Getting Assistance With A VA Injury Claim
Posted on: 28 April 2015
Veterans Affairs (VA) claims can be difficult to manage because of the often confusing requirements for each claim. Severity, medical record documentation and other factors can affect the success of a claim or even change your compensation potential. If you've been denied or simply feel overwhelmed by the process, consider a few ways that a personal injury attorney could help you push the claim to approval.
Bring All Evidence And Claims Together
Legitimate injuries may be denied if there isn't enough evidence to link the injury to military service. Since the VA compensation system only pays out to veterans with service-related conditions, you'll need to organize your proof in a way that shows your injury's severity and its relationship to military service.
The term 'service-connected' is used often to describe an injury or condition that was caused or gained during military service, or caused by past events in the military. This can mean broken legs or missing limbs due to events during your military service (not necessarily combat or job-related) or psychological changes such as witnessing wartime horror or sexual assault.
For every injury or condition claim, you need to ask if you have evidence on paper to support it. Is there paperwork showing you in a particular place and time? Does the documentation show that you were injured or could have been injured? Don't just throw your entire medical record in without highlighting the information; for the best success, make copies of the most relevant pages and highlight the important information.
If you don't have documentation of a specific injury event, your claim process may be a lot harder. Contact a personal injury attorney to get help with evidence gathering, as you may not be able to gather certain protected information without both knowing where to look and understanding the laws surrounding information gathering.
Get Assistance Through Other Services As You Wait
Many veterans focus on the cash benefits of VA compensation, but if you're truly injured or going through mental or physical hardship, there's other services that can help.
Both healthy and ailing veterans can apply for a basic set of VA healthcare benefits if they meet certain requirements. For the most part you'll need at to have received an honorable or non-dishonorable discharge to qualify, but different conditions may apply for military careers below 4 years.
The benefits entitle veterans to medical service at VA clinics and hospitals, as well as lower prescription medication costs. These benefits are available for walk-in visits as well as scheduled appointments, but the wait at many VA healthcare facilities can be quite long depending on where you live.
If you're being scheduled for a Compensation and Pension (C&P) exam, be sure to ask about different types of therapy, medication or referrals that could help you. Even if you haven't received a decision, a doctor can write a prescription for relevant medical care such as pain medication, allergy medication or even referrals to specialists.
You'll get medical assistance and maybe even extra evidence for your claim if you ask the right questions and make suggestions during the claims process. Contact a personal injury attorney to get help with finding those helpful questions and building a claim more likely to succeed.
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