Anatomy of a VA Claim . . .

The Veterans Department has changed again.  I suppose change is a good thing but I am not so sure.

Before current procedure, one using one's SSN and Military serial number (which is your SSN), you filed your claim with the help of a Service Volunteer Organization (SVO) with the VA.  SVO's maintain offices in the VA facility and do face to face time with the VA staff.  There are a number of them, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), and so on.  I am a life member of DAV and thus use their services.  And it is all free.

Well the VA has changed again.  Now one must file a VA form 21-526EZ.  It is a ten page form, six pages of how to fill it out and even that is not enough.  Then there is four pages to filled in.  The nice thing is that most of it can be filled in on line and printed out.  That makes it neat.

But you must sign it and have two witnesses to your signature.  So that is a burden finding someone to witness your signature.  Simple yes, finding someone is another matter.  You can not use your own family as a witness.  So you have to hunt up a neighbor willing to do the chore.  That adds a day or two delay in getting that form up to speed. 

Then you have to fill out the particular form for which you are making a claim.  In my case that is VA form 21-0960A-1 and get your doctor to sign it.  That usually entails a doctors appointment (not an uncostly event) but the good news is the doctors are cooperative.  The doctors have all been beaten to death by Obamacare and VA to comply.  There are laws you know.

Then you have to collect up the supporting documents, test reports, medical reports etc.  Even though you do that and place all the cogent documents together and ship everything off to the VA, you will get a follow up letter from the VA asking for more information.  Standard procedure.

Presuming you send enough data to the VA they may or may not chose to do a Compensation and Pension examination.  Most of the time the VA uses an independent contractor to do the examination.  Sometimes it is specialized like audio examination.  And sometimes the VA elects to do the exam themselves, you never know which will occur.  And sometimes your data is in and of its self sufficient to preclude further examination.

I do not know what will happen in my case.  I have a Cardiologist that has diagnosed me with Atherosclerosis (hardening of the heart arteries).  The VA can not deny such a diagnosis.  And since I have included the Computing Tomography Angiogram report and the Cardiologist's own Nuclear Stress test, the VA may request I go off and do a further examination.  But they can not deny the facts of the present data and diagnosis.  Thank goodness I have Medicare and Tricare for Life or I would have been out of pocket a ton of money for the examinations and doctors visits.

So I will get the VA form 21-526EZ witnessed, place it and the other forms and  documents in an envelop and ship it off to the DAV at Waco VA Regional Office.  I am sure the DAV will look it over and them move it on to the VA for action.

Then we begin the count down of getting adjudication of the claim.  My hearing claim was relatively simple and took about three months.  I was given a rating of 10% for my Tinnitus but when that was added into the existing group of Service Connected Disabilities, it did not make a change to my over all rating of 90%.  I do not know the out come of the potential rating, if it is 10%, probably no change in my overall rating.  However, if the VA determines my new Service Connected Disability is 30%, them the ball game changes, I will probably be elevated to the rating of 100%.

We shall see what happens.