If your life is being affected by injuries or conditions that make it difficult to earn a meaningful, survivable income, there are programs in place that can assist you. Depending on the cause of the condition, the severity, and a few personal traits, you may qualify for more than one compensation program. Since each program or compensation option comes with its own set of benefits and drawbacks, keep a few of the following ideas in mind as you decide what to apply for.

Social Security Disability

The Social Security Administration (SSA) provides different levels of support for people who are unable to earn an sufficient income due to different conditions. The benefits can be permanent or temporary, but should be used if no other income options are available.

The maximum amount of payable disability changes by year, and can be found in years documents such as this press release from the SSA providing different payment amounts. The maximum amount payable for most applicants as of 2015 is $1090, with a higher rate of $1820 for blind applicants. 

One major downside of the SSA is that it depends on how much money you're able to earn. Since it's designed to help those who can't earn at all the most, there is a decreasing rate (changing yearly) that reduces the amount of benefits received if you're earning money from any sources. The money sources can be anything from continuing to work to other injury compensation programs. 

If it can be reported on taxes or detected in bank accounts, it can affect your social security payments. Make sure to contact a social security disability attorney before putting your effort into this program.

Veterans Affairs Compensation

Are you a military veteran? If so, you may be entitled to compensation or at least some for of assistance from the Department of the Veterans Affairs, also known as the VA.

The VA provides disability compensation for veterans with a service-connected disability. This means that your injury must have been caused during military service or became worse during military service. You'll need documentation to prove that you were injured, which may require a lawyer's assistance.

For the best results, you'll need a medical record entry that details your injury. The most important part of the report is the date, as it will prove that your injury was indeed military-related and not some issue you're claiming after the fact as fraud.

There are times where a condition could have been caused during military service, but went unnoticed or didn't seem concerning. Although such situations are more difficult to prove, there is no penalty or payment required to at least try a VA disability claim. You may have a service record entry that shows you were in the right place for the injury, or other official paperwork supporting your claims.

You may even have a condition shared by many other veterans who served at the same time. Some of these conditions are covered by a category called presumptive conditions. 'Presumptives,' as they're called in the VA system, are issues that are understood to affect a large number of veterans in a specific area or time period, and are open to examination for compensation.

Presumptive categories cover events and conditions such as Agent Orange exposure, Gulf War Syndrome and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)-related to events during military service. These conditions are detailed more in this document from the VA. 

Contact an attorney skilled in injury and compensation (such as one from LeCroy Law Firm, PLLC) to find a program or set of programs that can support your condition by working towards recovery and compensation