There aren't exactly special disability benefits for military veterans through the Social Security Administration. However, veterans do receive some special consideration when applying for Social Security Disability Insurance.
Perhaps most importantly, veterans are eligible to receive disability benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) without any impact or reduction to their SSDI benefits.
Since these programs are run by two separate agencies, it's important to highlight how they differ: The VA may give disability compensation to any veteran who sustained an injury or illness while they were on active military service, as long as the veteran was discharged under honorable circumstances.
The VA also allows partial benefits to be paid to a claimant depending on the percentage of a veteran’s disability. The Social Security Administration doesn't consider partial disabilities when viewing an application. For SSDI, you're either disabled and can receive full benefits or you don’t meet their criteria and won't receive benefits.
If you're a veteran who was injured on active military duty on or after October 1, 2001, you should look at the Wounded Warrior program through the Social Security Administration. This program allows veterans to expedite the process of applying for SSDI.
Any veteran denied SSDI can still appeal. If you've applied and were turned down the first time, our Kansas City SSDI attorneys can help you put together a strong appeal case. Darrell Castle, who founded Castle Law, is a Marine veteran who takes veteran disability very seriously. We consider it a privilege to help on cases like yours.
Contact us today to get started before time runs out on your application. Call us at 816-842-7100 or click here to email us.