If you are already receiving disability benefits through the Veterans Administration (VA) you may also be eligible to receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) from the Social Security Administration (SSA). SSDI is administered by the SSA to provide monthly benefits for disabled workers. To receive SSDI, you must have worked enough to earn sufficient credits and to have paid in adequate taxes to the SSA. In general, that means you must have worked the equivalent of five years full-time out of the last 10 years, but that can vary depending on age. While VA disability is only available to military veterans who suffer from a service-related disability, SSDI is available to any worker who suffers from any disability that meets the requirements of the medical guide to be deemed a full disability per the SSA guidelines. So, if you have a service-related disability and other medical conditions, you can combine those together to gain approval for SSDI. Unlike VA disability, to get SSDI you must be fully disabled as there are no partial disability benefits. There are other differences.
More info here: http://www.wadenapj.com/opinion/commentary/4219090-eligibility-va-disability-and-ssdi“