assessment of your everyday functioning

If you’re a military veteran and you think you’re eligible for SSDI benefits because of your health problems—whether those issues are connected to your service or occurred independently—get support for your Social Security Disability claim.

Our disability advocates can guide you through this step by step. We know this system well because helping people with their Social Security Disability benefits is our entire focus.

Get started with a FREE SSDI claim evaluation »

Do SSDI Benefits Reduce My VA Disability Benefits?

Some types of disability benefits impact or “offset” one another when you collect them at the same time.

For example, if you receive SSDI and benefits from a private long-term disability insurance plan at the same time, the benefits you receive from that private plan could be reduced by the amount of your Social Security Disability payments.

No such relationship exists between SSDI benefits and VA disability compensation.

If you get approved for both of those types of benefits, you can collect both payments each month without reducing what you receive from either the SSA or the VA—as it should be for someone who served our country, made sacrifices and deserves our country’s support in return.

Keep in mind that Social Security and the VA calculate disability payments in different ways.

VA payments are based on your disability rating. You can receive benefits for partial disability, and you receive higher amounts with higher ratings. The amount is based on your rating and whether you have dependents.

SSDI only awards benefits if you fully meet Social Security’s definition of disability. For Social Security, there is no such thing as partial disability. You either fully qualify for disability benefits, or you don’t.

Social Security Disability payments are calculated based on an average of your past earnings and an SSA formula.

When you get approved for SSDI, you will also receive back pay to make up for some of the time you waited to receive benefits. This lump sum can go a long way toward helping you catch up on medical bills, your rent, mortgage or any other expenses.

Another valuable part of qualifying for Social Security Disability Insurance is that, after a waiting period, you get access to Medicare, even when you’re not the usual age to qualify.

And if you’re eligible for SSDI, you can get Medicare coverage and keep your VA health care benefits.

How a Virginia Disability Advocate Can Help Maximize Your Benefits

Applying for Social Security Disability benefits is rarely easy. It can take months to hear back about your initial application, and around 60% to 65% of people end up getting denied.

Let Mathis & Mathis Disability Advocates help you from the very beginning of this process.

Our team can:

Take the time to really listen and understand your situation

Answer any questions you have about Social Security Disability

Help you fill out SSA forms and avoid common mistakes

Identify medical evidence that could strengthen your claim

Coordinate information from your VA disability claim that may be useful

Help you file your initial application

Support your appeal if you get denied disability benefits

Keep you aware of important deadlines

Represent you at your disability hearing in front of an administrative law judge (ALJ)

Follow up to make sure you’re receiving your benefits once you’ve been approved

We won’t bounce your case file around from person to person in our office. You’ll be with the same case manager the whole time, so you’ll be working with someone who knows you and your disability claim.

No matter how long this takes, you won’t pay a fee for your advocate unless you win SSDI benefits.

Remember the SSDI back pay we mentioned before? Our payment comes out of that, so we get paid only when you do.

Social Security also sets strict rules about how much can come out of your back benefits to pay your disability advocate. There’s little financial risk to working with our disability advocates.

Because you served your country in the armed forces and worked and paid into Social Security, you have earned support for when your health problems leave you unable to work—whether you have disabilities stemming from your time in the military or any other work-stopping health problems.

Mathis & Mathis is proud to help you fight for your financial stability, independence and dignity.

Contact Us Now.

Applying or Appealing, We Can Help

Whether you’re in the initial stages of applying, appealing a denial of benefits, or wondering if you qualify, Mathis & Mathis can help.

Hear from a Mathis & Mathis Client

“I could not recommend Mathis & Mathis highly enough. They were kind, patient and thorough. No question was too small. They were timely in responding to me. While the process of applying for and obtaining disability is a long, tough road, Mr. Mathis made everything so much better. If you are thinking about applying, please do and know you will be taken very good care of . . . just like family.”

— Tracey Jones, Google Reviews