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VA Disability Claims: 5 Game-Changing Precedential Decisions You Need to Know
Tbird posted a record in VA Claims and Benefits Information,
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.
Rating Issues
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Tbird, -
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Are all military medical records on file at the VA?
RichardZ posted a topic in How to's on filing a Claim,
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.-
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RichardZ, -
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Caluza Triangle defines what is necessary for service connection
Tbird posted a record in VA Claims and Benefits Information,
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”-
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Tbird, -
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Post in ICD Codes and SCT CODES?WHAT THEY MEAN?
Timothy cawthorn posted an answer to a question,
Do the sct codes help or hurt my disability ratingPicked By
yellowrose, -
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Post in Chevron Deference overruled by Supreme Court
broncovet posted a post in a topic,
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.Picked By
Lemuel, -
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Question
allan
VETERANS FOR COMMON SENSE: VA CLAIM BACKLOG, HOW MANY?
Posted on October 22, 2009 by gordonduff
How Many and For How Long are Claims Pending at VA?
Written by Bob Brewin
The Veterans Affairs Department manages a whole bunch of claims -- for disability, education and even burial benefits. Until this month, the department presented data on pending claims in a relatively straightforward fashion in a spreadsheet called the Monday Morning Workload Report.But starting on Oct. 5, the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) said it reformatted the reports to provide a "more meaningful and transparent look" at the data. But veterans groups said the new and improved Monday Morning Workload Report does neither. The spiffy new format also omitted for the past three weeks data on pending education claims, which could lead anyone with even a mild case of paranoia to assume VBA was trying to hide this information due to the fact that it has botched claims processing and payments for vets going to school under the new post 9/11 GI
Bill.Katie Roberts, the VA press secretary, assures me that omission of educations claims data this month was due to a technical glitch and that information will be in the database next week.How could VBA not notice such key information was missing for almost a month?
Jerry Manar, deputy director for national veterans services at the VFW, told me that in his view the changes in the new VBA report format "seem more designed to confuse those who monitor the progress and problems at VA rather than shed fresh light on them."
Paul Sullivan, head of Veterans for Common Sense, said he found the new format "misleading and cumbersome" and does not have a grand total of all the claims pending at VA. "It's missing two key pieces of information: How many vets are waiting [to have their claims processed] and how long are they waiting."
Manar said under the old format, VBA reported on Sept. 26 that it had 750,538 claims of all types pending at its regional offices. Under the old reporting format VBA had a total of 200,000 claims under appeal.
Under the new format, that dropped to 176,415, with no explanation for the revised number, Manar said.I guess that's one way for the VBA to magically reduce its claims backlog: change the way it presents the data.This whole new format is about as transparent as an Abrams tank.
http://www.veteranstoday.com/article9078.html
Edited by allanLink to comment
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