In a previous blog posting, we explained why a “win” at the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) most often does not result in immediate award of benefits by the VA, but instead in a remand, i.e. the case being sent back to VA to be redone, sometimes with further development. Clients sometimes wonder […]
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Many veterans whose claims are appealed successfully to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) are confused and even dismayed to realize that no money is coming to them from VA even though they have won their cases. This dismay sometimes becomes greater when they learn that their lawyer got paid for work at […]
In February 2013, Goodman Allen Donnelly obtained approximately $825,000 in retroactive benefits on behalf of a veteran from the Department of the Veterans Affairs Montgomery, Alabama Regional Office (VA). The attorneys and paralegals in our Veterans Benefit Group worked tirelessly on this matter beginning with representation at the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims […]
VA’s disability compensation rates for 2013 include a 1.7 cost of living increase. You can see the 2013 table here – https://benefits.va.gov/COMPENSATION/resources_comp01.asp One of the issues that is currently being discussed in the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee is the impact of the proposal for a “chained CPI” index to be used in calculating benefits. This […]
Secretary Panetta of the Department of Defense and Secretary Shinseki of the Department of Veterans Affairs met on February 5, 2013, their 9th meeting in the last 18 months. They again discussed their commitment to have both departments’ partner in an integrated electronic health record system. Instead of merely expressing their mutual desire to create […]
A recent story published in the Bay Citizen, a local San Francisco, California paper, indicates that an increasing number of veterans are dying before receiving their benefits. Data obtained by the Bay Citizen indicates that last year the Department of Veterans Affairs “paid $437 million in retroactive benefits to the survivors of nearly 19,500 veterans […]
Virtually every veteran claimant has a similar frustration with the slow pace of the VA claims process. The picture is of claims files stacked in the Winston-Salem, NC regional office, so many that the structural integrity of the building is in question, the weight thought to be too much for the floor structure to bear! Winston-Salem has so […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs offers two major disability benefits programs: (1) service-connected disability compensation and (2) non-service connected disability pension. Both benefits are based on the disability of the veteran and the disability’s effect on employability. VA pension is a needs based program. To be eligible for pension, a veteran must have wartime service, […]
A number of corporations, including GE, Alcoa, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin have joined in a new coalition to train veterans for jobs in advanced manufacturing technologies. The coalition will focus on assisting veterans and employers to translate military skills to advanced manufacturing jobs and on empowering employers to recruit and mentor veterans. The initial program […]
In October 2009, the Department of Veterans Affairs, in conjunction with the Department of Defense, launched a web portal that provides resources and self-service capabilities to Veterans, Servicemembers, and their families. It provides the ability to research, access and manage their VA and military benefits and personal information. The site is intended to help achieve […]
