Asking on behalf of a friend.
He is not rated by the VA for any disability, not even a 10% for tinnitus. He was Vietnam-era and for a few years now has received a non-service connected pension of around $1100/month. For the last couple years he has also received regular social security benefits (neither SSI/SSDI, but old people's social security) which is about $700/month.
Well, I helped him put in for aid and attendance. He was endorsed by all his providers and the decision came back that he was approved. Unfortunately, it appears the VA was unaware that he had been collecting the pension and social security simultaneously and now want a significant amount of money to rectify the overpayment. We have an appointment with our local VSO office in order to file for a waiver, and, failing that, ask for a reasonable payment plan.
I remember the VSO saying over the phone that because my friend is not disabled (he is though, he can barely walk even with a cane and is in his late 60's) social security is considered income. So I am wondering, what if he dropped social security and applied for SSI? He would not have enough work credits for SSDI. Sorry if this is an extremely ignorant question but I'm in my 30's and all my income from the VA is service connected so have basically no experience with the interaction between social security/ssi/non-service connected pension.
Basically I want to see if there's a way for my friend to keep his raise. On the decision letter, it showed that previously his award was $1100 and now is $1800. However, retroactively his award will be $250 or so and going forward his award will have $700 withheld. So it's pretty much the same amount...
Thank you for any help you can provide.
He is not rated by the VA for any disability, not even a 10% for tinnitus. He was Vietnam-era and for a few years now has received a non-service connected pension of around $1100/month. For the last couple years he has also received regular social security benefits (neither SSI/SSDI, but old people's social security) which is about $700/month.
Well, I helped him put in for aid and attendance. He was endorsed by all his providers and the decision came back that he was approved. Unfortunately, it appears the VA was unaware that he had been collecting the pension and social security simultaneously and now want a significant amount of money to rectify the overpayment. We have an appointment with our local VSO office in order to file for a waiver, and, failing that, ask for a reasonable payment plan.
I remember the VSO saying over the phone that because my friend is not disabled (he is though, he can barely walk even with a cane and is in his late 60's) social security is considered income. So I am wondering, what if he dropped social security and applied for SSI? He would not have enough work credits for SSDI. Sorry if this is an extremely ignorant question but I'm in my 30's and all my income from the VA is service connected so have basically no experience with the interaction between social security/ssi/non-service connected pension.
Basically I want to see if there's a way for my friend to keep his raise. On the decision letter, it showed that previously his award was $1100 and now is $1800. However, retroactively his award will be $250 or so and going forward his award will have $700 withheld. So it's pretty much the same amount...
Thank you for any help you can provide.