VA Disability Compensation

If you are military veteran with a service-connected disability you may qualify for over $2,471 in monthly benefits. These benefits are paid to veterans who have injuries or diseases that happened while on active duty, or were made worse by active military service. It is also paid to certain veterans disabled from VA health care. These benefits are tax-free.

VA Disability Compensation Eligibility:

You may be eligible for Disability Compensation if you have a service-related disability and you were discharged under other than dishonorable conditions.

VA Disability Compensation Pays:

The amount of basic benefit paid ranges from $115 to over $2,471 per month, depending on your level of disability.

Note: You may be paid additional amounts if:

* you have very severe disabilities or loss of limb(s)
* you have a spouse, child(ren), or dependent parent(s)
* you have a seriously disabled spouse

First, you need to establish with the VA that you are disabled because of your of active military service. Service connection for a disability may be established in the following ways:

DIRECT - Service medical records show that the disabling condition was diagnosed during military service and the condition has continued to affect the veteran.

AGGRAVATION - Evidence demonstrates that the disabling condition which existed prior to service was aggravated beyond normal progression during military service.

PRESUMPTIVE - Evidence demonstrates that the disability is one predetermined by the VA to be presumed for service connection by time, place and type of service.

SECONDARY - Evidence demonstrates that the disability developed as a result of, or residual of, another service connected disability.

INJURY AS A RESULT OF VA MEDICAL TREATMENT - This is a disability that the veteran incurred, had aggravated or died from because of medical treatment at a VA Facility.

WASHINGTON - Relying on an independent study by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki decided to establish a service-connection for Vietnam Veterans with three specific illnesses based on the latest evidence of an association with the herbicides referred to Agent Orange.

The illnesses affected by the recent decision are B cell leukemias, such as hairy cell leukemia; Parkinson's disease; and ischemic heart disease.

Used in Vietnam to defoliate trees and remove concealment for the enemy, Agent Orange left a legacy of suffering and disability that continues to the present. Between January 1965 and April 1970, an estimated 2.6 million military personnel who served in Vietnam were potentially exposed to sprayed Agent Orange.

In practical terms, Veterans who served in Vietnam during the war and who have a "presumed" illness don't have to prove an association between their illnesses and their military service. This "presumption" simplifies and speeds up the application process for benefits.

The Secretary's decision brings to 15 the number of presumed illnesses recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

"We must do better reviews of illnesses that may be connected to service, and we will," Shinseki added. "Veterans who endure health problems deserve timely decisions based on solid evidence."

Other illnesses previously recognized under VA's "presumption" rule as being caused by exposure to herbicides during the Vietnam War are:

· Acute and Subacute Transient Peripheral Neuropathy

· Chloracne

· Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

· Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2)

· Hodgkin's Disease

· Multiple Myeloma

· Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

· Porphyria Cutanea Tarda

· Prostate Cancer

· Respiratory Cancers, and

· Soft Tissue Sarcoma (other than Osteosarcoma, Chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, or Mesothelioma)

Additional information about Agent Orange and VA's services and programs for Veterans exposed to the chemical are available at www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange

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Did you know that women are the fastest growing group within the veteran population? Learn more about the changing face of women veterans and what the VA is doing to meet their health care needs.

This web site provides information on health care services available to women veterans, including comprehensive primary care as well as specialty care such as reproductive services, rehabilitation, mental health, and treatment for military sexual trauma.

You can also find answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about women veterans health care.

At each VA Medical Center nationwide, a Women Veterans Program Manager is designated to assist women veterans. She can help coordinate all the services you may need, from primary care to medical services to Mental Health and Sexual Abuse Counseling.

Women Veterans who are interested in receiving care at VA should contact the nearest VA Medical Center and ask for the Women Veterans Program Manager.

http://www.publichealth.va.gov/womenshealth/index.asp

As with other service-related injuries and diseases, the VA will pay eligible veterans monthly compensation for disability resulting from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). For a veteran rated at 10, 30, 50, 70 or 100 percent disabled, compensation payments can range from a few dollars to several thousand dollars a month - depending on the severity of your condition.

To receive VA compensation for PTSD there are two items of evidence that must exist and that must be provided to the VA. One without the other is worthless in establishing your claim to VA compensation for PTSD.

Stressor: Proof of a traumatic event in-service. Called a "stressor," it is the basis on which all PTSD claims are based. In short, no stressor, no claim, end of story. A stressor is generally defined as personal exposure to a life-threatening event such as combat, a serious accident, or rape. For those who hold a combat-related decoration such as an individual valor award, the Purple Heart, or the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the issue of a stressor is conceded by the VA.

