The past ten years have shed light on the faults in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. As of 2014, the Veterans Health Administration was in the spotlight for multiple accounts of case negligence for the United States military veterans. There were reports that 40 United States Armed Forces veterans died while waiting for care in the past couple years. Some Veterans have to wait more than six months to be seen for a critical condition.
Veterans Disability Benefits
Veterans can apply for disability compensation if they have a disability, disease or injury that they incurred, or that was aggravated during active military service. This benefit can pay for disabilities that are considered secondary to the main disability or related to the military service, even if it arose after service. The VA can also provide housing and insurance benefits for Veterans through grants and other options. Spouses of Servicemembers who died on activity duty could also be eligible for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC).
As of 2014, there were 19.3 million military veterans in the United States. Currently, there are an estimated 1.1 million veterans between the ages of 18 and 64 that reported having a military service-connected disability rating of 70 percent or more. The scale is 0 to 100 of the severity of their disability. To receive disability assistance you have to apply for benefits.
Denial of Benefits
The past decade there have been countless stories of veterans not being approved for disability assistance, having to wait months to receive help and veterans getting bad service that didn’t meet health care industry standards. Currently, the VA has accepted responsibility for having a high error rate when it comes to denying Veterans disability benefits. The VA estimates their error rate to be 14 % while the Center for Investigative Reporting found the error rating to be closer to 38%.
If you believe you are entitled to benefits after being denied, contact Rob Levine Law so we can fight for your rights.
