Central Texas Social Security Disability Lawyer for Fort Hood Families and Workers in Five Counties

Veterans, VA Ratings, and Your Social Security Claim

A VA rating and a Social Security award are two separate decisions. The SSA says plainly that even a 100 percent VA rating doesn't win your claim by itself. You still have to meet the Social Security Act's strict test for disability.

A rating of 100 percent Permanent and Total does move you up. The SSA speeds up claims for veterans with that rating. Bring your VA rating letter and your VA medical records to the first meeting.

The programs also count money differently. SSDI doesn't reduce your payment because you get VA compensation. SSI does count VA compensation as income, after a $20 exclusion, and most VA special monthly compensation and aid and attendance payments don't count. We check which program fits you before you file.

Attorneys Manuel Alcozer and Alex Bass are listed on our veterans benefits page as accredited to appear before the VA, and our veterans work centers on appeals of denied claims. Ask us how a VA appeal and your Social Security claim fit together.

Military Spouses and Families on the Move

If you moved with a soldier every few years, your own medical story is probably scattered. You may have a diagnosis from one state, a surgery in another, and a new doctor in Killeen who has never met you.

Your spouse's rank and income don't qualify you for SSDI. Your own earnings record does. SSDI usually needs 40 work credits, with 20 earned in the ten years before you became disabled. Years spent unable to work because of frequent moves can leave you short, and we check your record early.

SSI doesn't depend on work history, but it does cap what you can own. A single adult can hold no more than $2,000 in countable resources, and a couple no more than $3,000. A spouse's pay can count against you, which is why we look at the whole household first.

Why Your Last Five Years of Work Matter So Much

At step four of the SSA's five-step review, the agency asks whether you can still do your past work. Since June 2024, past work means the last five years, and any job you held under 30 days doesn't count.

That rule shapes claims across this region. A drywall finisher in Georgetown, a ranch hand in Lampasas County, a warehouse picker in Temple, and a combat engineer at Fort Hood all have different physical demands. We match your job to the SSA's strength levels, from sedentary up to very heavy.

Step five asks whether you can do any other work. Age matters here. The SSA treats people 50 and over more kindly than younger claimants, and 55 and over most of all, because starting a new career is harder later in life.

2026 Dollar Figures Every Claimant Should Know

These numbers come from the SSA's 2026 tables.

You earn one work credit for each $1,890 in wages or self-employment income, up to four credits a year.

Substantial gainful activity is $1,690 a month, or $2,830 if you're blind. Earn more than that while your claim is pending and the SSA can deny you.

A trial work month starts at $1,210 in earnings.

SSI pays up to $994 a month for one person and $1,491 for a couple.

The average disabled worker's benefit is $1,630 a month after the 2.8 percent cost-of-living raise.

Fees, Back Pay, and Medicare

You don't pay us anything unless we win your case. Federal rules cap a representative's fee at 25 percent of your past-due benefits or $9,200, whichever is less, for favorable decisions on or after November 30, 2024. The SSA takes the fee out of your back pay.

Back pay can reach up to 12 months before the day you applied, if you were disabled then. The SSA also makes you wait five full calendar months before SSDI starts, so your first check comes in the sixth month after your disability began.

After you've received SSDI for two years, the SSA enrolls you in Medicare automatically. That health coverage is often as valuable as the monthly check.

Central Texas Social Security Disability Lawyer: Find Your City Page

Pick the page closest to home. Each one adds local detail we don't repeat here.

Bell County: Belton and Temple

Coryell County: Gatesville

McLennan County: Waco

Williamson County: Georgetown and Round Rock

Live in Harker Heights, Copperas Cove, Lampasas, or another town without its own page? Call us. We take claims from all five counties. For the rules that apply to every Texan, read our statewide Social Security Disability page.

Meet the Attorneys Handling Disability Claims

Manuel Alcozer is board-certified in Social Security Disability advocacy by the National Board of Social Security Disability Advocacy. He earned his law degree at SMU's Dedman School of Law in 1992 and joined the Texas bar that year. Before law school he worked as a respiratory therapist at Metroplex Hospital and Scott & White Memorial Hospital, so he reads medical charts with a clinician's eye. He speaks English and Spanish and belongs to the Bell County Bar Association and the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives. Read his full attorney profile.

Alex Bass handles disability and veterans benefits matters alongside commercial, construction, and consumer cases. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 2009 and has belonged to the Bell County Bar Association since then.

Glenn W. Michalk has held a Texas law license since 1970. He served as a Bell County assistant district attorney and as Killeen's city attorney, and he's now Of Counsel to the firm.

Talk to Our Killeen Office About Your Claim

If your doctor just told you to stop working, or the SSA just denied you, the clock is already running. Call (254) 526-3024 and ask for a free consultation with a Central Texas Social Security Disability lawyer. Our office is on S. W.S. Young Drive in Killeen, and we take calls from every county on this page. Hablamos español. Prefer to start online? Contact our team and we'll call you back.