SSI Recipients Eligible For VA Benefits

From a recent report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG):

To perform our review, we identified 2,390 SSI [Supplemental Security Income] recipients as of March 2009 (from 1 of 20 Social Security number segments) with military earnings during certain wartime periods who appeared to meet VA’s [Department of Veterans Affairs'] requirements for benefits. [This would have to be non-service connected VA disability benefits, a point that the report should have made clear. Some of these veterans would also qualify for service connected disability benefits from VA.] We randomly selected 100 cases from this population for detailed analysis. (See Appendix B for more details on our scope, methodology, and sample results.)

RESULTS OF REVIEW

We found that some SSI recipients appeared potentially eligible for VA benefits instead of SSI payments. Based on our review, we estimate SSA paid about $1.3 billion to approximately 22,000 SSI recipients who appeared to meet VA requirements for benefits. In addition, we estimate that SSA will continue to pay about $126 million in SSI payments over the next 12 months to individuals who appeared eligible for VA benefits instead of SSI payments.

Of the 100 cases in our sample,
• 45 appeared potentially eligible for VA benefits;
• 45 did not appear eligible for VA benefits; and
• 10 had military earnings, but we were unable to determine potential VA benefit eligibility.