Nearly 1.25 million veterans had COPD in 2020. If you or someone you know is a veteran diagnosed with COPD, you may wonder if it can be a VA service-connected disability. The answer is yes. This article will cover what COPD is, the basics of service connection for COPD, and how VA rates it. What …
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Is Sleep Apnea a VA Disability?
For service members, the stresses of training, combat, and reintegration into civilian life can disrupt sleep patterns. Insomnia and nightmares may be the most common service-related sleep disruption, but sleep apnea also affects millions of veterans. Yes, it is a disability that can entitle a veteran to compensation. Sleep apnea is a condition where breathing …
What Is the VA Disability Pay Chart?
Having an application for service connection is only the first step in receiving compensation for a disability. After the claims process, the VA must determine how much you receive in monthly compensation. VA Disability Pay Chart Overview The modern VA disability pay chart enables the agency to determine the amount of monthly benefits based on …
Eligibility for PTSD-Related DIC Benefits
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a specific kind of brain injury that affects about 15% of veterans who served in the Middle East— specifically, operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan in the Global War on Terror suffer greatly from the effects of loneliness, isolation, combat, explosions, and various …
How Does the PACT Act Affect DIC Benefits?
Just like the Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act made it easier for veterans to obtain service connections for burn pits and other toxic exposure, it also makes it easier for their surviving spouses and family members to obtain compensation. This is known as Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) and expanding its …
VA Disability Rating for PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a specific kind of brain injury. The nature of brain injuries with emotional or mental symptoms can make them difficult to detect. Therefore, many brain injury victims, including people with PTSD, downplay or fail to report their symptoms to doctors performing examinations as part of a disability claim (compensation & …
Lawmakers Cry Foul Over VA Accessibility Issues
Lawmakers Cry Foul Over VA Accessibility Issues This is an update on VA Accessibility. Following an 11-month investigation, the United States Senate Special Commission on Aging said the VA has not made technology accessible to older adults, veterans, and disabled persons. The report says the government has not met the requirements for accessibility set forth …
How Does the PACT Act Affect TDIU Benefits
How Does the PACT Act Affect TDIU Benefits? The Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxins Act (PACT Act) significantly expanded the number of illnesses presumed to be related to service through toxic exposure, mostly associated with burn pits and Agent Orange. However, the PACT Act did not significantly alter the VA’s disability rating system, …
Breaking Down an Agent Orange Illness Claim
Breaking Down an Agent Orange Illness Claim Does an Agent Orange illness trouble you? Agent Orange may be one of the most well-known herbicides, and not for a good reason. This defoliant was widely used throughout the 1960s, mainly in Vietnam. It contained a contaminant called dioxin, and now both Agent Orange and dioxin are …
The Five and Five of VA Disability PTSD
The Five and Five of VA Disability PTSD Despite the research being done to understand post-traumatic stress disorder better, many people may still be surprised to learn that PTSD is a physical brain injury in addition to a psychological disorder. Compensation and pension examiners may not be specialists or well-versed in new PTSD research. That’s …
