These VA benefits have different eligibility requirements and criteria for determining payment amounts.
Pension benefits are for Veterans who served during wartime. Eligibility is based on financial need. This is what we consider when determining eligibility:
- Your and your dependents’ net worth and annual income, and
- Your age or the severity of any disability you may have (it doesn’t have to be service connected)
Your income determines the amount of your pension payments.
Disability compensation is for Veterans with service-connected disabilities who served during wartime, peacetime, or both. Eligibility is based on the type and severity of disability. It isn’t based on net worth or income level.
Your level of disability (your disability rating) determines the amount of your disability compensation.
Note: You can’t get VA pension payments and disability compensation at the same time. If you apply for and are eligible for both, we’ll pay you whichever benefit is the greater amount.
Military retirement, VA disability, and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits programs all have different criteria for eligibility, so the veteran would need to meet all the requirements for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits to be eligible for this program. Getting military retirement or VA disability benefits does not automatically make one eligible for SSDI.
A Texas disability attorney can help you navigate the application and appeals process for SSDI benefits and answer your questions about how military retirement or VA disability benefits affect eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits.
Do Military Retirement or VA Disability Benefits Count as Income for SSDI Eligibility?
No, the Social Security Administration (SSA) does not count your military retirement or VA disability benefits as earned income for purposes of qualifying for SSDI benefits. If you have other sources of benefits or income that take you over the SSDI earnings limit and you are younger than your full retirement age, you might not be eligible for SSDI.
The SSDI earnings limit is the “substantial gainful activity” (SGA) amount, which changes every year due to cost of living adjustments. The SGA for 2021 is $2,190 in countable monthly earnings for statutorily blind individuals and $1,310 for non-blind individuals.
Differences Between Qualifying
The Veterans Administration (VA) can award monthly cash benefits and other services for qualifying service-related illnesses or injuries that cause either partial or full disability. In general, the VA will calculate the current or former service member’s total benefit amount and then reduce it based on the percentage of the disability rating. For example, if your full benefit amount would be $3,000 a month and you have a ten percent disability rating with the VA, your check would be $300 a month.
The SSDI program only pays benefits for people with 100 percent disability. There is no partial disability aspect to the SSDI program. Either you receive the full benefit amount based on your work record, or you get nothing. Some people qualify for VA benefits but not for SSDI.
Will My VA Disability Benefits Offset My SSDI Benefits?
No, the SSA does not reduce your benefits because you get a VA disability, and the VA will not reduce your benefits because of your SSDI benefits. As long as you meet the eligibility requirements for both programs, you could receive the full amount of your benefits from both programs without any deduction or offset.
Some other benefits programs, however, can reduce the amount of your SSDI monthly check. Workers’ compensation is one example of a public disability benefit that can cause the SSA to send you an SSDI check that is less than the full amount you would get if you did not collect workers’ compensation benefits.
Applying for benefits can be confusing and frustrating. Many people have to go through one or more levels of appeals before they get awarded the benefits they deserve. You can talk to a Texas disability attorney for guidance. Contact our office today to schedule a consultation.
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SSI/SSDI and VA Disability Benefits
Veterans may be eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), in conjunction with, or as an alternative to VA disability payments. They may also use the Medicaid and Medicare health benefits that come with SSI/SSDI to supplement VA health services.
The definition of disability and application process is different for SSA and VA disability benefits, and Veterans may begin receiving SSA benefits while they are waiting on a VA benefit decision.
Definition of Disability
VA Benefits
For service-connected disability benefits through the VA, the applicant must show that they have a disabling condition that was “incurred or aggravated by their military service." (Source: “Federal Benefits for Veterans, Dependents and Survivors,” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2016 Edition). The compensation rates are paid on a graduated scale, based on the degree of a Veteran’s disability, ranging from 10 to 100 percent, in 10 percent increments.
Pensions, or non-service connected disability payments, require that Veterans served in a wartime period, have limited resources and assets, and have a discharge other than dishonorable (among other factors).
SSA Benefits
Alternatively, the definition of disability for SSI/SSDI does not require the Veteran’s disability to be linked to their military service, does not take into account a Veteran’s discharge status, and does not pay on a graduated scale. For SSI/SSDI, the Veteran needs to show:
- Evidence of a physical or mental health condition, which results in functional impairments that limit their ability to work at a substantial gainful level.
- That the disabling condition has lasted, or is expected to last, for 12 months or end in death.
SSA Expedited Processing for Veterans
Veterans may qualify for programs from SSA that expedite disability decisions:
- 100% Permanent and Total Veterans Initiative
In March 2014, SSA introduced a new initiative to expedite the processing of applications from Veterans who have a 100% Permanent and Total (P&T) disability rating from the VA. To receive expedited processing, Veterans should identify themselves as a “Veteran rated 100% P&T” when initiating the SSI/SSDI application, and should provide the VA rating notification letter to SSA. - Wounded Warriors
Veterans who received disabling mental or physical health injuries while on active duty on or after October 1, 2001 are eligible for expedited SSI/SSDI application processing. The injury does not need to have occurred during combat operations. When initiating the SSI/SSDI application, Veterans should inform SSA that their injury occurred while on active duty.
More information about SSA expedited processing go to the Social Security Administration's Veterans page.
Accessing VA Health Records
Veterans can access and manage their VA health records and documents on VA.gov. This is done by linking either their My HealtheVet account or their eBenefits account. To access the VA Blue Button, Veterans must meet all of the requirements listed below.
Veterans must be:
- Enrolled in VA health care, and
- Registered as a patient in a VA health facility
Veterans must also have one of these free accounts:
- An Advanced or Premium My HealtheVet account, or
- A Premium DS Logon account (used for eBenefits and milConnect), or
- A verified ID.me account that can be created on VA.gov
How VA Disability Benefits Impact Social Security Payments
Veterans who receive VA disability benefits may also receive SSA benefits, depending on the amount received from the VA and if they are approved for SSI or SSDI.
SSI
Since SSI is a needs-based program, additional income from VA benefits will affect the cash benefit amount. SSA classifies VA benefits as “unearned income,” since it does not come from paid employment. As such, it will be deducted dollar for dollar from the SSI federal payment amount, after a general exclusion of $20. All SSI recipients are eligible for this exclusion, where the first $20 of earned or unearned income is not counted against their SSI payment.
For example, Paul receives partial VA benefits of $400 per month, and has been approved for SSI. The following table illustrates how the VA benefits will affect his SSI cash benefit:
VA Benefits & SSI| VA Monthly Disability Benefit Amount | $400 |
| General Exclusion | - $20 |
| Counted Income | = $380 |
| Maximum Monthly SSI Benefit Amount (2022 rates) | $841 |
| Counted Income | - $380 |
| Monthly SSI Amount | = $461 |
| Total Monthly Income (VA + SSI benefit amounts) | $861 |
Veterans who are approved for a VA pension will not qualify to receive SSI because the pension amount is higher than the SSI payment amount, which reduces the SSI payment amount to zero in the equation above. However, these Veterans may qualify to receive SSDI if they’ve earned enough work credits through SSA.
SSDI
Alternatively, SSDI benefits are not affected by unearned income through VA benefits. In the following example, Jane receives partial VA benefits of $400 per month. Because she worked and paid into the Social Security system, she now receives $850 per month in SSDI. Her VA and SSDI monthly benefit amounts will be added together:
VA Benefits & SSDI| VA Monthly Disability Benefit Amount | $400 |
| SSDI Monthly Benefit Amount | + $850 |
| Total Monthly Income | = $1250 |