Filing a Claim with the Veterans Administration
Preparing A Claim For The VA
Some of the health issues you have may be related to your time in service. You need to read this as least twice – then save it to begin a claim or file an appeal on a decision if you feel you need to upgrade your current status with the VA.
1. Gather all the military, private and VA medical records and have copies made.
2. Review your military records and make a list of every ailment you had while on active duty.
3. Cross-reference all your military ailments with your civilian ailments. If the problem persists or a secondary issue has cropped up as a result of the issue that developed during your time in the military, then you need to apply for that issue (as a secondary issue). Also if you were affected by Agent Orange, Project Shad, etc anything that may have caused an illness affecting your health and ability to function normally.
4. Go to the VA web site and download all the Fast Letters, Memo’s and any other documentation that will support your case.
5. Go to the DAV, PAV, and any other VSO web sites and bookmark them (and download anything related to your claims). Also many sites have excellent Agent Orange, Project Shad and many other programs you may not know you were involved in. http://vietnamresearch.com is a example that has lots of info.
6. Get statements from all private doctors or other medical provider, have them state that your problems are service connected.
7. Get statements from anyone who knows you and your issues. Have them state how the problems affect you. Your wife, kids, parents, co-workers, even the guy/gal walking along the street can contribute! All their statements are evidence that must be considered.
8. Go to http://www.findlaw.com or http://www.veteransresources.net/database.html and look up all Court of Veteran Appeals, US District Court, US Court of Appeals and Supreme Court decisions that affect your issues. Use these sites to support your other evidence. It does not hurt to overload the initial information. Better to be covering all sources than not to solidify your claim.
9. If you have been going to a Vet Center, get copies of their records. They are independent of the VA medical system (CAPRI) so you need to get a statement or copy of your provider’s notes or both from your treating health, mental, and physical worker.
10. If you have gone to Voc Rehab, they evaluated you. Do a Privacy Act request and get all copies of evaluations and anything else (to include reports of contact – ROC). The Voc Rehab evaluations carry some weight, since they do independent evaluations. Go to http://www.warms.vba.va.gov/bookc.html.
11. If you have been seeing a mental health counselor, then get him/her to write you a statement of how bad they think you are. Plus, write up a statement on your own, let the adjudicator know about your stressors and how this affects your daily life. This is the worst you feel—do not sugarcoat it. Ask ex’s, friends, church members, etc anyone that might help verify and support your claim.
12. Current law favors the Vet. The VA fights it but you can use this to your advantage. If you are within a year of the VCAA letter your received, then you have rights to reopen old cases, don’t let that pass. VCAA = Veterans Claims Assistance Act
13. Go to http://www.va.gov/vbs/bva or http://www.veteransresources.net/database.html to research all BVA opinions on your issues. These legal opinions as well as the courts opinions narrows the focus of how the adjudicator can look at the evidence.
14. Put together a narrative that reads like a graduate paper. Refer to evidence that you collected (items 1-9). Tell your story as to how you were injured, exposed to or affected by, what you saw/heard. Compile evidence and highlight what pertains to you and your issues.
15. You are entitled to claim all periods of active duty, and reserve time; all periods covered under Voc Rehab and any injuries suffered under the care of the VA.
16. Contact the C&P office at your local VA Hospital have them mail, email or fax to you the exam criteria. Have your private doctor do the C&P exam. Make sure he is a specialist (preferably board certified) in the field. Then show him the exams you were given by the VA and the results of those. Ask him if he concurs with their exam. If he doesn’t, get him to put it in writing and cite the tests that he performed to support his conclusions. When you write it up, make sure you had the “COMPLETE” C&P exam done by a private doc and the VA doc’s refused to perform the proper tests. Under the reasonable doubt rule, you have proven your case, and they failed to prove theirs.
The VA is like a willful child. You have to lead it in the direction that you want it to go. If you let anyone else do this for you, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Most VSO’s are overworked, many will pull up a template and plug in the issues and submit a formatted claim. Which one do you think will have a better chance?
The only way to speed up your claims is for you to be dying. There is no accelerated claim process. Trust me when I say this, your situation is no worse than most. Some individuals’ claims have gone on for 20 years or longer. If you get less than 100%, file an appeal.
You tell the VA how you were injured or became ill, cite the times you went to the medical facility, and later the follow-up care you have received from your private doctor. Invoke the RESONABLE DOUBT clause as well as VCAA. Site VBA and Court of Appeals legal cases that support your claim that you are entitled to a certain percentage rating.
YES, review the ratings percentages. Think of your worst day (pain, etc) and rate yourself on that basis. After a few years your pain will probably be at that level, unless you can get the symptoms reversed somehow.
I also looked up medical studies to support my claim and provided those studies where my case might be weak to help in the adjudication process. I especially like VA or DoD or National Institute of Health medical studies.
Remember, the service organizations receive thousands of requests for representation. These organizations use canned letters that are okay, but not necessarily in your best interest. If you provide them with most, if not all, of the research it will make their life easier when they go to write the cover letter. They will know what cases to cite and can do a better job in supporting you.
I constantly hear/read about the VA messing things up, but I never hear of anyone taking the bull by the horns and doing anything about it. Most people rely on the VA to do the right thing. Don’t count on them. You have to be responsible for your own actions. If you have further questions or want more information on filing an appeal, email me at parker2@entercomp.com
A Facilities - Where To Go for Help
VA has toll-free numbers for the convenience of veterans and dependents. To assure that accurate information and courteous responses are given to the public, VA supervisors occasionally monitor telephone calls. Toll-free telephone services include:
VA Benefits 1-800-827-1000 Life Insurance 1-800-669-8477 Debt Management Center 1-800-827-0648 Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD) 1-800-829-4833 CHAMPVA 1-800-733-8387 Headstones and Markers 1-800-697-6947 Persian Gulf Hotline 1-800-PGW-VETS Persian Gulf TDD 1-800-829-4833
Websites and information of correcting and Obtaining your Military files.
Some veterans have had trouble finding the new web site for ST Louis military records center
National Personnel Records Center (St. Louis, MO)
Official military personnel files including active duty health records,
clinical records and medical treatment records are the primary holdings
at NPRC (MPR).
Official military personnel files (OMPF) including the active duty
record (includes outpatient, dental, and mental health treatment).
Clinical (hospital inpatient) records created for military personnel
while on active duty.
Medical treatment records for military retirees, dependents, and others
created at military health care facilities (includes inpatient,
outpatient, dental, and mental health treatment).
Other records at NPRC include:Morning Reports and Unit Rosters, Philippine Army and Guerrilla Records.
Frequently requested records which are not at NPRC (MPR).
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National Personnel Records Center
(St. Louis, MO)
The 1973 Fire
On
July 12, 1973, a disastrous fire at NPRC (MPR) destroyed
approximately
16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files. The affected record
collections are described below.
Branch Personnel and Period Affected Estimated Loss
Army Personnel discharged November 1, 1912, to January 1, 1960 80%
Air Force Personnel discharged, September 25, 1947, to January 1, 1964
(with names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E.)
75%
No duplicate copies of the records that were destroyed in the fire were
maintained, nor was a microfilm copy ever produced. There were no
indexes created prior to the fire. In addition, millions of documents had been
lent to the Department of Veterans Affairs before the fire occurred.
Therefore, a complete listing of the records that were lost is not available.
Nevertheless, NPRC (MPR) uses many alternate
sources in its efforts to
reconstruct basic service information to respond to requests. Alternate Record Sources