As an honorably discharged veteran, you served your country well and you earned certain benefits. These benefits include the right to receive compensation and medical care for any disabling medical condition that was incurred or aggravated while you were in service. Unfortunately, sometimes it can be difficult for the veteran to obtain the earned benefits guaranteed by law, especially if the medical condition was from an aggravated injury.
Like all bureaucracies, the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) is unyielding in how it applies federal law that governs a veteran’s right to compensation. If your disability claim is not clearly supported by your medical records—with the exact evidence VA requires—you will be denied benefits. This is evident in the high disapproval rate of over 70% for cases at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals.
Veterans need a team of recognized medical expert like our physicians who know the VA system. Our physicians often find relevant medical information in a veteran’s file that previously has been overlooked. Frequently, the veteran’s diagnosis is modified or changed, based on one of our physicians review of the full medical records. An accurate diagnosis leads toward a fair and rational analysis of the case. Our physicians thorough review allows them to give a better assessment of the veteran’s level of disability. Careful and early attention to the details of your case could save years of appeals, and help you arrive at a higher disability rating sooner. However, it is never too late to get an independent medical opinion.
In most cases, a veteran will satisfy the requirement of competent nexus evidence by obtaining a letter or statement from a private physician that expressly connects the veteran’s disability or death to the occurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury in service or an event in service. The quality of the medical nexus evidence is crucial for quick, favorable resolution. Many factors can influence the weight and probative value and decision maker assigns to a particular piece of evidence, including the expertise of the person providing the opinion, the quality of the evidence upon which the opinion is based, the method used to reach the opinion, and the degree of certainty expressed in the opinion. Our certified medical network can satisfy nexus requirements and provide competent medical evidence.
“Competent medical evidence means evidence provided by a person who is qualified through education, training, or experience to offer medical diagnoses, statements, or opinions. Competent medical evidence may also mean statements conveying sound medical principles found in medical treatises. It would also include statements contained in authoritative writings such as medical and scientific articles and research reports or analyses.”
The disability claims process consist of eight steps, unless a claim does not require further evidence to make a decision than the claim will only go through a six step process.
