Do your benefits change based on your service connected disability rating?

SGT Ben Keen — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 17:59:46 -0400

I was recently upgraded to a 60% service-connected disability rating and now I'm wondering if there are any additional benefits I need to look into?

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Sep 8 at 2018 6:33 PM

SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 18:33:20 -0400

SGT Ben Keen roger that take a look into Family Caregiver!

https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2127

pressrelease.cfm

Response by CW3 Jim Norris made Sep 8 at 2018 6:36 PM

CW3 Jim Norris — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 18:36:31 -0400

Yep, above 50% some things change, get in touch with the local VA admins, it'll be worth your time Sarge

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made Sep 8 at 2018 6:47 PM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 18:47:46 -0400

http://www.vetadvocates.org

As I've understood the whole thing from what we went through with my whole total perm disability thing, at 60%, one can, I think, be submitted for totally disabled individually unemployable (TDIU), though don't try it yourself, that's serious stuff, our whole thing for me was way, way above that, it took a vet group, then we had to switch to one of the attorneys here for NOVA, I've sent the group in sevl times, as have others on here, trust me, all the vet groups are good, of course, so are vet law clinics at law schools, though they don't always take all cases...go on the NOVA site, use their search engine, and/or call them...see if you can find one of theirs with prior active, ours had 3 yrs in, then had 35-40 yrs VA-disability law, so we quite clearly major beaucoup lucked out...pay whatever retainer is needed, ours was $500, our whole thing for me, start to finish, took six and half years, incl seeing a judge with one of the travelling teams for the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA)...vet groups can do it, certainly, so can vet law clinics at law schools, however, in the world of private attorneys doing VA-disability law, NOVA is apparently at the top of their food chain...just let them take whatever they'd be due, whatever VA allows, you send them their piece after you get all the back stuff owed if your claim goes through, then that's the end of it...also, look up service disabled vet insurance (S-DVI), not SGLI/VGLI, that's different, obviously...with S-DVI, Congress funds, I think it went, the first $10K, then you can I think get $30K more, it's deducted from your VA-disability...also, your family is allowed CHAMPVA, call [login to see] , they're not TRICARE (what was CHAMPUS)...if you're allowed CHAMPVA, you're allowed to get back everything back to your retroactive date, we got that for my wife, the thing was, it can be tiresomely cumbersome, though the staff was quite helpful, the problem was, we needed to send in, I kid thee not, 10,000 pages of material on her going back six and half years, for real...we were told it was the most elaborate back claim ever filed in CHAMPVA history, the offices are in Denver, it took something like six tables set up to sort out all the paper we had me send them by USPS Express Mail, for real, honest, the thing was, it definitely all worked, we got all we were due, which was actually considerable...you can't use CHAMPVA, it's only for your family, wife, kids, whoever your dependents are, not for you, you can only use VA, incl that VA Choice program, though we were told that HealthNet, I think, one of the two insurance carriers for it, was leaving, there's another one, something like Tri-something West, that handled the West Coast, HealthNet, I think had handled the East Coast...then we also got the special MWR ID cards, we had to go to a RAPIDS facility by us to get them, however, once again, dependents are allowed them, kids I don't know about, wife, spouse, whatever, certainly, we got them for both of us...you're also allowed the specially adapted housing (SAH), but only you, not dependents, we tried to get that for my mother-in-law as a VA survivor, Congress said only for the vet, the end on that, for sure...there's the whole VA mortgage thing, then, too, we also tried to get my mother-in-law what's termed nonservice-connected (NSC) or low-income pension, as well as aid and attendance (A&A), however, those are really super-restrictive, so we couldn't get them, though we tried...register for the VA eBenefits site if you haven't already, as well as VONAPP, and also the myHealtheVet site...what happened was, the eBenefits site used to be able to be handled by the VA hospitals for proofing for Level 2, now one can typically only get Level 2 by the remote proofing, call the VA eBenefits toll-free phone, just look it up, it's NOT the main VA toll-free phone line, [login to see] , though the staff on that has it, I just recall it right now...VA went to that whole remote proofing demographic stuff, you know, what street you lived on, blah, blah, blah...the myHealtheVet site, that I know for a fact you still can get Level 2 through the VA hospitals...when we did the VA eBenefits for me, we went to the med library at the VA hospital by us, but that was, as I'd said, before the whole remote-proofing changeover...VONAPP is way less restrictive to sign up for, the thing is, it's only to send in applications for benefit stuff...now, eBenefits can be linked to VONAPP and myHealtheVet, and, myHealtheVet is done for the Level 2 for that, at VA hospital main admin buildings, typically, at least, that's how it's done at the one by us...when we got my mother-in-law processed as a survivor, we had to get a home visit by VA regional office (VARO) staff...such home visits are possible, we know, we did it, not the hospitals, the VARO, they have staff there who do home visits for the elderly, infirm, disabled, and survivors, that's part of their gig, trust me, it exists, it just takes the Congressional staffs helping you, plus calling VA central