Diagnosis: A diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder rendered by a psychiatrist. Counseling reports prepared by Vet Centers may be considered in determining the degree of your impairment; however, there must be a diagnosis of PTSD made by a physician specialized in psychiatry.

Like Vietnam, Afghanistan and especially Iraq have no "front line." Even the most secure places are subject to suicide attacks, mortars, rockets, and sniper fire. Likewise, the simple movement of supplies and troops present an ever-present danger. Being able to prove your presence in a combat situation is crucial in establishing a claim for compensation based on PTSD. Also, detailed information about trauma that you have experienced can be invaluable to those who seek to treat or diagnose your condition.

Get help! PTSD claims are not a do-it-yourself endeavor. It is important that your claim be prepared as well as possible. If improperly prepared or documented, your claim is likely to fail. Depending on why it failed, your claim may damage your ability to successfully appeal a bad decision or to win approval in a subsequent claim. A claim that has been filed incorrectly is as useless to you and your family as a claim that was never filed.

If you have PTSD, your disability may make it unlikely that you can weather the frustration of dealing with the VA and objectively respond to its requests for information. A claim that has been abandoned by a frustrated veteran is as useless to him and his family as a claim that was never filed.

The various veterans service organizations (VSO) provide free claims assistance. Try to find a person to help you who is familiar with PTSD and has handled successful claims for compensation for PTSD.

You can find all kinds of information on preparing to put in a PTSD claim (including a worksheet) at the following link:

http://www.ptsdhelp.net

DENVER - The Department of Veterans Affairs will formally allow patients treated at its hospitals and clinics to use medical marijuana in states where it is legal, a policy clarification that veterans have sought for several years.

A department directive, expected to take effect next week, resolves the conflict in veterans facilities between federal law, which outlaws marijuana, and the 14 states that allow medicinal use of the drug, effectively deferring to the states.

The policy will not permit department doctors to prescribe marijuana. But it will address the concern of many patients who use the drug that they could lose access to their prescription pain medication if caught.

Under department rules, veterans can be denied pain medications if they are found to be using illegal drugs. Until now, the department had no written exception for medical marijuana.

This has led many patients to distrust their doctors, veterans say. With doctors and patients pressing the veterans department for formal guidance, agency officials began drafting a policy last fall.

"When states start legalizing marijuana we are put in a bit of a unique position because as a federal agency, we are beholden to federal law," said Dr. Robert Jesse, the principal deputy under secretary for health in the veterans department.

At the same time, Dr. Jesse said, "We didn't want patients who were legally using marijuana to be administratively denied access to pain management programs."

The new, written policy applies only to veterans using medical marijuana in states where it is legal. Doctors may still modify a veteran's treatment plan if the veteran is using marijuana, or decide not to prescribe pain medicine altogether if there is a risk of a drug interaction. But that decision will be made on a case-by-case basis, not as blanket policy, Dr. Jesse said.

Though veterans of the Vietnam War were the first group to use marijuana widely for medical purposes, the population of veterans using it now spans generations, said Michael Krawitz, executive director of Veterans for Medical Marijuana Access, which worked with the department on formulating a policy.

Veterans, some of whom have been at the forefront of the medical marijuana movement, praised the department's decision. They say cannabis helps soothe physical and psychological pain and can alleviate the side effects of some treatments.

"By creating a directive on medical marijuana, the V.A. ensures that throughout its vast hospital network, it will be well understood that legal medical marijuana use will not be the basis for the denial of services," Mr. Krawitz said.

Although the Obama administration has not embraced medical marijuana, last October, in a policy shift, the Justice Department announced that it would not prosecute people who used or distributed it in states where it was legal.

Laura Sweeney, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, would not comment spefically on the veterans department policy. "What we have said in the past, and what we have said for a while, is that we are going to focus our federal resources on large scale drug traffickers," she said. "We are not going to focus on individual cancer patients or something of the like."

Many clinicians already prescribe pain medication to veterans who use medical marijuana, as there was no rule explicitly prohibiting them from doing so, despite the federal marijuana laws.

Advocates of medical marijuana use say that in the past, the patchwork of veterans hospitals and clinics around the country were sometimes unclear how to deal with veterans who needed pain medications and were legally using medical marijuana. The department's emphasis on keeping patients off illegal drugs and from abusing their medication "gave many practitioners the feeling that they are supposed to police marijuana out of the system," Mr. Krawitz said.

"Many medical-marijuana-using veterans have just abandoned the V.A. hospital system completely for this reason," he said, "and others that stay in the system feel that they are not able to trust that their doctor will be working in their best interests."

