When veterans return to Michigan from war, many have disabilities. In fact, there are soldiers who become disabled while in training due to accidents involving falls and motor vehicle crashes. Regardless of the reason for their disability, many of these men and women rely on Social Security Disability checks to cover necessary expenses, particularly if they are unable to work.
According to the Social Security Administration, starting from March 2014, veterans with 100% permanent and total had the option of receiving expediting processing of their documents for SSD. However, even with a 100% P&T, many veterans still get denied for SSD. This is because the disability must meet the specific criteria put in place by the SSD. These veterans may, however, receive compensation from the VA.
Veterans who are unable to work and rely heavily on SSD also face a high risk of needing to file for bankruptcy. Typically, a veteran would lose the SSD money they had amassed to help pay any outstanding liabilities. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, Congress recently passed a new bill that aims to protect veterans’ disability payments that would have otherwise gone toward paying off debt.
The bill achieves this by preventing creditors from counting disability payments as disposable income. In fact, the bill aims to prevent SSD payments from being included in any of the income that should be used to repay outstanding debts after bankruptcy filings. This may help veterans to receive many of the same protections already available to the general population. Supporters of the bill say veterans were exempted from these protections due to an error in the 2005 reform of U.S. bankruptcy laws.
