Do you know the (8) Ways To Improve Your VA Disability Claim?

You help SO MUCH; COL Mikel J. Burroughs. My cap is off to you.

To my dismay, I knew next to nothing about the VA claims process when I retired from the army in 2001. It took me over 10 years to get ratings finalized with some approved and many not. I have learned over time that it is important to describe how an injury or ailment affects quality of life.

No COL Mikel J. Burroughs I was not aware of the article about how (8) Ways To Improve Your VA Disability Claim
[Here are my comments of the 8 steps]
1. The veteran has to “see the solution.” The VA may be the problem, but Congress isn’t the solution. The VA isn’t the solution. [The VA and Congress can both play significant roles as parts of the problem and parts of the solution. Ignoring that fact is ludicrous. Agent Orange, Gulf War Syndrome, asbestos were all problems that Congress and THE VA did not act soon enough.
2. Get your VA C-file. The C-file is the most important document in your entire VA disability claim. Often times, the reason that the VA is denying your disability claim is in your C-file. [seems reasonable]
3. Learn the law. You don’t need to become a lawyer, but you do need to understand some of the basic laws of a VA disability claim or appeal. There are ten cases that I think every veteran should know to help your VA disability claim.
4. Build the four pillars. Four pillars need to be built in nearly every VA disability claim for service connection.These are: eligibility, service connection, impairment rating, and effective date. [Reasonable advice - VFW provided significant help for me in this area. I had copies of all of my military medical records as well as civilian treatment records which corresponded to some of the medical problems]
5. Use five-star evidence. Next to not getting a C-file, using bad evidence or the wrong evidence is the single worst thing you can do in your VA disability claim. Veterans need two types of evidence to prevail: lay evidence and medical evidence. Lay evidence is the bullet, and medical evidence is the rifle. [Medical evidence is both the bullet and the rifle, lay evidence which meets the legal requirements for the VA could be supplemental ammunition.]
6. Choose the battlefield. Many veterans think of the VA claims process as a “hamster wheel” — an endless circle of claims, denials, and remands that never really gets them anywhere.
Other battles need to be fought at the veterans court. By understanding the VA claims process better, we can choose to stop fighting the wrong level of the VA, and push our claim into the forum where it is most likely to get granted. [Be very careful not to consider the VA as the enemy. Individual bureaucrats can be problems but the VA is not the enemy - they are merely inefficient.]
7. Get help. [the article does not mention Congressmen or women or VA Patient Advocates who can be extremely helpful]
When you are in over your head, seek out help:
• From the Veterans Law Blog, where we post every weekday on VA disability claims topics.
• From other veterans, on sites like Hadit.com, and the Asknod blog.
• From veterans law eBooks published on this site at the Veterans University.
• From attorneys who are accredited to represent veterans in their VA disability claims. (Here is a free eBook to help you figure out how to find and choose the attorney that is best for you in your VA claim or appeal.)

8. Protect your survivors and dependents. [seems prudent and reasonable]