Disabled military service members and veterans may be eligible for expedited processing of their claims. This Social Security Administration (SSA) law is outlined in HALLEX I-2-1-40 Critical Cases section. This also provides information for the SSA employees on how to process these types of claims.
This special claim processing is reserved for military service members who become disabled while on active military service on or after October 1, 2001. This designation applies whether the disability occurred while in the United States or on foreign soil
If you are or were an active military service member and became disabled on or after October 1, 2001, it is important to bring this to the SSA’s attention as screening for this expedited processing can sometimes be missed. You can do this by contacting the specific office the claim is pending at.
The expedited processing applies to both claims for Disability Insurance Benefits (DIB) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims. In order to qualify for DIB benefits you must have paid enough in to the SSA, recently enough to be insured. To determine if you qualify you can call the SSA and ask for your date last insured; to qualify for the DIB benefits you must be found disabled prior to this date.
If you do not have enough work credits to qualify for DIB, you may be eligible for SSI. In order to eligible for SSI, you must meet the SSA’s financial need criteria.15
