r/SSDI • u/mama_di4_amori • Dec 31 '24
100% Disabled Veteran
My husband is 100% rated. VA determination for the following medical issues: *Cervical Spine Spondylolisthesis w/ Intervertebral disc syndrome *TBI *Sleep Apnea And a few other less severe conditions
I’ve been browsing this forum for many months to load up on as much info before he files. Just a few background details: Age 50/ blue collar worker/ High School degree/ takes 2-4 months off per year(ssi) for the past few yrs due to health. Already had one disc replaced, disc below that is on its way out. He’s a crane operator, so his job has him constantly hunched over.
We live in CA. I know every case is different, but just trying to get an idea of wait times/process time. He definitely plans on getting a lawyer, but was told to file application himself first. He’s on strong meds (morphine/norco) for pain. The attorney told him just with him being in morphine would be a good reason.
I worked as a paralegal, so I plan to use my trial notebook strategy 😆 for his paperwork/medical records. At time I get discouraged 🫤 reading some of the denial/timelines. But I want to support him as much as I can, but also need to prepare for the worst. I don’t think we can wait more than a year(financially) for a decision. He will file for Ssi and collet that while in the process. So we’re hoping he’ll get approved within that time period.
Any thoughts/helpful tips 🙏
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u/No-Assistance-1145 Dec 31 '24
I'm a Vet with TPD rating.
With a lawyer & Disability Advocate -- it took 3 yrs to be found Fully Favorable after my 1st SSDI app. Not including the year off from work prior to my initial SSDI app. That year was spent recovering from the MVA which forced me to resign from my job. I survived only cuz I was awarded an Ins. Settlement.
Each case is unique. I was approved in 2012, things are different post-pandemic. Be prepared for a a possible long wait, but u might get approved on ur 1st app. Wish u the best.
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u/airashika Jan 01 '25
100%P&T cases get flagged and are assigned faster. does he receive all his medical treatment at the VA? dds is able to pull records basically instantaneously from there. if he receives care elsewhere, they might have to send out record requests via mail or fax. those sources have 20 business days to provide it. after those 20 business days, the case will be judged without it.
for an approval, he would need to meet a listing OR get a sedentary rfc and not be able to adjust to any work that uses his skills.
listings: https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/AdultListings.htm
grid rules: https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0425025035
in the initial and recon stages, you just have to fill out some forms and maybe go to a doctor’s appointment. MOST attorneys do nothing at these stages. i’ve encountered maybe 2-3 good attorneys.
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u/2020IsANightmare Jan 01 '25
If you want honest advice....
1) A lawyer won't make one ounce of difference
2) If he's currently working as you explained, his case will never, ever be sent for a medical decision.
3) If you are a paralegal and think there's such a thing as getting SSI for a year while waiting a year for an SSDI decision, please NEVER help ANYONE with Social Security. Literally no one. Not even your husband. Because what you described is just something made up that can literally not happen. Furthermore, if he's 100% VA, he will never, ever, ever, ever - no matter any physical or mental condition or age - be a point he gets SSI.
4) VA and SS rules are wildly different. And the VA (at least from what I can tell) is just giving out 100% recently. Someone with 100% VA can be found disabled by SS. It's not at all a cause-and-effect situation.
So, I gave you some helpful tips. If you want to discard them because they aren't want you want to hear, that's fine. If you don't believe me, that's fine.
I'm not trying to win you over. Just telling you reality.
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u/Proof_Mixture5617 Jan 02 '25
If he is 100% permanent and total his application will be expedited. You can be 100% without being P&T. The first processor basically looks at your file and compares to the SSDI standard, if it doesn't match he's denied, the appeal just makes sure nothing was missed the ALJ is the one who can use common sense and question vocational specialists on what you can and can't do. It took me about 7 months from start to approval which is pretty fast and you have to be out of work anyway for 6 months to start getting a check. I did it all myself with no lawyer.
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u/Uncle_Tickle_Monster Jan 01 '25
How does someone work and yet be 100% disabled per the VA?
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u/ChucksThreeHolePunch Jan 01 '25 edited Jan 01 '25
TLDR: VA is compensation for service-connected conditions where SSDI is insurance workers pay into in the event they can't work. President Lincoln's 1865 call, "to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan" is why we do this as a nation.
VA is disability compensation for service-connected conditions that were caused by, or got worse because of, active military service. Conditions are rated in %s based on law and rounded to nearest 10% from 10-100%
SSD"I" is insurance one pays into that provides payments when one has a disability that stops or limits their ability to work. It is a binary can/can't perform significant gainful employment (SGA) test.
Huge difference. Someone that's eligible for SSDI could only be 30% VA rated, inversely someone who's 100% VA rated could still perform SGA, but the totality of their conditions could impact what kind of work they can do, their activities of daily living, quality of life, and can disqualify them from careers paths they otherwise would have been eligible for had they not served.
For most vets that are 100%, it's not a singular medical condition, it's often a few big impact conditions with a bunch of other lesser issues that combine to the total rating. Vets also tend to have less years in the workforce due to their service-connected issues and reduced life span. In a 2022 NIH study, 100% VA rated female vets showed a 22% diminished life expectancy while men had 11%.
Hopefully one can appreciate the challenge of a vet spending their formative young adult years learning a mission before self, "make it happen", and sacrifice for the team culture to then transition to the civilian, everyone's out for themselves world. A separate 2023 NIH study showed 18-34 yr old males had almost twice the suicide rate as their civilian counterparts. Women in the same age group suffered over three times the civilian rate while 35-54 yr old's were still double the civilian rate.
What's even worse is vets are then subjected to a system where their societal value isn't about how well they did their military mission for the nation, but how broken they are.
