VA has finalized regulations which change the Rating Schedule relating to Infectious Diseases, Immune Disorders and Nutritional Deficiencies. This schedule includes the rating criteria for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). VA proposed major changes to these diagnostic criteria, to include adding a list of diagnoses (current or past) that would exclude the diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), including sleep […]

In most circumstances a veteran filing a claim for service connected disability benefits must submit evidence that demonstrates that his or her disability was caused by something that occurred during service. However, for veterans that served on the ground during the Vietnam War, VA will presume that certain illnesses and conditions were caused by dioxin

There are a number of benefit programs administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, but the most well known is the program that pays veterans for disabilities incurred in service.  This benefit is commonly referred to as service connected compensation. In order to prove entitlement to this benefit, a veteran must demonstrate: 1) an in-service event,

When VA grants a claim for service connection, each service-connected disability is assigned a percentage according to VA’s rating schedule. If a veteran is service-connected for multiple disabilities, the combined evaluation determines the rate at which the veteran is paid. Many veterans are surprised that the combined evaluation is not always equal to the sum of

Effective February 19, 2019, all new appeals filed with VA will be processed under the modernized appeals system. Enacted in August, 2017, the Appeals Modernization Act provides three appellate options: supplemental claim, higher-level review, or appeal to the Board of Veterans Appeals. Currently, veterans wait an average of five years from the date an appeal is filed

Early yesterday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit struck down the VA’s policy of denying disability benefits to Vietnam-era blue-water Navy veterans for exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides on a presumptive basis. In a case called Procopio v. Wilkie the court decided that veterans who served within the “territorial waters” of Vietnam are now