Non-Service Connected Disability Pension is a Department of Veterans Affairs benefits program that provides financial support to wartime veterans having limited income. The amount VA will pay you under this program depends on the type and amount of income you and your family members receive from other sources. Payments are made to you to bring your total annual income, including other retirement and Social Security income, to an established support level. Countable income may be reduced by unreimbursed medical expenses.
II. Eligibility
Generally, you must have 90 days or more of service of which at least 1 day must have occurred during a period of war, and you must have been discharged under conditions other than dishonorable.
You must have a disability(ies) that VA evaluates as permanent and total. For VA pension purposes, permanent and total means it is not likely that you will be able to maintain a substantially gainful job. Unemployability and age are factors also considered in VA's eligibility decision.
III. How to Apply
Obtain a copy of VA Form 21-526, Veteran's Application for Compensation or Pension, from the Veterans Benefits Administration forms web site. Fill in the required information and mail the form to the VA Regional Office (Microsoft Word Doc) that serves your area. The following supporting evidence and/or documents should be submitted with your application (If any of the evidence is not immediately available, send in the application anyway. The date VA receives your application is important to you, if VA grants your claim. VA benefits payments usually will begin from that date regardless of when the claim is approved.):
Medical Records - Medical records to provide a diagnosis and prognosis of your current medical condition and to substantiate any and all treatment by private doctors and hospitals.
Dependency Documents - Original or copies of birth and marriage certificates and copies of divorce/death record terminating your prior and those of your spouse.
Military Discharge/DD Form 214 - (Copy 4 - Member Copy) Those applicants who have a copy of their DD-214 are encouraged to provide a copy with their claim to expedite processing. Otherwise, VA will attempt to obtain verification from the service department. Copies of missing DD Forms 214 may be obtained from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO through the NARA web site.
IV. Other Related Benefits
Health Care Benefits
Vocational Training
Burial Benefits
Prosthetic Devices
Additional information on these benefits may be obtained from the Federal Benefits Manual for Veterans and Dependents. A copy of this publication may be downloaded from the VA Home Page. You will need a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader to read and print the document.
Contact your local VA Regional Office for additional assistance by dialing our toll-free number 1-800-827-1000. Or, you may e-mail the Regional Office that serves your area through the Veterans Benefits Administration e-mail contacts page.
These decisions have made a big impact on how VA disability claims are handled, giving veterans more chances to get benefits and clearing up important issues.
Service Connection
Frost v. Shulkin (2017)
This case established that for secondary service connection claims, the primary service-connected disability does not need to be service-connected or diagnosed at the time the secondary condition is incurred 1. This allows veterans to potentially receive secondary service connection for conditions that developed before their primary condition was officially service-connected.
Saunders v. Wilkie (2018)
The Federal Circuit ruled that pain alone, without an accompanying diagnosed condition, can constitute a disability for VA compensation purposes if it results in functional impairment 1. This overturned previous precedent that required an underlying pathology for pain to be considered a disability.
Effective Dates
Martinez v. McDonough (2023)
This case dealt with the denial of an earlier effective date for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) 2. It addressed issues around the validity of appeal withdrawals and the consideration of cognitive impairment in such decisions.
I met with a VSO today at my VA Hospital who was very knowledgeable and very helpful. We decided I should submit a few new claims which we did. He told me that he didn't need copies of my military records that showed my sick call notations related to any of the claims. He said that the VA now has entire military medical record on file and would find the record(s) in their own file. It seemed odd to me as my service dates back to 1981 and spans 34 years through my retirement in 2015. It sure seemed to make more sense for me to give him copies of my military medical record pages that document the injuries as I'd already had them with me. He didn't want my copies. Anyone have any information on this. Much thanks in advance.
Caluza Triangle – Caluza vs Brown defined what is necessary for service connection. See COVA– CALUZA V. BROWN–TOTAL RECALL
This has to be MEDICALLY Documented in your records:
Current Diagnosis. (No diagnosis, no Service Connection.)
In-Service Event or Aggravation.
