User:Debbie Pinkie
Veterans Compensation Assistance
I am writing this article to better inform military veterans about the hassles and steps needed to receive your medical disability entitlement. When I retired from the Air Force I received a Veteran’s Administration(VA) physical to determine my disability rating. I was given a rating of 30%. There were other retirees I knew that had smaller or less intensive problems as me, but were rated higher in different states. Thus began the journey to appeal the rating I was given. Every military service member who is discharged with some type of disabling disease or injury related to that service member's period of service has a congressionally granted entitlement to disability compensation, which is paid by the VA to the service member and his or her dependents. VA compensation benefits are awarded when the claimant meets the statutory burden of proof set out in title 38 of the U.S.C. When the evidence for and against a claim is approximately equal, the claimant must prevail.
A VA compensation claim requires proof of (a) A medical diagnosis of current disability (b) Medical evidence of in- service occurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury (c) A medical expert opinion linking the in-service injury or disease to current symptoms.
In addition to standard service-connected disability compensation, some claimants are eligible for 100% compensation based on total disability and/or individualized un-employability, which uses a standard similar to that employed by the Social Security Administration. This requires a special claim form.
After speaking with several Air Force enlisted personnel most had a major accidents while performing their duties. Military doctors prescribed several drugs to be taken in tandem: the painkillers (Vicodin, Oxycodone,) (OxyContin, Percocet, Methadone) and the steroid Hydrocortisone. All of the medications are highly addictive and there are numerous cases where people have become addicted to over-the-counter pain medicines. This leads up to the question, “Why?” Why is it that, generation after generation, Americans who’ve risked their lives for their country return to do battle with their own government? Congress held a hearing during the second session on January 24, 2012. The Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee examined the Department of Veterans Affairs current framework on rating for veteran’s injury, illness, and disabilities resulting from service in our Nation’s military. This commission conducted a 2-year in depth analysis of benefits and services available to veterans and the processes and procedures used to determine eligibility. Their conclusion was published in a comprehensive report entitled Honoring the Call to Duty, Veterans Disability Benefits in the 21st Century. The end results of these reports were several recommendations, including the goal of updating and simplifying the disability determination and compensation system on a more frequent basis. Although select portions of the rating system have been updated throughout the past 20 years these reports refer to the rating schedule as outdated. The schedule as a whole has not been comprehensively revised since the conclusion of World War II.
Several other studies have been performed but one that stands out is “A Comparison of Disabled Veteran and Nonveteran Income: Time to Revise the Law?” Overall, this study provides reasonable evidence that there is a disparate effect associated with disabled veteran compensation based upon the number of disability categories reported. The results suggest that the most vulnerable disabled veterans, those who have multiple categories of disabilities, do not receive income on par with society as a whole or even with disabled nonveterans reporting the same number of disabilities. This finding provides reasonable evidence that 38 CFR 4 may not be effective in offsetting compensation loss due to veteran disability.
Every person who ever put on a uniform and vowed to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice deserves his/her entitlements without delay.
If you or someone you know is having trouble filing their claim or appeal here are a list of organizations dedicated to helping veterans: 1. Alphadisability.com 2. American Legion 3. Disabled American Veterans 4. Military.com 5. National Institutes of Health Public Access 6. NOLO Law for All 7. Veterans of Foreign Wars
- Works Cited
(1)(n.d.). Retrieved February 26, 2014, from Alpha Disability Advocates: http://alphadisability.com/ Barrett, P. M. (2014, February 3-9).
(2)Who Are These Guys. Bloomberg - Business Week, pp. 50-55.
(3)Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. (2012). Rating the rating schedule: The state of VA disability ratings in the 21st century. COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS.
(4)US Hearing before the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives,.
(5) Eckholm, E. (2007, June 8). Veterans' Benefits System Needs Overhaul, Panel Says. New York Times, p. A25.
(6)Fulton, L. V. (2009). A Comparison of Disabled Veteran and Nonveteran Income. Journal Of Disablity Policy Studies, 20(3), 184-191.
(7) Glantz, A. (n.d.). The War Comes Home : Washington's Battle against America's Veterans. 2009 .
(8) Johnson, Ralph H.; Grubaugh, Anouk L; Elhai , Jon D; Ruggiero, Kenneth J; Egede, Leonard E; Naifeh, James A; Frueh, B Christopher ;. (2009, October 28). Equity in Veterans Affairs Disability Claims Adjudication in a National Sample of Veterans. Retrieved February 26, 2014, from National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2891765/
(9) Margaret Wadsworth. (2014). How Does the VA Rate and Pay Veterans Disabilities? Retrieved February 26, 2014, from NOLO Law for All: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/how-does-the-va-rate-pay-veterans-disabilities.html
(10) One Hundred Tenth Congress,. (2007). Personal costs of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs claims backlog:. U.S. House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. New Windsor, New York.: United States.
(11) Reed, T. J. (2009). PARALLEL LINES NEVER MEET: WHY THE MILITARY DISABILITY RETIREMENT AND VETERANS AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT CLAIM ADJUDICATION SYSTEMS ARE A FAILURE. Widener Law Journal, 19(1), 57-136
(12) Roche, J. D. (2006). The Veteran's Survival Guide: How to File and Collect on VA Claims. Dulles: Potomac Books Inc.
(13) VA Disability Compensation Rates. (2014, February 26). Retrieved from Military.com: http://www.military.com/benefits/veterans-health-care/va-disability-compensation-rates.html Wright, B. W. (2010). IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY: DENYING DISABLED VETERANS THE RIGHTS TO AN ATTORNEY. NAELA Journal, 6(2), 203-226.