Social Security Disability and SSI What is the Difference?

Social Security Disability, also called SSDI, is a program that allows those who are unable to work due to medical conditions receive monthly benefits based on the individuals payment of Social Security taxes when they worked.  To be eligible for these benefits you must have enough work credits and recent enough work credits.  The amount of money you get per month is based on how much you have paid into the Social Security system when you were working.  Supplemental Security Income or SSI is a needs based program for those who are unable to work due to medical conditions.  To qualify for SSI you need to be unable to work due to medical conditions and have low income and resources.  The monthly payments are based on need and the money comes from the general tax and not the Social Security Fund.  To better understand if you qualify for SSDI or SSI follow the link to my website that explains these two programs further.

Applying for Veterans Disability Benefits

If you are applying for VA disability benefits it is a good idea to try and list all the medical conditions you are trying to get service connected in one application if possible.  I say this because many veterans apply for some of their medical conditions in one application and then make another application later with more medical conditions listed later.  Although there is nothing wrong with this it can cause some issues later.  With one application you then should get one decision which means you will only have one decision to appeal.  If you have more than one application then you will get more than one decision and each new decision may have to be appealed.  The less appeals you have to make the less chance you have of missing an appeal deadline.  I also believe if you have all your medical conditions on one application it will help keep your claim easier to work with at the VA Regional Office which may lead to a faster processing time.  It is not always possible since many times new medical conditions may pop up or you later find out a medical condition you have can be service connected that you were not aware could be.  So, I am not saying it is terrible for your claim if you don't apply for everything at once I just believe if you can apply for everything at the same time it may just make things easier for you as you go through the VA disability process.