Legal Help for Veterans blog.
Claims Processing, News and Press
by Jim Fausone Veterans Disability Lawyer We hear from veterans who served in Thailand, Korea, Japan, Philippines, etc., that claim to be exposed to Agent Orange. Boots on the ground in Vietnam results in presumed AO exposure. The evidence about certain Thailand bases is pretty solid. VA also recognizes spraying of AO around the Korean […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, News and Press
by Jim Fausone Veteran Disability Lawyer Vets were exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam, Thailand and Korea. Veterans exposed to herbicides while serving along the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in Korea will have an easier path to access quality health care and benefits under a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) final regulation that will expand the dates […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing
by Jim Fausone Veteran Disability Lawyer Anyone involved with the VA disability system knows about the delays that quickly turn from months into years. It starts with the Regional Offices not being able to process the mail and get it in the correct file. It happens at the Board with the snail- slow transfer of […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, News and Press
by Jim Fausone Veteran Disability Attorney We see so many errors by VA RO raters that technology improvements are warranted. A VA employee developed a hearing test calculator to automate the steps for determining compensation owed for varying degrees of hearing loss. After testing, the hearing loss calculator worked so well that VBA has rolled […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, Mental Health, PTSD
by Jim Fausone Veteran Disability Attorney Once again showing the differences between men and women in combat, VA recently reported that women appear more susceptible to depression than PTSD. The study looked at 246,976 veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and 246,080 who served elsewhere. Among those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, about […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, News and Press
by Jim Fausone Veterans Lawyer Veterans Affairs has recently vowed to eliminate the backlog in veterans benefits claims by the end of 2015. There is a million claim backlog across all levels and it takes years to process a claim. However, VA says all those seeking payment will have to wait no longer than three […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, News and Press
by Jim Fausone VA just announced that it will test quicker ways to access private medical records. It wants a private contractor to quickly retrieve the records from the health-care provider, scan them into a digital format and send the material to VA through a secure transmission. But we have found that most Regional Office […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, Medical Issues / Disability
by Kristina Derro Many individuals have previously filed claims for disabilities that have recently been added as presumptive diseases for Agent Orange exposure. As a result of Nehmer, these individuals can have their previous claims reinstated and adjudicated. The VA is doing just that—hundreds of thousands of previously denied cases have been reopened and are […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, Medical Issues / Disability, News and Press, Veterans Law
by Jim Fausone VA announced that on November 1st it has finally started making payments under the new AO rules. Providing initial payments – or increases to existing payments – to the 200,000 Veterans who now qualify for disability compensation is expected to take several months. The three new presumptive diseases which have been in the press all year are: […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, Veterans Law
by Jim Fausone VA has begun releasing forms on specific disabilities for use by its physicians. This initiative marks the beginning of a major reform of the physicians’ guides and automated routines that will streamline the claims process for injured or ill Veterans. 79 different disabilities are to get the new forms. This initiative will […]
READ MORE