Let’s start at the beginning.  A veteran or claimant begins the adjudication process by filing a claim(s) for entitlement to a service-connected disability at one of the many local VA regional offices.  A VA employee called a Rating Specialist develops the claim(s) by gathering evidence and then decides the claim and sends it to the veteran in a Rating Decision.  …

The process for appealing a denied veteran’s disability claim is lengthy and can be confusing for many people. However, this article will provide step by step explanation to the appeals process. The first step after receiving a denial of benefits is to make a formal application to VA Form 9. The second step, detailed in the next article, explains how …

RAMP: What is it and it is right for me? The Department of Veterans Affairs is notorious for its red tape. Some injured veterans hoping for disability benefits spend months building a thorough application only to find their claim denied or underrated. In order to appeal the decision, veterans need to bring their claim to either a local Decision Review …

If you are a veteran who is struggling with a disability that stems from your time in the military, you may be entitled to VA disability benefits. Though the initial filing can be fairly straightforward, the resulting procedures can be slow and require near-constant oversight. Should a claim be denied or underrated, the resulting appeals process can require even more …

  It’s easy to become frustrated by the red tape and seemingly endless amount of paperwork associated with filing a disability claim. When such a claim is denied, it can be downright infuriating. After all, a denial can feel as though the VA is completely dismissive of your pain, your service and the toll your disability has taken on your …

PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, is experienced by a large percentage of military veterans. Its symptoms include flashbacks of traumatic experiences, stress, anxiety, depression, and more. A new study, as reported by Medical News Today, shows that transcendental meditation can reduce the symptoms of PTSD. The study involved 181 male prisoners from the Oregon State Correctional Institution and Oregon State …

Veteran disability applications can take months.  If the application is for a psychiatric disability, the process can take much longer and include multiple appeals. Most veterans getting treatment for a psychiatric disorder are getting that treatment for conditions other than PTSD. Many are also eligible for a disability rating and compensation. Veterans and those helping them to access services and …

From 2003 to 2007 the VA enrolled Veterans with ALS in a National Registry. The registry collected data, including DNA, to be used for a number of studies on ALS. This registry was a result of the VA-DOD study that compared case rates of ALS in Gulf War veterans with non-deployed veterans and found a statistically significant increased risk for developing ALS. The Gulf …

Spinal cord injuries are obviously serious but can cause lasting effects that you might not originally think about. Veterans who suffered a service-connected spinal cord injury may like to find out more about life after a SCI. Extended Hospital Stays The National SCI Statistical Center highlights how impactful SCIs are as their research indicates that fewer than 1% of people with these injuries make …

Recently, the United States Army and the United States National Institute of Mental Health conducted a large-scale study on the mental health of military members. The majority of the data used for the study was the Army’s Study to Assess Risks and Resilience inServicemembers (STARRS) survey of approximately 5,500 active duty soldiers. Out of that number, almost 25% suffered from a mental disorder of some …