Legal Help for Veterans blog.
Claims Processing, News and Press
Kendall Van Ameyde, Esq. Just a month ago, veterans were being forced to attend Compensation and Pension (C&P) examinations, placing themselves and their families at risk during a global pandemic. The C&P examination is often conducted after the veteran files for disability and compensation or pension benefits with the VA. The C&P examination helps the […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing
The inspector general for the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) reports a backlog on processing veterans’ benefits applications is much worse than initially indicated. The September report indicates the VA ignored or omitted tens of thousands of cases that are more than 125 days old when recently reporting improvements in processing benefits applications. The […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, Medical Issues / Disability, News and Press
Kristina L. Derro, Esq. Veterans have struggled for years to efficiently navigate through the VA appeals process. Appealing disability benefits claims could take, on average, three to five years to complete. Many of these benefits are critical to thousands of veterans worldwide, and they can’t afford to be kept waiting years for the process to […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, News and Press
Kristina Derro, Esq. The National Work Queue (NWQ) is a paperless workload management initiative designed to improve overall productive capacity and assist with reaching the goals of eliminating backlog. The problem is that backlog has actually increased since the NWQ came into place. Last May, when NWQ was put in place, the backlog stood at […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, Mental Health, PTSD
Combat veterans often return home with invisible wounds of war that can go undetected. Research published in December shows that more than half of wounded U.S. service members suffer a form of brain scarring due to blast injures. According to the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, over 300,000 service members have been diagnosed with traumatic […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, News and Press
Kristina Derro, Esq. Veteran Advocate The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) recently began to scan and digitally store the multitude of documents received from veterans during the claims process in order to increase efficiency and reduce paper waste. On its face, this idea of a paperless claims process seems to be one of those rare instances […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, Employment, News and Press
Wheels for Warriors aims to help Michigan veterans who are in need of transportation. The program provides seriously injured soldiers and their families with adaptive vehicles to improve their quality of life. The program was launched by AmeriCorps and the Michigan Region 10 Veterans Community Action Team. Under the collaboration, 15 bicycles have been given […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, News and Press, Veterans Law
U.S. Senator Gary Peters has introduced legislation to help veterans who may not be receiving all the benefits they are entitled to as a result of being improperly discharged from the military due to behavioral changes. Peters, of Michigan, said the bill would ensure the fair treatment of veterans who were discharged because of behavior […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, News and Press, Veterans Law
Following the Supreme Court’s June 26 ruling that legalized gay marriage in all 50 states, same-sex couples will now be able to receive veterans pensions, medical services, home loan guarantees and other benefits, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials announced on June 29. The VA said that same-sex couples with military ties will be […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, News and Press
The deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and logistics at the Department of Veterans Affairs stated on May 14 that the VA has been improperly spending at least $5 billion annually on medical care and supplies while not following mandated competitive bidding and written contracts. The deputy assistant secretary, Jan Frye, said that “gross mismanagement” by […]
READ MORE