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Some of the Differences Between Social Security and VA Disability.

By Douglas I. Friedman of Friedman Law Firm, P.C.

Monday, September 21, 2020

The rules for Social Security Disability are very different than those for VA. Here are a few differences:

FIRST, when you apply for Social Security Disability, you are claiming that you are unable to work as of a certain date. So, you are making ONE claim (“I can’t work”) at ONE point in time (“beginning on _____”).

With VA disability, each disease or injury is a separate claim. So, you can make many different claims. For example, if you claim diabetes and a degenerative arthritis in your back, the diabetes and back are separate claims.

In addition, the claims can relate to different periods of time. In the above example, if the diabetes if diagnosed in 2015, you may have filed for it at that time, asking for a 2015 effective date. But, if the arthritis was not diagnosed until 2018, you may have filed for arthritis with a 2018 effective date. So, not only are the diabetes and arthritis separate claims, but they also pertain to a different period of time.

SECOND, the procedural steps in a Social Security claim are the same for all cases. But, in a VA case, the veteran can choose from a number of appeals and actually go get several appeals and remands on one claim to keep it alive.

In a Social Security case, the steps in the process are:

1) Initial application 2) Request for Reconsideration 3) Request a hearing before a judge 4) Request review by the Appeals Council

In a VA case, the steps are:

1) Initial Application 2) Request a Higher Level Review (HLR) 3) Request a hearing before a judge.

With the VA, these steps are not necessarily sequential. If your initial application is denied, you might refile the application with new evidence, or choose an HLR, or a hearing. You also have three different choices on what type of hearing to have: You can ask for a judge to review the file as-is (no new evidence or testimony); Or you can submit new evidence and have a judge review the case (no testimony);Or, you can choose to submit new evidence and give testimony before the judge.

THIRD,  Social Security cases usually take less time than VA. An initial application at both agencies takes about four to six months. But, hearings usually are heard within less than two years at Social Security. In fact, currently, Social Security is conducting only phone hearings, and the wait can be as little as four months!

For VA we have had cases that took two years to get a hearing, and then three more years just to get the written decision from the judge. We had a hearing in February 2020 with VA and still don’t have the decision. Hopefully it won’t take three years!

The VA delays are due to the number of hearing requests exceeding available hearing slots. The judges complete a lot of decisions but they can’t work fast enough to keep up.

VA knows that such delays are unacceptable and is making efforts to reduce them. We hope they will be successful, but so far it is too early to tell.

We help our clients with both VA and Social Security disability, acting as a central point of contact for their needs. If you would like our help with your case, please contact us as (2050 879-3033 or Lifehealth@FriedmanFirmPC.com

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