What You Don’t Know About VA Disability Can Hurt You

​If you want to test your knowledge about VA compensation, ask yourself this question: What does the acronym “VA” mean.
 
If you said Veterans Administration, you are wrong. “VA” refers the Department of Veterans Affairs. This is a tell-tale way to know whether the person you are talking to is knowledgeable on the subject. If they refer to the VA as the Veterans Administration, then I would suggest taking their comments with a grain of salt.

Here are three things that you should know about VA compensation for disability:
 
1. You don’t have to be injured in combat to get disability benefits through the VA. This fact is a general misconception and often comes as a surprise to those who are not deeply familiar with the VA disability process. In fact, you don’t have to even be injured to get VA disability. A veteran could get disability for any medical condition that arises during their active duty, or which is caused by their active duty, even if the first indications of the condition appear years later (see discussion below).
 
First, you need a medical condition and, in almost all cases, you will need a medical diagnosis. You also must have proof that your current medical condition is as likely as not caused by your active duty. “As likely as not” – this is a 50/50 standard that requires only that your proof of service connection is as likely as any other proof.
 
The VA, then, gives the benefit of doubt in favor of the veteran. This is unlike a civil case, where the evidence must be more likely than not to prove your case - - known as the preponderance of evidence. Of course, this 50/50 standard is much more lenient than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” requirement in criminal cases.
 
To get a financial benefit from the VA, your medical condition must cause a functional limitation. Otherwise, you could be granted service connection with a 0%, which means you have the condition, but it doesn’t affect your functioning (think of a basic scar). VA rates disabilities on a scale of 0% to 100%, with 100% being total disability.
 
So, in summary, the veteran needs to have an accident or injury in service; a current medical condition; and a medical opinion that the event (such as an accident/illness) or injury caused the current medical condition. Keep in mind that an event may be just an exposure to a toxic substance.
 
2. You can still get VA disability even if your medical condition began before you entered active duty.
 
If you have a medical condition before you enter service, and your service aggravates your medical condition, then you are entitled to a benefit for the degree of aggravation. From a practical standpoint, it’s very hard to say what percentage of a disability was present before service, and what percentage of disability was caused by service. When the VA can’t show the before and after percentages, they must treat the entire disability as caused by service. So, if the disability is severe enough, don’t be discouraged if it pre-dates service.
 
This applies to congenital conditions too. If you are born with a gene that causes you to go blind during your active duty, then you are entitled to a disability benefit for the blindness. An exception here would apply if the congenital condition would affect everyone the same way. Like if you are born with one kidney, that’s a condition that would affect everyone the same way, so it’s not compensable. But as for the blindness gene, that’s something that affects everyone differently. Some people may get blind right away, while others may have a slow decline in eyesight. And others may have no decline at all. Because the gene affects people differently, the decrease in eyesight that the gene causes is compensable.
 
3. There is no deadline to file for VA disability. If you were injured 50 years ago and never filed, you can still file. With some exceptions, your benefit start date (called the effective date) will be the date that you file, but if you can prove the three elements of event or injury in the service, current medical condition, and medical connection (often called a nexus), then you can receive whenever you apply – even if it is 50 years later.
 
A good example of this is that benefits may be awarded based on presumptions established by medical research, and adopted by the VA. For example, if you serve in Southwest Asia, such as Iraq, Kuwait and surrounding areas, and you develop an illness that cannot be explained by medical science years later, that illness is compensable.                             
 
Another example would be exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. If you served in Vietnam, you will be compensated if you are diagnosed with any of many diseases, including ischemic heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and prostate cancer, among many others.
 
Once you start a case, however, if you get denied and need to appeal, the appeal must be filed on time. If you miss the appeal deadline, you can lose your right to get benefits back to your filing date and the clock will start over when you re-file..
 
The VA tries to make this as easy as possible for the veteran and even accepts a form that states the veteran intends to file a claim. If the claim is filed within one year of the Intent to File, the effective date will be the date of the Intent to File form.


The above barely scratches the surface in a field of law that is extremely complicated. One thing I like about VA disability is that I am always learning new things, even after years of practice.
 
While the above is intended to pique your interest in VA disability, rest assured that in your first case something will come up that you did not anticipate. But, if you dig deep enough you will find the answer.
 
Our soldiers deserve whatever benefits are available, and knowing something about VA disability will enable you to help them get those benefits - - and possibly save your company some money too through offsets for duplicative benefits.


Authored By: Jessica M. Friedman, J.D., L.LM., CLU; Jessica and her firm, Friedman Law Firm, P.C., assist Veterans nationwide in navigating the VA disability process. She consults with Disability Insurance Companies regarding benefit offsets and offers seminars for Claims Managers to gain a better understanding of the VA disability benefits system.