Author: seth-old

On June 5, 2017, DVA secretary David Shulkin announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs would adopt the same electronic health records management system as the Department of Defense, called MHS GENESIS (https://health.mil/mhsgenesis).  The primary motivation is to permit the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to communicate and exchange information between the DVA and DoD health...

On December 8, 2016, the Department of Veterans Affairs ( “VA” or “DVA”) issued a Press Release allowing veterans and dependents to file an application for eligibility for interment in a VA national cemetery “prior to time of need” through the Pre-Need Determination of Eligibility Program.  The Press Release can be viewed at va-press-release-burial-benefits....

In October 2016, the DVA announced that a .3% increase in DVA benefits rates for 2016-2017.  This increase is a reflection of the cost-of-living adjustment for this fiscal year based upon the Consumer Price Index. Last week the DVA updated its website to reflect this increase and the new compensation benefits chart can be found at the link below: New Compensation Benefits Rates Chart  

A few days ago, I was speaking at an assisted living care facility regarding Title 38 benefits (Department of Veterans Affairs).  These discussions usually involve the adult children of World War II and Korean War veterans so they can have a basic understanding of what benefits their mother/father may be entitled to through the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA).  The elderly spouse of a...

Beginning in 1994, Congress implemented a statutory provision, 38 U.S.C. 1117, for a presumption of service connection for undiagnosed chronic multi-symptom illnesses for veterans who served in the Southwest Area theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War.  Because the Persian Gulf War is still considered a statutorily defined period of war, 38 U.S.C. 1117 applies to more recent...

There are a number of bills that have been introduced both at the House and Senate to modify the procedure by which veterans or claimants can dispute a decision from the Department of Veterans Affairs . H.R. 5620: VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act of 2016 was recently passed before the House of Representatives and will be voted on at the Senate.  The link to GovTrack above...

On September 9, 2016, the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) proposed regulation governing the presumption of service connection for veterans stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987. A link to the PDF copy of the proposed regulation can be located at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-09-09/pdf/2016-21455.pdf The DVA set a thirty (30) day...

On numerous occasions, veterans have expressed frustration to me concerning discrepancies between their VA-conducted Compensation and Pension Examination (C&P) and private audiologist-conducted hearing evaluation. Normally, disputes between level of disabilities can be resolved with the private physician completing a VA-published Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ) for the condition in...

Recently, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ own blog posted an article regarding the VA appeals process.  The article provides a good overview of the VA appeals process (after submission of the VA Form 21-0958) and offers a well-constructed diagram that is easy to understand and succinctly explains the timelines involved.  Link to the VA article can be found at the following link: The...

Recently, the RAND Corporation released three reports regarding the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).  These reports were previously submitted to the VA and House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees as mandated by the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-146).  The summary of all three reports can be found at RAND Reports – Summary. The report...