Nexus (link- cause and effect- connection) or Doctor’s Statement close to: “The Veteran’s (current diagnosis) is at least as likely due to x Event in military service”
VA has gotten away with (mis) interpreting their ambigious, , vague regulations, then enforcing them willy nilly never in Veterans favor.
They justify all this to congress by calling themselves a "pro claimant Veteran friendly organization" who grants the benefit of the doubt to Veterans.
This is not true,
Proof:
About 80-90 percent of Veterans are initially denied by VA, pushing us into a massive backlog of appeals, or worse, sending impoverished Veterans "to the homeless streets" because when they cant work, they can not keep their home. I was one of those Veterans who they denied for a bogus reason: "Its been too long since military service". This is bogus because its not one of the criteria for service connection, but simply made up by VA. And, I was a homeless Vet, albeit a short time, mostly due to the kindness of strangers and friends.
Hadit would not be necessary if, indeed, VA gave Veterans the benefit of the doubt, and processed our claims efficiently and paid us promptly. The VA is broken.
A huge percentage (nearly 100 percent) of Veterans who do get 100 percent, do so only after lengthy appeals. I have answered questions for thousands of Veterans, and can only name ONE person who got their benefits correct on the first Regional Office decision. All of the rest of us pretty much had lengthy frustrating appeals, mostly having to appeal multiple multiple times like I did.
I wish I know how VA gets away with lying to congress about how "VA is a claimant friendly system, where the Veteran is given the benefit of the doubt". Then how come so many Veterans are homeless, and how come 22 Veterans take their life each day? Va likes to blame the Veterans, not their system.
Question
Guest allanopie
Non-Service Connected Disability Pension
l. Benefit Description
Non-Service Connected Disability Pension is a Department of Veterans Affairs benefits program that provides financial support to wartime veterans having limited income. The amount VA will pay you under this program depends on the type and amount of income you and your family members receive from other sources. Payments are made to you to bring your total annual income, including other retirement and Social Security income, to an established support level. Countable income may be reduced by unreimbursed medical expenses.
II. Eligibility
Generally, you must have 90 days or more of service of which at least 1 day must have occurred during a period of war, and you must have been discharged under conditions other than dishonorable.
You must have a disability(ies) that VA evaluates as permanent and total. For VA pension purposes, permanent and total means it is not likely that you will be able to maintain a substantially gainful job. Unemployability and age are factors also considered in VA's eligibility decision.
III. How to Apply
Obtain a copy of VA Form 21-526, Veteran's Application for Compensation or Pension, from the Veterans Benefits Administration forms web site. Fill in the required information and mail the form to the VA Regional Office (Microsoft Word Doc) that serves your area. The following supporting evidence and/or documents should be submitted with your application (If any of the evidence is not immediately available, send in the application anyway. The date VA receives your application is important to you, if VA grants your claim. VA benefits payments usually will begin from that date regardless of when the claim is approved.):
Medical Records - Medical records to provide a diagnosis and prognosis of your current medical condition and to substantiate any and all treatment by private doctors and hospitals.
Dependency Documents - Original or copies of birth and marriage certificates and copies of divorce/death record terminating your prior and those of your spouse.
Military Discharge/DD Form 214 - (Copy 4 - Member Copy) Those applicants who have a copy of their DD-214 are encouraged to provide a copy with their claim to expedite processing. Otherwise, VA will attempt to obtain verification from the service department. Copies of missing DD Forms 214 may be obtained from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO through the NARA web site.
IV. Other Related Benefits
Health Care Benefits
Vocational Training
Burial Benefits
Prosthetic Devices
Additional information on these benefits may be obtained from the Federal Benefits Manual for Veterans and Dependents. A copy of this publication may be downloaded from the VA Home Page. You will need a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader to read and print the document.
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Contact your local VA Regional Office for additional assistance by dialing our toll-free number 1-800-827-1000. Or, you may e-mail the Regional Office that serves your area through the Veterans Benefits Administration e-mail contacts page.
This page was last updated 7/28/99. WS
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