Legal Help for Veterans blog.
Claims Processing, News and Press, Veterans Law
by Jim Fausone We get asked all the time – “can you make VA move faster on my claim?” My answer is “No one can make VA move fast”. The US Supreme Court just agreed with me. On Monday the Supreme Court announced it will not hear a case challenging a lack of speed by the government. The Vietnam […]
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Claims Processing, Medical Issues / Disability, News and Press, Veterans Law
by Kristina Derro The VA has recently agreed to review the cases of nearly 17,000 “Brown Water” Vietnam Era veterans who have claimed disabilities related to Agent Orange exposure. VA previously denied a number of these claims without properly determining whether they served in Vietnam’s inland waterways (“Brown Water”) or in other locations where they […]
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Claims Processing, News and Press, Veterans Law
by Jim Fausone Time is running out to apply for retroactive bonus pay for 145,000 military personnel who were forced to remain on duty beyond their original discharge date, following the September 11th attacks. Congress has approved back pay of $500 for each month of involuntary service; the average lump-sum due is between $3,500 […]
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Claims Processing, News and Press, Veterans Law
by Jim Fausone Upon the death of a service member, his or her family is entitled to death benefits from service life insurance. The financial press recently broke the story that Prudential Financial did not pay the lump sum to the families as expected. Instead, Prudential Financial Inc. would withhold lump-sum payments of life insurance benefits […]
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Claims Processing, PTSD, Veterans Law
by Jim Fausone As many VA watchers know, VA adopted a new law “Relaxation of Evidentiary Standard for Establishing In Service Stressors in Claims for PTSD” dated July 13, 2010. We at Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC have received the first rating decision taking this law into account. The VA conceded the Vietnam Vet’s stressor […]
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Claims Processing, Medical Issues / Disability, Veterans Law
By Jim Fausone If you have a disability rating from VA, the first step is done. But you will want to get rated at 100% permanently disabled if appropriate. It is just one way that a disabled vet can take care of his family now and in the future. Without that designation, the vet’s family […]
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Claims Processing, News and Press, Veterans Law
By Jim Fausone We get asked a lot of questions and try to answer as many as possible by email. We have also provided answers to FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on our website. You can also get answers on YOUTUBE. We are now posting short videos that answer common questions and explain some of the […]
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Claims Processing
by Jim Fausone Our local VARO is representative of others around the country. Detroit is better than many from our experience. VA nationally reports its accuracy rate on disability claims of 83% so it makes errors 17% of the time. A recent VA IG report is troubling as Detroit had a 21% error rate. The VA IG found in Detroit: Management […]
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Claims Processing, PTSD, Veterans Law
by Jim Fausone The VA is in the process of finalizing new rules that liberalize evidentiary standards for proving stressors in claims for PTSD. The goal is to lessen the burden of proving stressors when the basis of the claim is fear of military action and terrorist’s actions. The VA has recently issued a Frequently Ask […]
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Claims Processing, Medical Issues / Disability, News and Press, Veterans Law
by Jim Fausone In late July 2010 the US House passed a funding bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Within the bill was $13.4 billion for the payment of benefits to Vietnam veterans and survivors for exposure to Agent Orange related to the three diseases recently added to the “presumptive-connection” list: Parkinson’s disease, ischemic […]
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