Veterans SSDI Disability/and Their Families

WillieMae Pope
3 days ago
2 min read

Both the Social Security Administration (SSA)

and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

administer programs that pay disability benefits

to eligible individuals. The differences between

the programs these agencies administer can

be confusing. Each agency must follow its

own definition of disability, as directed by laws

drafted by Congress. Therefore, an individual

who is eligible for benefits under a program

administered by one agency is not automatically

eligible for benefits under a program

administered by the other agency.

Social Security Disability Insurance

(SSDI) Benefits

Social Security uses a specialized definition

of disability developed over the years by

Congress in the Social Security Act (Act).

To be “disabled” under the Act, an individual

must show the inability to perform substantial

gainful activity due to a medically determinable

physical or mental impairment that can be

expected to result in death or that has lasted

or can be expected to last for a continuous

period of at least 12 months. The amount

of monthly earnings considered Substantial

Gainful Activity (SGA) depends on the nature

of a person’s disability and generally changes

with updates to the national average wage index.

For more information on SGA, visithttps://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/sga.html.

Social Security pays disability benefits through two programs: the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. SSDI is for workers and certain family members if they worked long enough and recently enough to be eligible for benefits.

Other Social Security Benefits

Some veterans, their spouses, and their dependents may be eligible for other Social Security benefits such as retirement, Medicare, and survivors benefits.

For service members who are eligible for Medicare, TRICARE is available as a supplement. TRICARE is a health care program of the United States Department of War Military Health System and is not administered by Social Security.