office (VACO) directly, plus practically an Act of Congress and a papal dispensation to make it happen, honest, but the guy assigned by my mother-in-law was sent over from the VARO to the house she's in for four hours with me, my wife, who's her guardian, as she's no longer competent, she's 96, and me, all sitting there...he wrote the whole thing up on her, even got her the tax break as a VA survivor, which totally amazed us that he got that for her...you're also entitled to that, as well, so register for that, just be sure you use the right form, or you're gonna have to appeal it to your municipality tax board...we were told to use a wrong form at first, we were under the alternate Cold-War form for me where we are, wherever you are, there's gonna be a specific form for wherever you live, I assure you...then there's also the VA Natl Cemetery Admin (NCA), you're also entitled to that, we had to physically go over to see the staff, as my wife's Dad had been WW2, however, my mother-in-law had wanted to be with my late brother-in-law at a private facility next door, so the staff arranged it for us, they were really quite good, honest...it saved us a whole slew of money, as opposed to having to go private, honest, I'm not saying it to be morbid or anything, however, all VA cemeteries generally have columbarium facilities for cremains, however, we lucked out, and were allowed to request to use the spot that had been intended for my mother-in-law, since she hadn't wanted it, apparently, before she was incompetent, we had a whole power of attorney (POA) thing set up for her by a law group my wife's family used for years, years ago...see, VA, didn't even know she existed, neither my wife's Dad nor her stepdad, who'd been WW2 and Korea, had ever documented my mother-in-law, so it obviously fell to yours truly to do it all, since I was the only one among us who knew how...we also had to get her on Medicaid, not just Medicare, to get her home health aides (HHAs)...that's pretty much everything, I just figured you'd find knowing all that useful...I don't know about increasing your rating, in our case for me, I've got cardiac stuff, so, knowing as much as I do about VA, since I trained at the hospitals before my total perm disability, we shut my doctoral allied-health license off sevl yrs ago, we got my cardiac stuff documented in a separate nonmonetary claim by one of the vet groups, we didn't need NOVA for that, but that was a relatively simple slam-dunk, plus, we got a sign-off by a quite experienced and perceptively competent VA cardiologist at the VA hospital by us...the reason we did that is, that, in your case, from the retroactive date of your claim, when it was orig filed, which is what counts, not the date you were approved for the 60%, I gather (I'm not trained in this, just long anecdotally exposed to a good deal, as I hope is apparent), there starts a 10-yr clock...once you're at the 10-yr point, you're deemed by Congress a statutory disabled vet, at which point your family is protected under what is termed dependent indemnity compensation (DIC), it's what they get to protect them without you, so ask about that as well, OK? I think that's finally everything...I know that's obviously a lot, and you're probably wondering to yourself how in God's name I actually learned all that, however, as I said, while I'm not trained in such VA-disability benefit stuff, trust me, been there, done that (BTDT), so, as I've been explaining, that's how and why I know as much about the whole thing as I do...there's also voc rehab and education (VR&E), however, that'd depend on whether or not you ever want to go back and do something, but DON'T do it without asking an attorney first, honest, preferably one of the NOVA guys, or at least a vet group or vet law clinic at a law school, OK? Then, also, there's some kind of educational benefit that'd accrue to your wife, spouse, kids, whatever, my stepson was entitled to it, he just had no interest in using it, I don't think it's transferable to another generation, I've asked about that, plus, it's only good up to some maximum age, somewhere in the 20s or so, from what I understand...I hope that all helps, I'd be most eager to know if you found all that of at least some possible use, if nothing else...as I said, sorry to dump all that on you, however, I figured if I didn't tell you, you'd never hear it all in one dump from anyone else, plus, I had the time to try to type it all up, so, obviously, I hope you find it of value...trust me, though, trust NOVA, they're one of the proofs, at least for us, that there's a very definite reason God invented attorneys, promise, honest, OK?

Home

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made Sep 8 at 2018 6:51 PM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 18:51:40 -0400

I know I just sent you a lot, but trust me, we've been through virtually all of it, promise, read all I sent carefully, promise, you'll see why it'll be of use, honest, OK? Lemme know what you think, no rush, I'm here if you wanna chat anytime, OK?

Response by Col Val Finnell, MD, MPH made Sep 8 at 2018 10:06 PM

Col Val Finnell, MD, MPH — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 22:06:06 -0400

Yes, they progressively increase. Here is the matrix:

https://benefits.va.gov/benefits/derivative_sc.asp

VA Benefit Eligibility Matrix

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 10 at 2018 11:06 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 11:06:22 -0400

Check your state. In Texas 60% gets your special plates, no toll fees, massive discount on property taxes and other benefits.

Response by CWO3 John Bell made Apr 22 at 2019 7:34 PM

CWO3 John Bell — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 19:34:53 -0400

Do not hire an attorney, they can't do anything more than a VSO, that is fact. I was a VSO and I worked for the VA processing disability claims, I know what I'm talking about. If you want to waste your money, go for it. They will take 20% of your retroactive compensation payment. But like I said, don't do it.