What not to do
August 2, 2008 Posted by
I would like to share some information. A few months ago I received a disability pension from the Veterans administration, which couldn’t have happened at a more perfect time, as I was broke. With the help of the law firm representing me the Social Security disability followed a few months later. Having legal representation go to bat for me was a wise choice after I was denied the first time. The Social Security pension is about $500 a month more (than I received fro the VA) so of course I will take it. There are certain obligations in doing so. My VA pension was not war related so it is not one I can keep once I receive the Social Security disability. So I must contact the VA and report the SS pension to them. They will then cancel the VA pension since I am going to receive the SS disability funding. If this is applicable to your situation you should report to the VA immediately after the SS income starts. After qualifying/receiving SS Disability, delaying reporting it will cost you a payback (sometimes with penalty or interest) to the VA or any other gov. institution that had been supplying financial assistance.
The other thing that is a “not to do” involves the Social Security disability. You will qualify for Medicare in two years from the date they start your payments, otherwise from the date you appealed their denial. In my case it will be in April of 2010 even though I will only be 61 at that time. According to my law firm’s paralegal assistant, Dawn, who has 20 years plus experience, you will have the opportunity to take this Medicare program or choose not to take it. Dawn cited one such case, a lady who was a Veteran and had a 100% coverage on medical from the VA. She chose not to go with Medicare and stay with the VA medical plan. Made sense to me as I have the same deal with me from the VA. But the bottom line was that once the VA found out she had the opportunity to go on Medicare and she chose not to go with it, they disqualified her from further VA medical assistance. So she immediately called the Social Security back to let them know she made a mistake and wanted to go on Medicare. She was told that once she turned it down it would be another two years before she would qualify for Medicare again. So there she was with two years of no medical coverage. So the question is, can it happen to you? The answer is “maybe”. Do not take that chance even if you have a private medical insurance company. When the time is there for you to make the decision, check with your medical supplier first to see where you stand. Do not get caught in that trap. Be diligent, do your research and be on the safe side……Any questions, post it to me and I will try to get back with an answer.
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