If veteran files for NSC pension, file as a single vet. However, provide the marital information, but explain the circumstances in the remarks section and request single veteran status.
SSDI is a safety-net to both civilians and military workers due to their inability to work as a result of long-term or terminal illness, providing benefits that may be subject to taxation. While VDC is also a safety-net, it provides veterans with tax-free cash benefits for service-connected illnesses or injuries. The inability to work is not a prerequisite for benefit entitlement; however veterans who are unemployable as a result of a service-connected condition are eligible for additional compensation. SSDI only compensates workers who are fully disabled; however, VDC will compensate veterans for both fully as well as partially disabling conditions….
SSDI is an insurance program that replaces a portion of earnings for an insured worker whose illness or injury, which is not necessarily work-related, results in an inability to perform any substantial gainful activity. The program is funded through payroll taxes paid under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act or the Self-Employment Contributions Act. VDC is not insurance. It is a compensation program that pays benefits to veterans who develop medical conditions that are related to their military service. The program is funded through a mandatory appropriation under the VA budget rather than from contributions by veterans or active military personnel….
Rita Files is an elder-care professional, an accredited VA claim agent, and the chief operating officer of Aging with Grace. She can be reached at rita@agingwithgrace.net.
For merchant marines, you need to be careful of the dates, as the war dates for Merchant Marines is a different from other branches of services; i.e. 12-07-1941 thru 08/15/1945. You can file ANY claim with just the veteran’s social security number. Leave the service number blank and let the VA fill it in. To increase your monthly income, please contact us about a FREE HANDBOOK about VA Benefits, written by David Wingate, an accredited VA Attorney, of Senior Life Care Planning, LLC, go to info@seniorlcp.com or if you require additional information about VA Benefits, visit our Senior LCP's Website….
Once a claim is denied and the claimant becomes eligible, you could file a new claim; however, if this is done within a year’s period, the VA may question it even though there is no legal waiting period for re-filing i.e has overscale assets, then two months later these assets disappear. To increase your monthly income, please contact us about a FREE HANDBOOK about VA Benefits, written by David Wingate, an accredited VA Attorney, of Senior Life Care Planning, LLC, go to info@seniorlcp.com or if you require additional information about VA Benefits, visit our Senior LCP's Website. We also have…
The three new illnesses – B-cell (or hairy-cell) leukemia, Parkinson’s disease and ischemic heart disease – are added to the list of presumed illnesses previously recognized by VA.