The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) is the agency responsible for administering the federal government program that establishes which benefits; cash and otherwise, that veterans that have a service related disability or debilitating illness are eligible for. The DVA is a huge organization, the department employees close to 350 thousand people and has an operating budget of over $180 billion annually. You might think with these resources the system would be perfect, unfortunately this is not the case.
The problems faced by those applying for VA disability benefits:
- Far too complex for the majority of claimants to understand and deal with
- It is extremely difficult for claimants to prove that their stated disability or sickness actually is the result of their years in the military. Claims are often denied when the VA is dissatisfied with the evidence the veteran can provide.
- The entire process, the initial claim and subsequent appeals are difficult to comprehend and very time consuming. In many cases the evidence demanded is simply not available, the result is denial of benefits.
The system works based on a rating system, the severity of the injuries are rated in percentage; ten to one hundred. The higher the rating, the higher the cash benefit. Unfortunately, many claimants are veterans of recent conflicts, when they are applying for VA disability benefits they often find that the sicknesses that are included are outdated. Such mental disabilities at PTSD were not even known when the rating system was established which makes it extremely difficult to win a claim.
If, as a disabled veteran, you believe you deserve to be granted VA benefits you might want to give serious thought to hiring a skilled veterans benefits lawyer who knows the system and can do what has to be done to better your chances of success.
Applying for VA disability benefits is not easy; the process is complex and fraught with issues that may be hard for a claimant to understand. If you are about to apply for your VA benefits, you should consider contacting Jackson & MacNichol, Attorneys at Law.