In rare cases, veterans have been told that they need to stop using marijuana, even if it is legal, or risk losing their prescription medicine, Mr. Krawitz said.

David Fox, 58, an Army veteran from Pompey's Pillar, Mont., uses medical marijuana legally to help quiet the pain he experiences from neuropathy, a nerve disorder. But he said he was told this year by a doctor at a veterans' clinic in Billings that if he did not stop using marijuana, he would no longer get the pain medication he was also prescribed.

A letter written to Mr. Fox in April from Robin Korogi, the director of the veterans health care system in Montana, explained that the department did not want to prescribe pain medicine in combination with marijuana because there was no evidence that marijuana worked for noncancer patients and because the combination was unsafe.

"In those states where medical marijuana is legal, the patient will need to make a choice as to which medication they choose to use for their chronic pain," Ms. Korogi wrote. "However, it is not medically appropriate to expect that a V.A. physician will prescribe narcotics while the patient is taking marijuana."

Mr. Fox was shocked by the decision, he said.

"I felt literally abandoned," he said. "I still needed my pain meds. I thought they were supposed to treat you. It was devastating for me."

Mr. Fox, who said that at one point he was weaning himself off his pain medication for fear of running out, has held one-man protests in front of the clinic, carrying signs that read "Abandoned by V.A., Refused Treatment."

Veterans officials would not comment on specific cases, citing medical privacy laws.

This month, Dr. Robert A. Petzel, the under secretary for health for the veterans department, sent a letter to Mr. Krawitz laying out the department's policy. If a veteran obtains and uses medical marijuana in accordance with state law, Dr. Petzel wrote, he should not be precluded from receiving opioids for pain management at a veterans facility.

Dr. Petzel also said that pain management agreements between clinicians and patients, which are used as guidelines for courses of treatment, "should draw a clear distinction between the use of illegal drugs, and legal medical marijuana."

Dr. Jesse, the veterans department official, said that formalizing rules on medical marijuana would eliminate any future confusion and keep patients from being squeezed between state and federal law.

Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project, which favors the legal regulation of the drug, called the decision historic. "We now have a branch of the federal government accepting marijuana as a legal medicine," he said.

But Mr. Fox said he wished the policy had been extended to veterans who lived in states where medical marijuana was not legal.

He said it was critical that the veterans department make its guidelines clear to patients and medical staff members, something officials said they planned on doing in coming weeks.

Said Dr. Jesse, "The whole goal of issuing a national policy is to make sure we have uniformity across the system."

James Dao contributed reporting.

The U.S. Senate Committee recently held an oversight hearing on the existing VA process for presuming service-connection for veterans' disabilities. Looking beyond the recent expansion of Agent Orange-related presumptions, witnesses and committee members discussed potential improvements to the process to be used in connection with possible exposures to future generations. More information about the hearing including statements, testimony and the webcast is available on the website below:

Hearing: VA Disability Compensation: Presumptive Disability Decision-Making
United States Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs

Oversight Hearing: VA Disability Compensation: Presumptive Disability Decision-Making.

September 23, 2010

9:30 a.m.

50 Dirksen Ground

The mission of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) is to serve active duty military, their beneficiaries, and veterans with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) through state-of-the-art clinical care, innovative clinical research initiatives and educational programs. DVBIC fulfills this mission through ongoing collaboration with military, VA and civilian health partners, local communities, families and individuals with TBI.

In 2008, DVBIC's mission expanded to include Force Health Protection and Management. This encompasses the following Department of Defense (DoD) programs:

* TBI Surveillance
* TBI Registry
* Pre-deployment neurocognitive testing
* Family Caregiver Curriculum
* 15 year longitudinal study of TBI
* Independent study of automated neurocognitive tests

DVBIC has been named the Office of Responsibility or Executive Agency for these programs.

DVBIC's multi-center network design and collaborations with forward medical commands allows for clinical innovation along the entire continuum of care: from initial injury in the war zone through to medical evacuation, acute care, rehabilitation and ultimately a return to community, family, and work or continued duty when possible.

Please visit http://www.dvbic.org for more information.

"VONAPP" or Veterans On-line APPLication Website was created to allow Vets to apply for Veterans benefits online.

Who should use VONAPP

If you are applying for Compensation, Pension, or Vocational Rehabilitation:

You should use VONAPP if you are a U.S. military veteran who wants to apply for compensation, pension, or vocational rehabilitation benefits using the Internet. If you are now receiving any of those benefits, don't use VONAPP to apply for the same benefit or an increase in that benefit. Instead, contact the VA Regional Office which handles your benefit by calling 1-800-827-1000. Also, if you have a pending application for any of these benefits, don't apply for the same benefit again using VONAPP without checking with the VA Regional Office working on your application. Also, do not use VONAPP to notify VA about dependency or income changes on your current award. Contact your VA office and ask what they need from you for dependency or income changes.

