Increase VA Benefits
As a member of the armed forces, you have definitely served your country. You have paid your due. You fought for our country and its freedoms. As a reward, you have been provided with free college under the GI bill. You have a lifetime of benefits from the Veteran’s Association (VA) and a lifetime salary in exchange for your service. You have the respect of your family and peers and a good reference for any job you might apply to.
Of course, serving in the military can have detrimental effects on your physical and mental wellbeing. Conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome or PTSD affect many of the men and women in our armed forces and greatly diminish their quality of life. Your government asked a lot of you, why not return the favor? If you are a veteran living in the San Diego area looking to increase your monthly benefits, the Law Offices of Stephen Brodsky can help.
Increasing Your Disability Benefits
All veterans are assigned a disability rating by the VA. This determines the amount of benefits you are entitled to. The problem is that the disability rating assigned to you by the VA may be too low to begin with, and your disability will only worsen over time due to age or other factors.
Increasing your disability rating is not an easy process. It can be and most often is a long and bewildering endeavor, which the average veteran has neither the time, patience, nor wherewithal to deal with. This is why you need a good attorney experienced in military matters at your side.
Steps for Increasing Your Benefits
There are many steps to increasing your disability benefits, starting with an appeal to the VA to increase your disability rating. This also includes an appeal before your regional VA, the Board of Veteran’s Appeals and the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
Reevaluations of a veteran’s disability rating happen once every couple of years. For a specific timeline, refer to your letter from the VA, which assigned you your first disability rating. It should state when you are due for a reevaluation.
When the time comes for your reevaluation, you will have to go through another Compensation and Pension program just as you did when you got your first disability rating. Going outside the VA for a second medical opinion is acceptable and is called an Independent Medical Examination or IME.
The problem is that often you don’t hear back from the VA after requesting a reevaluation to increase your disability rating. This is due to the bureaucratic nature of the VA and governmental agencies in general. When you do hear back, the VA will either grant your request to increase your disability rating, or they will likely deny it.
In the meantime, your disability is getting worse, affecting your ability to work, spend time with your family, or enjoy life in general. This is the point at which many veterans give up and just decide to deal with the pain. The whole process can be long and confusing, so who can blame you for giving up? Don’t let this happen to you. If you are in the San Antonio area, give us a call today.
Should You Hire a Lawyer?
The process for increasing your VA disability rating is meant to be long and confusing, hence the need for a good lawyer experienced in military matters like Stephen Brodsky. He’ll walk you through the process and handle the bureaucracy for you, so you have more time to do the things that matter to you.
If you or someone you know are in the San Diego area and are looking to increase your disability benefits, but have no idea where to begin, give us a call today. You fought for this country; it’s only right that someone fight for you.
