VA Benefits News

The linked KTVU article documents an a “Hackathon” event intended to provide veterans a conduit between their military service and entry into the technology field.  Despite its somewhat nefarious name, the event did not involve assisting veterans hack into bank computers or steal folk’s private identity information (PII).  Instead, Vets In Tech events are intended to raise...

The following The Week article documents seven stories about veterans in honor of Memorial Day.  While I realize those anecdotes are seemingly insignificant compared to articles concerning the Department of Veterans Affairs’ backlog and various accounts of Memorial Day parades that occurred over the weekend, I thought this article most closely defines how veterans are interwoven through...

As detailed in the linked NJ.Com Article, the New Jersey Military and Veterans Affairs Committee passed a resolution that recognizes the need to strengthen healthcare coverage for veterans living in South Jersey.  The resolution, SCR142, makes ten recommendations to the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve healthcare coverage for those veterans who are otherwise receiving treatment in...

On May 22, 2013, the House of Representatives Committee on Veterans’ Affairs held a hearing entiled, “Expediting Claims or Exploiting Statistics?:  An Examination of VA’s Special Initiative to Process Rating Claims Pending Over Two Years.”  The hearing can be accessed at...

On May 17, 2013, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) issued an opinion in Beraud v. Shinseki.  The primary issue involved the application of 38 C.F.R. §3.156(b) and whether an intervening rating decision rendered an earlier pending claim final for the purposes of an earlier effective date of award.  This is an issue that has application to a large percentage of the cases I handle...

If a veteran or claimant receives a Rating Decision from a VA Regional Office and disagree with that decision they need to file a Notice of Disagreement .  A NOD is a “written communication from a claimant or his representative expressing dissatisfaction or disagreement with an adjudicative determination of an agency of original jurisdiction.”  38 C.F.R. § 19.113.  The NOD must be filed within...

An  issue I commonly encounter is a veteran who has filed a claim for heart disease that is secondary to their service-connected Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or a spouse of a veteran attempting to get Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) because stress from PTSD contributed to or lent aid to a heart condition that caused the veteran’s death.  Establishing service...

A few months ago, I blogged about the use of a “request for reconsideration” before the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office/Agency of Original Jurisdiction.  Based upon my review of a recent VA Claim file it is worth repeating again . . .  the notion of reconsideration at the Regional Office level simply does not exist in statute or regulation. A “request for...

On April 29, 2013, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) issued an opinion in Trafter v. Shinseki regarding the standard for standard for triggering the duty to assist in a claim under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 (VA Medical Malpractice/ Negligence).  The opinion can be accessed at Trafter v. Shinseki and we have include a short overview of medical malpractice claims in Department of Veterans...

On, Tuesday, May 7, 2013, the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation and the Vietnam Era Museum & Educational Center (NJVVMF) will be holding its annual NJ Vietnam Veterans’ Remembrance Day Ceremony.  The location of the ceremony is 1 Memorial Lane, Holmdel, NJ07733, and the NJVVMF can be contacted at (732) 335-0033. The NJVVMF website is incredibly informative and...