VA Compensation Benefits

You may apply for VA compensation benefits if:

* You were injured while you were in the service, or
* You are permanently and totally disabled and you believe that it is because of your military service, or
* You were seriously ill while you were in the service, and you believe you have continuing problems, or
* You developed a mental or physical condition that you believe may be related to your military service.

What are compensation benefits:

VA pays veterans Disability Compensation for disability(ies) that are a result of military service. If VA determines that your disability(ies) are 30% or more disabling, VA may pay additional compensation for your spouse, children, and dependent parents. VA will pay a higher amount of compensation for a spouse when the spouse is a patient in a nursing home or is disabled and requires the regular aid and attendance of another person.

Learn more and/or apply using VONAPP

Visit VONAPP Now

If you are unable to file online or need further assistance with the application process
a veteran can write, call, or visit a Veterans Services Representatives at the nearest VA regional office or VA medical center, or a local veterans service organization representative.

You can fill out and submit an application for VA health benefits using an online form. You may also use a paper form that you download, save for later submission, print and fax or mail back to VA. If you do not want to use the online form or cannot print at home, VA will mail you an application form. You can request an application or get help with it by calling VA at 1-877-222-VETS (8387) Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).

VISIT THE LINK BELOW TO LEARN ABOUT THE PROCESS

https://www.1010ez.med.va.gov/sec/vha/1010ez/

To apply for a Specially Adapted Housing Grant, please take the following steps:

1. Download VA Form 26-4555, Veteran's Application in Acquiring Specially Adapted Housing or Special Home Adaptation Grant.

2. Complete the form and submit it to your nearest VA Regional Loan Center.

If you need more information and would like to talk with a Specially Adapted Housing agent, click here to locate one in your area.

VA Manual M26-12 Specially Adapted Housing Grant Processing Procedure, Loan Guaranty Operations for Regional Office Manual

VA Pamphlet 26-13 Handbook for Design: Specially Adapted Housing

Builder Registration Information

Picture examples of adaptations - http://www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans/sahphotos.asp

What Is Individual Unemployability?

Individual Unemployability is a part of VA's disability compensation program that allows VA to pay certain veterans compensation at the 100% rate, even though VA has not rated their service-connected disabilities at the total level.

What Is the Eligibility Criteria for Individual Unemployability?

A veteran must be unable to maintain substantially gainful employment as a result of his/her service-connected disabilities. Additionally, a veteran must have:

-- One service-connected disability ratable at 60 percent or more, OR

-- Two or more service-connected disabilities, at least one disability ratable at 40 percent or more with a combined rating of 70 percent or more.

How Do I Apply?

-- Submit VA Form 21-8940, "Veteran's Application for Increased Compensation Based on Unemployability"
-- Send application to your nearest VA Regional Office. To find the closest regional office to you, go to http://www1.va.gov/directory/guide/home.asp?isFlash=1 The application can be downloaded at http://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/VBA-21-8940-ARE.pdf or call 1-800-827-1000 and request the form be mailed to you.

Can I Work?

Veterans who are in receipt of Individual Unemployability benefits may work as long as it is not considered substantially gainful employment. The employment must be considered marginal employment.

-- Substantially gainful employment is defined as employment at which non-disabled individuals earn their livelihood with earnings comparable to the particular occupation in the community where the veteran resides.

-- Marginal employment is generally deemed to exist when a veteran's earned income does not exceed the amount established by the U.S. Census Bureau as the poverty level for the veteran only. For more information on the U.S. Census Bureau's poverty thresholds, see http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/threshld.html

What If I Don't Meet the Percentage Criteria?

Special consideration will be given for veterans when the following criteria is met:

-- The veteran is considered unemployable due to a service-connected disability(ies) but fails to meet the minimum percentage standards, OR

-- There is evidence of exceptional or unusual circumstances to impairment of earning capacity due to disabilities (for example, interference with employment or frequent periods of hospitalization)

Note: Veterans may have to complete an employment questionnaire once a year in order for VA to determine continued eligibility to Individual Unemployability.
For More Information, Call Toll-Free 1-800-827-1000
or Visit Our Web Site at http://www..va.gov.

The best advice that I can give a Veteran who is thinking about filing a claim for disability and is not sure where to start is to immediately align oneself with one of the many Veteran Service Organizations (VSO's). This is one of the best assurances that the process will be done efficiently and effectively.

