Disabled Veterans Decry Wrongheaded, Heartless Budget Cuts

Do they matterNews Release – Disabled Veterans Decry Wrongheaded, ‘Heartless’ Budget Cuts

If Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) wanted to make a name for herself by proposing to cut funding for veterans health care and disability compensation, she has succeeded. “Such an ill-advised proposal is nothing short of heartless,” according to Disabled American Veterans Washington Headquarters Executive Director David W. Gorman.

“It is unconscionable that while our nation is at war someone would even think of forcing our wounded warriors to sacrifice even more than they already have,” Gorman said. “Their injuries and disabilities were the result of their service to the nation, and our nation must not shirk its responsibilities toward them. How do you tell a veteran who has lost a limb that he or she has not sacrificed enough? Yet Rep. Bachmann wants to do just that.”

The third-term member of Congress has called on Congress to freeze Department of Veterans Affairs health care spending and reduce disability compensation. Her proposal would cut $4.5 billion from veterans health care and disability benefits.

“Freezing VA health care funding will not only freeze out sick and disabled veterans seeking care, it will also end up costing the federal government even more money,” said Gorman. “With the number of veterans seeking health care rising, the effect of a freeze would be to either block enrollment of veterans, many of them just returning from battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan, or to ration care to currently enrolled veterans, including disabled veterans who have relied on VA dating back to World War II,” Gorman said.

Independent studies have shown the VA system provides safe, high quality health care at an average cost that is less than Medicare, Medicaid or the private sector. “This ill-conceived and misguided proposal by Rep. Bachmann would actually increase the budget deficit while lowering the quality of health care to our nation’s veterans,” he said.

“America’s sick and disabled veterans will not sit idly by while their earned health care and disability benefits are threatened,” Gorman warned. “We will raise our voices above the din and call on every member of Congress to reject Rep. Bachmann’s heartless proposal.”

I totally agree. The fact is when you work, pay into the system and become unable to work, Social Security Disability Insurance pays. It is the same thing with veterans and this comes right from them.

How Workers’ Compensation And Other Disability Payments May Affect Your Benefits
SSA Publication No. 05-10018, March 2010, ICN 454500 (En Español) [View .pdf] [Audio.mp3]

Disability payments from private sources, such as private pension or insurance benefits, do not affect your Social Security disability benefits.

However, workers’ compensation and other public disability benefits may reduce your Social Security benefits. Workers’ compensation benefits are paid to a worker because of a job-related injury or illness. They may be paid by federal or state workers’ compensation agencies, employers or by insurance companies on behalf of employers.

Other public disability payments that may affect your Social Security benefit are those paid by a federal, state or local government and are for disabling medical conditions that are not job-related. Examples are civil service disability benefits, state temporary disability benefits and state or local government retirement benefits that are based on disability.

If you receive workers’ compensation or other public disability benefits and Social Security disability benefits, the total amount of these benefits cannot exceed 80 percent of your average current earnings before you became disabled.

Some public benefits do not affect your Social Security disability benefits
If you receive Social Security disability benefits and one of the following types of public benefits,
your Social Security benefit will not be reduced:

Veterans Administration benefits;
State and local government benefits, if Social Security taxes were deducted from your earnings; or
Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Believe it or not as the blog world heats up over Bachmann’s desire to cut disabled veterans from VA compensation, there are some defending her. They claim that the veterans should NOT receive both. Why? I have no clue since the rest of us can. If we get hurt on the job and cannot work we get both. So why should the troops be treated differently?

Aside from the fact that people like Bachmann love to talk about how much they “love this country” these men and women were willing to die for it. Willing to die for people who couldn’t care less about them as much as they were willing to die for those who love them.

While the VA will pay for lost limbs for the rest of their lives, Social Security Disability will pay as long as they cannot work. This means that they are able to eat, keep a roof over their heads and have a way to support themselves. That is as soon as the claim is approved with Social Security and as soon as the claim is approved by the VA, which in some cases can take a year or more.

This woman serving in Congress along with other henchmen in her party want us to believe that the veterans are getting anything the rest of us don’t and should have their funds on the chopping block. The same people demanding wealthy get more tax breaks used to be ashamed to admit this is what they think but now they are unashamed of how they betray veterans.

Veterans around the country feel as if they have not only been attacked yet again, but yet again betrayed by the country that sent them into combat in the first place. Or should I say most veterans. There are some veterans defending Bachmann saying that the other veterans shouldn’t be paid by both but they are a tiny minority and members of the “I got mine screw you club” without a single thought of anyone else. They bought the line of people like Bachmann. Well as the saying goes when it comes to supporting the troops, talk is cheap. What we owe them is not.

Here is more from Social Security

Disability Benefits For Wounded Warriors
SSA Publication No. 05-10030, August 2007, ICN 456098 [View .pdf] , En Español [Audio mp3]

Military service members can receive expedited processing of disability claims from Social Security. Benefits available through Social Security are different than those from the Department of Veterans Affairs and require a separate application.

The expedited process is used for military service members who become disabled while on active military service on or after October 1, 2001, regardless of where the disability occurs.

What types of benefits can I receive?
Social Security pays disability benefits through two programs: the Social Security disability insurance program, which pays benefits to you and certain members of your family if you are “insured,” meaning that you worked long enough and paid Social Security taxes; and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which pays benefits based on financial need.

This fact sheet is about the Social Security disability program. For more information about the Social Security disability program, ask for Disability Benefits (Publication No. 05-10029). For information about the SSI disability program for adults, ask for Supplemental Security Income (Publication No. 05-11000).

What is Social Security’s definition of disability?
By law, Social Security has a very strict definition. To be found disabled:

You must be unable to do substantial work because of your medical condition(s); and
Your medical condition(s) must have lasted, or be expected to last, at least one year or be expected to result in death.
While some programs give money to people with partial disability or short-term disability, Social Security does not.

How does military pay affect eligibility for disability benefits?
You cannot engage in substantial work activity for pay or profit, also known as substantial gainful activity. Active duty status and receipt of military pay does not, in itself, necessarily prevent payment of disability benefits. Receipt of military payments should never stop you from applying for disability benefits from Social Security. If you are receiving treatment at a military medical facility and working in a designated therapy program or on limited duty, we will evaluate your work activity to determine your eligibility for benefits. The actual work activity is the controlling factor and not the amount of pay you receive or your military duty status.

How do I apply?
You may apply for disability benefits at any time while in military status or after discharge, whether you are still hospitalized, in a rehabilitation program or undergoing out-patient treatment in a military or civilian medical facility.

You may apply online at www.socialsecurity.gov/woundedwarriors, in person at the nearest Social Security office or by telephone. You may call 1-800-772-1213 to schedule an appointment. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, you may call our TTY number, 1-800-325-0778. Online we have a “disability starter kit” available to help you complete your application.

What do I need to apply?
Claimants and their representatives must provide information and documentation about age, employment, proof of citizenship, Social Security coverage and information regarding all impairments and related treatment. Social Security will make every reasonable effort to help you get the necessary medical evidence.

Important: You should file the application for disability benefits as soon as possible with any documents readily available. Do not delay filing because you do not have all the documents mentioned below.

Original or certified copy of your birth certificate or proof of U.S. citizenship or legal residency if foreign born;
Form DD 214, if discharged from the military service;
W-2 Form or income tax return from last year;
Military or workers’ compensation to include proof of payment;
Social Security numbers of your spouse and minor children;
Checking or savings account number, if you have one;
Name, address and phone number of a contact person, in case you are unavailable; and
Medical records that you have and/or that you can easily obtain from all military and civilian sources.