Depending on the severity and circumstances of an injury or condition, a veteran in medical need may have many different places to turn to. When physically disability and money troubles make medical decisions more difficult, a veteran has the benefit of Veterans Affairs assistance and legal assistance from law professionals who want to keep their country's veterans in good care. As you think about your medical options, consider a few paths to take when medical issues with financial hurdles make life more difficult than you can easily manage alone.

Social Security Benefits

The Social Security Administration (SSA) provides financial support for people who suffer from disabling circumstances so severe that most jobs are impossible or extremely difficult. The benefits can be temporary or for life, and requires a set of evidence that proves the severity of a person's condition.

There are a lot of social security disability claims being made in recent years, which makes it easy for your claim to be lost in the shuffle. Although the claims are handled on a regional and state basis, a heavy burden of claims means that your claim needs to stand out and present as much required evidence as possible.

You may need the assistance of a social security disability lawyer, especially if the claim is denied the first time. A legal professional with experience in social security disability knows what the claim system is looking for and how to arrange medical evidence to prove your case.

Make sure to document as much information about your condition as possible. Even if a lawyer has a lot of good presentation techniques and a skilled medical staff to rely on, having a longer history of medical or psychological documentation can make your claim show to true depth of your condition.

Veterans Affairs Assistance

Social security disability is available for all U.S. citizens, including veterans, but you should consider asking your lawyer to assist with a Veterans Affairs (VA) claim as well.

If your injury was caused during your military service or made worse during military service, you may be eligible for VA disability compensation. In order to be eligible for VA compensation, many of the same conditions of social security disability must be met as well as proving that your condition is service-connected.

In order for a condition to be considered service-connected, you need to have proof supporting the claim that military service caused the condition or made it worse. This proof can be as direct as a medical report about breaking a leg or being exposed to hazardous materials, or as basic as medical statements of aches and pains during military service.

The benefit of Veterans Affairs compensation over social security disability is that there's no income requirement with the VA's system. With social security, you're only allowed to earn a certain amount of money per month before penalties reach into your benefits (detailed on page 17 of this PDF document from the Social Security Administration).

Veterans Affairs has no such requirement, as the VA compensation is designed to compensate you for the injuries and problems caused by your military service. It's a payment for your trouble in some ways, where as social security disability exists as a safety net that is designed to be temporary.

Get in contact with a legal professional like Paul F Guthrie to begin crafting a claim for any system that could support your injuries and to find out which compensation is right for you.