As someone who has been through the "rating" process many times over the past 15-20 years, I understand the process extremely well. My best advice is to work with someone who knows the process. There is NO ONE better than a VSO.

You can find a list of Veteran Service Organizations on the following VA Page:

Veteran Service Organizations

President Lincoln indicated the importance of caring for the Nation's veterans with the following:

"To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan."

These words spoken by President Lincoln reflect the philosophy and principles that guide the Department of Veteran Affairs and the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Service as our endeavors are focused on serving our Nation's veterans and their families.

The Department of Veterans Affair's Veterans Benefits Administration's Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) service is vested with delivering timely, effective vocational rehabilitation services to veterans with service-connected disabilities. Enabling our injured soldiers, sailors, airmen, and other veterans with disabilities for a seamless transition from military service to a successful rehabilitation and on to suitable employment after service to our Nation. For some severely disabled veterans, this success will be to live independently, achieving the highest quality of life possible with a realized hope for employment given future advances in medical science and technology. The Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment service strives to exceed the service delivery expectations of veterans and their families.

VR&E's primary benefit program is vocational rehabilitation services for veterans who have a service-connected disability. To receive services a veteran must be found both eligible and entitled. The outcome of these services lead to suitable employment that is consistent with their aptitudes and interests, or achieving independence in their daily living.

VR&E also provides the following benefit services. Educational and Vocational Counseling is provided for eligible service members, veterans, and veterans' dependents. The outcome of this counseling is assistance in the selection of an educational or vocational goal and / or assistance in the selection of training institutions where this goal may be pursued. Additionally the VR&E program provides educational and vocational counseling benefits for eligible dependent children of Vietnam veterans born with certain birth defects or children of Vietnam or Korean veterans born with Spina Bifida. In order to be considered for this benefit program, you must be the biological child of a veteran who served in Vietnam or on the Korean

What Is The Independent Living Program?

The Independent Living program is to make sure that each eligible veteran is able, to the maximum extent possible, to live independently and participate in family and community life increasing their potential to return to work. Services may include the following:

* Assistive technology
* Specialized medical, health, and / or rehabilitation services
* Services to address any personal and / or family adjustment issues
* Independent living skills training
* Connection with community-based support services

Who May Qualify For ILP?

Veteran's whose service-connected disabilities are so severe they are currently unable to pursue an employment goal.

How Are ILPs Developed?

When a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (VRC) determines that employment goals are not currently feasible. An evaluation of the veteran's independent living needs will be conducted. The VRC and veteran will work together to identify the veteran's needs. Together they will determine services required to address the identified needs. An individualized Independent Living Program will be written providing the services necessary to meet the veteran's identified needs. Referral to specialized rehabilitation facilities and / or for consultation with other rehabilitation professionals may be necessary in the development and implementation of a veteran's ILP.

Independent Living Program (ILP) participants must submit an application (VA Form 28-1900) for Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Services (VR&E), complete a comprehensive evaluation with a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (VRC) who must determine the applicant is entitled to services and that an ILP program is appropriate.

What is the definition of a veteran in the VA?

A veteran is a person who served in the active military, naval or air service and who was discharged under conditions other than dishonorable.

Who qualifies as a dependent?

A spouse who has been married to the veteran for over one year or given birth to a child if the marriage is less than a year is a dependent. Children are dependents to age 18 or to age 23 if enrolled in school.

What do the terms "Service-Connected" and "Non-Service Connected" mean?

These terms define disability types in the VA system. Service connected means that the veteran is disabled due to injury or illness that was incurred in or aggravated by military service. Non-service connected means that the veteran is disabled due to injury or illness not related to military service.

What is the difference between "Compensation" and "Pension" in the VA system?

Compensation is paid to a veteran with service-connected disabilities. Pension is paid to a war-time veteran who is permanently and totally disabled from non-service connected disabilities and who has very low income.

What are you WORTH??

Volunteers are an invaluable resource for the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is impossible to calculate the amount of caring and sharing that VAVS volunteers provide to veteran patients. VAVS volunteers are a priceless asset to the Nation's veterans and to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

"Over 140,000 volunteers gave more than 13 million hours in service to America's veterans. It is impossible to calculate the amount of caring and sharing that these VAVS volunteers provide to veteran patients. VAVS volunteers are a priceless asset to the Nation's veterans and to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Please join the VAVS family and make a difference in the lives of America's heroes.

If there is something you were not able to find, or anything you need assistance with, please contact our Web Content Manager."

Laura B. Balun
Director, Voluntary Service Office

Volunteer Now - if you know you want to give your time and talents to support the care of America's veterans, click here to complete a volunteer application and be contacted by a local VAVS representative.