The Department of Veterans Affairs recently added nine respiratory cancers to the list of illnesses presumed to be caused by burn pit exposure. The policy applies to Veterans who served in the Southwest Asia theater of operations beginning Aug. 2, 1990, to the...
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Veterans Disability Benefits
Wartime Service Can Entitle You to Benefits through the Veterans Pension Program
If you have served during wartime, you may be entitled to the Veterans Pension Program. This program allows Veterans who have an honorable discharge, meet age or disability requirements, and who have limited income and net worth to receive monthly payments. In order...
Active-Duty Periods
Service connection for any disability requires three elements. First, the Veteran must have had an injury, illness, or event which first presented or occurred in active-duty service. Second, the Veteran must have a current disability which is related to the in-service...
Tips for C&P Exams
Veterans who receive VA disability compensation are likely familiar with the VA Compensation & Pension (C&P) exams, but a Veteran who is filing a first-time claim may be unfamiliar with the process. A C&P exam is an important part of the VA claims process...
Update on the Health Care for Burn Pit Veterans Act
The Health Care for Burn Pit Veterans Act (“HCBP Act”), co-sponsored by Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Senator John Tester (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), has now been passed by the...
Service Connection for Side Effects Caused by Medication
Medications can cause numerous side effects, many of them severe. When you are taking those medications to treat a service-connected disability, those side effects can often be service-connected, either in the form of an increased rating for the disability being...
Refresher: Understanding Appeal Options Under the Appeals Modernization Act
Starting in 2019, the VA began processing appeals through a new system called the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA). The AMA replaced the traditional Legacy process that required Veterans to file a Notice of Disagreement and a VA Form 9 in response to a VA Rating...
VA extending the presumptive period for Gulf War Veterans
Veterans with military service in the Southwest Asia Theatre of Operations have been plagued by a variety of chronic medical conditions. Collectively known as Gulf War Syndrome or Gulf War Illness, it has affected an untold numbers of Veterans. As a result, the...
VA Benefits for Children of Veterans Born with Spina Bifida
While many people are familiar with the devastating effects of Agent Orange on so many of our Vietnam and Korea Veterans, few know that the effects are not always limited to the Veteran as some children of Veterans have been negatively affected by the deadly...
Tips for Your Testimony at Board of Veterans’ Appeals Hearings
Whether in the Legacy system or under the Appeals Modernization Act, many claims for VA disability compensation end up at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. In many cases, Veterans ask for the opportunity to testify before a Veterans Law Judge. While content can be...