Q: What benefits are available to disabled or non-disabled vets?
They navigated minefields or launched missiles by air or sea. They performed daring rescues and survived ambush attacks. In many cases, they paid dearly for their sacrifice and service to our country and many didn’t make it home with all the parts they left with—if they made it home alive at all.
Sadly, instead of a clear pathway to easily accessible and well-deserved Social Security Disability and Veterans Benefits, our veterans face bureaucratic red tape and obstacles at various stages of the application and appeal process for SSDI or other veterans benefits. The situation is so stressful that many vets just quit on their denied applications in frustration rather than seeing the process through to the final appeal or hearing level.
Sobering statistics indicate that 70% of first time applicants who file their own Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) application without attorney representation are denied benefits. Although there is an appeal process within 60 days of the initial denial of benefits, over 85% of unrepresented applicants are denied again at this reconsideration level. Defeated and frustrated, most applicants give up at this point, before reaching the appeals/hearing level.
However, for those applicants who secure legal representation by an experienced SSDI and Veterans Benefits attorney for the hearing stage of the application process, 50% are awarded benefits. The reality that so many vets quit just one step away from victory is tragic.
Seeking counsel legal counsel prior to or early in the application or appeals process can make all the difference in your outcome. Not only might attorney involvement streamline the process, but experienced attorneys will also be able to advise veterans on whether they may qualify for both Social Security disability benefits and other VA benefits offered through the Department of Veterans Affairs, both of which require separate applications.
Unfortunately, many veterans and their families are only aware of a small fraction of the benefits they may be entitled to, leaving underutilized resources to sit unused while they and their families struggle needlessly.
Some of the many benefits available through the VA for veterans and/or their families include:
- burial and memorial
- death pension
- dependency and indemnity compensation
- disability compensation
- employment and training
- parents dependency and indemnity compensation
- special monthly compensation
- survivor benefits
- ·veterans healthcare
- life insurance.
If you are a veteran who has been unfairly denied compensation or if you need help filing a claim for Social Security Disability or Veterans Disability benefits, the Law Firm of Pena & Bromberg, PPLC can help at any stage of the application and appeals process. You don’t have to struggle through the frustrating process alone and risk short changing the benefits you have earned for yourself and your family.
Please call our office for a free consultation at 559-439-9700. Our practice is exclusively dedicated to Social Security Disability and Veterans Disability and Benefits law. We have been helping veterans and their families throughout California as well as nationwide since 1984.
