I recently received the following email from a reader of this blog.

I have a claim going now for SSDI and have not recieved a decision yet however after reading your blog I am very curious about your experience with VA disability and SSDI. I am 100% disabled and receive VA disability. How does or can this affect my SSDI claim?

Jonathan Ginsberg responds: Generally, a disability finding by the VA will be of great benefit in your Social Security case.  The Social Security law provides that judges must consider VA findings as evidence in your favor.  It has been my experience that any SSDI case that also has a 100% VA disaiblity finding has been a winner.  Even cases where the VA disability rating is less than 100% are usually approved.