Veterans Service Connected Disability and Total Disability
Veterans Service Connected Disability And Total Disability
This article discusses the current (2009) rules of compensation for service connected disabilities as they relate to total disability and when compensation should begin.
Veterans disability compensation is like playing golf. With golf there are two requirements of a good stroke … hit the ball straight and hit it the desired distance. With veterans benefits the amount should be as much as allowed (straight) and it should begin as soon as possible (distance). Veterans usually don’t want what is not theirs but typically want no less than what is rightfully theirs. In many cases this determination entails a detailed look at numerous records and for this reason thousands of service connected veterans have likely left millions on the table in under compensated benefits.
This article addresses situations in which a veteran has an established service-connected disability and is unable to work because of that disability and is not receiving full (100%) monthly benefits from the Veterans Administration (VA) OR has received a full benefits decision but the beginning date is later than it should be. Any veteran who is unable to work or unable to keep a job because of his or her service- connected disabilities and who is either not receiving full benefits, or who has reason to believe that the benefit date (called effective date by VA) should be earlier, should consider an appeal. Time limits apply so do not delay in filing a written appeal.
The Amount
For purposes of compensation veterans are considered unable to work generally when, due to the service-connected condition, his or her earned annual income is less than the poverty threshold. Details of poverty thresholds can be found at the U.S. Census Bureau website, i.e., www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty. For example in 1980 the threshold was $4,190; in 2009 it was $10,991. Veterans are also considered unable to work based on other factual situations, even when earning more than the poverty level, such as when the veteran is employable only in a family business or in a sheltered environment. Other situations, although rare, can result in a finding of total disability even if the veteran is actually working.
The most important criteria with respect to an inability to work is this: it results in a full (100%) rating. A full rating yields far more compensation than a partial rating. For example, currently a 70% rating yields $1,228 per month, 90% yields $1,604, and a 100% rating yields $2,673.
So much for the amount, i.e., hitting the golf ball straight in my analogy.
The Start Date
Clearly the earlier the veteran’s total disability rating begins, the more he or she will receive. This is the distance factor in my golf analogy. For example, if the veteran applied for and received a rating (less than 100%) shortly after discharge in 1993, because she was unable to work due to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and applies for and receives an upgrade to 100% in 2009, she might still be owed 16 years of under-compensation. The answer can only be determined by a careful page by page analysis of the veteran’s early record, as well as medical treatment records. After the record analysis the determination is further complicated by subjective factors with regard to the status of the condition at any given time. Finally, the decision itself is fraught with subjectivity, assuming the issue of an earlier effective date is properly presented by appealing the 2009 decision. Various adjudicators will see the situation differently depending upon his or her own particular viewpoint, whether biased or not. The best time to catch and correct the situation described in the example is as soon after the 2009 decision as possible.
Conclusion
Hitting the ball straight (the amount of the claim), while not easy, is a much lesser involved process than hitting the ball the correct distance (the start date). But the result is obviously worth the exercise; even a few additional years of compensation at the full rate can be thousands left on the table.