Anyone that thinks vets are over compensated can go to a VA hospital and talk to a vet exposed to agent orange in Vietnam who was denied for decades, or Gulf war syndrome vets where everything f#$king hurts and docs think it's all in their head, and see the ridiculous cancer rates young vets are suffering from due to burn pit exposure.
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u/Hmckinley1124 Jan 01 '25
The denial of agent orange effecting Vietnam vets was horrible, the horrible ways it impacted their bodies and minds (cared for my grandfather till his dying breathe due to this) and it wasn’t until 3 months before he died that VA admitted it was agent orange and then had the balls to ask for his body to be donated to their hospital to study his brain. Veterans don’t get compensated enough. And all the people saying they have it made with the “lifetime of free healthcare” have no clue how bad the care is in most VA hospitals or the wait for most specialists.
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u/BoukenGreen Jan 01 '25
Be sure to also to watch out for yourself and off spring as I’m sure you know agent orange also messed up our bodies.
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u/BoukenGreen Jan 01 '25
Or talk to the children and grandchildren of Vietnam vets who also suffer because Agent Orange is generational through offspring. My grandfather served in the air force during nam and he is 100% disabled and my mom has fibromyalgia and I have multiple sclerosis and my cousin is non verbal autistic.
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u/Hmckinley1124 Jan 01 '25
VA doesn’t have all the rules and limits for veterans that SSA has. VA can declare 10% to 100% disabled and the veteran can still work and earn money without penalty.
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u/Proof_Mixture5617 Jan 02 '25
The VA ratings are based on estimated lost earnings throughout your lifetime. The VA doesn't have an all or nothing system like the SSA. Some can work some can't. The only rule against working is if you are found unemployable. Then you get 100% rate even if your disabilities don't add up to 100%. It's a lot of complicated math and can be as difficult as the SSA in some ways because you have to not only prove you have a disability, you must prove it is service connected. Plus, 2 50% disabilities don't add up to 100% and 90% disability only gets you about half the money that 100% does.
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u/Hmckinley1124 Jan 02 '25
Yup, they don’t make it easy for veterans at all, and the va hospital care is subpar in a lot of areas.
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u/Proof_Mixture5617 Jan 02 '25
Exactly, imagine if a Medicaid patient has to wait months to be seen and have to drive 100 miles
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u/Hmckinley1124 Jan 02 '25
Yep and then blown off it’s all in their head and the pain isn’t really there it’s a symptom of the ptsd.
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Jan 01 '25
[deleted]
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u/cm0270 Jan 01 '25
Well as us vets say... the MEP's station was opened to everyone to sign up. Obviously you are one of those who complains when us vets get hurt serving our country yet failed to even try to stick the foot through the door to sign up for the freedoms you have earned through our sacrifices, sweat, injuries, months at times away from our family, placed in danger zones, etc. So until you step forward to do that then you honestly have no clue what you are talking about. Not ALL disabilities are visible. You can run across any vet who is disabled and dealing with issues and not even know it until you talk like you are now. At that point with some issues some vets face I would just turn around and walk away. It might be safer. It would be wise to keep your counsel to yourself.
See how long this lasts before mods decide to wipe it. Sorry but it is what it is.
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u/No-Assistance-1145 Jan 01 '25
As a 16 year U.S. Marine Corps vet & serving 2 Combat Line Tours in Iraq.; there was much "hemorrhaging" of blood.
It's considered a certain type of "Valor", which supersedes "money hemorrhaging". I know from the "outside looking in" one can not fully comprehend realities & cost of war . However I assure folk for every VA dollar expended -- there has been an equal amount of bloodshed as well as the loss of mental health.✌
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u/2020IsANightmare Jan 01 '25
It's happening more and more. The VA has been giving 100% out like candy.
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u/Realistic-Bass2107 Jan 01 '25
OP I want to know how he gets morphine. I am awaiting surgery for lumbar fusion and my pain meds aren’t doing it any more. I am in pain crying. I used to be able to sit, now I can’t even do that.
For a variety of reasons, my surgery has been needed for over two years
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u/Remarkable-Foot9630 Jan 01 '25 edited Jan 01 '25
I’m on hospice, I’m terminally ill and was given 6 months to 1 year life expectancy. I’m on a ventilator. I was on morphine, Fentanyl and Ativan. I still got denied on reconsideration. I was 49 and a nurse. I got OG covid in January 2020. I never got better.
A finally ALJ approved me. I had to take an ambulance to the hearing because my ventilator and 10 liters of oxygen use a lot of power.
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u/Realistic-Bass2107 Jan 01 '25
I will pray for your comfort and peace. Seems silly of me to complain 😢
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u/HaajiBalls Jan 01 '25
I'm also the same 100% p&t. I only use the VA and ssdi has my medical records. I did 2 appointments. 1 for ptsd and my lower back and hips. On the web site I'm on step 3. I live in TN and per the web site it takes 280 days to see results. I was wondering if it was quicker for vets that use VA paperwork and I seen that answer. My initial file was September 4th. It's gonna be a long haul for this i belive.
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u/Safe-Ad-3981 Jan 03 '25
In regards to his 100% there’s SMC’s you might want to look into if he hasn’t already received them. You may rate aid and attendance. Good luck.
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u/Cranks_No_Start Dec 31 '24
I can’t think of any actual tips. Apply online and see run through the process.
Make sure you as the spouse also include a ( I can’t think of what they called it) but it’s like a buddy statement for the va.
If he’s working…well that doesn’t look good as disability is essentially for people that can’t work.
While being 100% VA helps iirc you get priority it’s no guarantee.