The VA Disability Claims Process: Getting Started

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”—Confucius. One would be wise to take the advice of Confucius when planning their transition from military service. This wisdom is of particular importance when preparing for the Veterans Administration (VA) disability claims process. When the day comes, you will likely have the same reaction I did: “Where should I start?” “Who can I call?” “How does the process unfold?” “How am I going to move this mountain?” It is normal to experience some anxiety and trepidation about the process. Let's be honest, if you ask for the opinions of 10 people about VA disability claims, you’ll probably get 10 different versions on where to start and how to get there. If you are reading this article, you're about to get my opinion! Early on before actually getting started I rather foolishly believed I’d be guided through the process by hand, helped along the way, and little effort required by me. I was sadly mistaken. My story of navigating the process chronicles the path I took after implementing my 6-Step Plan.

"...after the VA Benefits briefing at TAPS, I walked out with more questions, confusion, and perplexment than before I went in..."

I decided to retire from active duty in late 2018. I was excited, anxious, and I experienced some unease about the overall prospect of leaving the life I loved. Once you make that decision, it feels pretty good. But, some degree of panic eventually sets in once you ruminate on the intimidating task of transitioning and all the stress that accompanies it. Still, over the years I had watched other senior leaders, friends, and colleagues retire and they seemed to navigate the VA disability process rather easily; at least from the outside looking in that is how it appeared. So I figured it would be a simple and somewhat regimented process I could easily follow myself. I’d go along with a few checklist, attend a few appointments and briefings, sign some papers, and subsequently ride off into the proverbial sunset with my VA Disability rating in hand. I wasn’t overly concerned about my own journey. In fact, my attitude was simple: I had been on jump status for 20+ years with hundreds of jumps to my credit, I deployed 12-times, and I had a long history of breaks, bumps, bruises, and scars to prove it. Surely, I was set for a favorable rating from the VA with little work required on my part—right? There was one problem; I spent a career mostly hiding injuries in an effort to remain “in the fight.” Back then, I never considered the long-term effects of ignoring injuries and even if I did, I wouldn’t have cared. Deploying, jumping out of airplanes, training, and doing my job was all I cared about. The ramifications of hiding injures and not getting medical treatment would later come back to haunt me, which I discuss later in this article. For now, flash forward to 9-months until separation, and I’m cruising along (resume is looking good, job prospects abound, out-processing checklist coming along nicely, on track to complete my PMP, etc.). I signed up for the mandatory weeklong TAPS class and learned about interview preparation, life insurance, resume 101, etc.). If you’ve taken a TAPS class or two, you know the drill. Inundated with information overload. But, Day-3 was what I was really excited about—the VA Benefits briefing, specifically the VA disability claims process briefing. I just knew, following this brief, I’d know everything about the process. I’d have the magic bullet and literally know everything there was to know. I would prove Confucius wrong and show him; I’d move this mountain with relative ease. Well, after the VA Benefits briefing at TAPS, I walked out with more questions, confusion, and perplexment than before I went in; how is this possible I thought? Perhaps Confucius was right all along, and this mountain was not going to be moved in one swift action. Reality set in pretty quickly and I knew at that moment I’d have to develop my own plan of attack that would include research, document preparation, calls, e-mails, and measured focus on getting ready for my VA claim submittal. It was time to take this seriously and start figuring out my plan for moving these small stones. I would do this through a series of steps.

Step 1 began by organizing my plan of attack through first researching the subject at nauseum. I spent considerable time on Google, LinkedIn, Veterans blogs, and the VA’s website researching the “process” for submitting a VA Claim. I created a list of questions on some of the more confusing and/or conflicting data that I found whilst researching the subject; along with questions on parts of the process that seemed ambiguous at best.

In Step 2, I set up an in-person meeting with the VSO at my duty location. It was convenient for me since the VSO was in the Pentagon, just a short 2 min walk from my office. In my first of many in-person meetings with the VSO (a VA accredited representative) I had the her explain the process and the timeline so I could compare the information received at the VSO's office with my own research. Subsequently, I went over my notes and asked the VSO a series of questions to gain insight and clarity on some of the confusing parts of the process. The meeting validated some of my research, and enlightened me to other bits of relevant information I had missed in my initial exploration of open web information. After feeling satisfied I had a solid understanding of the process, I decided the next small stone I needed to move was to organize everything I had learned and create a personal timeline. This evolving timeline is where I keep a running list of comments, reminders, notes to self, etc. This was essential in keeping me on track. If new information was presented, it was added to my timeline and categorized for future reference.

"...it is vitally important to schedule an appointment (perhaps several) with your PCM to correct and update your electronic medical records immediately."

Step 3 of my plan was initiated by requesting my electronic and paper records. I received both in less than two days and immediately began spending countless hours making copies and organizing my entire medical history into folders (by year) from 1995 – 2019. One important note that every veteran must know; some elements of your paper records (in my case 1995 - 2006) do not make it into your OFFICIAL electronic records. Once organized, I spent considerable time highlighting every encounter I ever had with a doctor (surgeries, X-rays, MRIs, broken bones, casts, hearing aids, medications…you name it). I categorized every issue by body part, by year. This was exhausting. But, I began to notice a problem: my records were missing items. Yes, some missing issues and previous diagnoses were a result of my paper records not migrating over to my electronic records (easily fixable with some effort). However, the "missing" items I'm talking about were not "missing" as a result of mistakes on the part of medical personnel or records migration issues; it was due to all those years of hiding injuries, as mentioned earlier in the article. This caused significant frustration, all of my own doing from years of ignoring and declining medical treatment, but I had to fix it--or at least try. So, I made a second list of all those "missing" items from my records and then made an appointment with my primary care manager (PCM). Luckily, the PCM was able to add some of the items to my records retroactively, and assign the appropriate diagnosis codes. For example, I had bullet fragments in my elbow that I never sought medical treatment for, aside from the medic who initially treated the injury when it happened. I developed a nasty infection and for years later I could feel the fragments floating around under my skin; a minor annoyance but--it wasn't documented. After ~12 years I finally had the fragments removed and thankfully had my medical records updated to reflect this injury as SERVICE CONNECTED. This vignette is likely relative to a large population of active-duty members because many of you (like me) hide or at least underscore injuries, therefore; your records do not accurately reflect your “whole” medical history. If you are in the same situation, it is vitally important to schedule an appointment (perhaps several) with your PCM to correct and update your electronic medical records immediately. After a thoroughly researching the process, and a thorough examination of my entire medical history; I moved to the next step.

Step 4 started by conducting a comprehensive search of Title 38, Section 4, of the “Schedule of Rating Disabilities, Subparts A & B, Appendices A, B, and C.” Title 38, Section 4 is the go-to guide in the VA’s evaluation of disabilities. It is used by the VA for all claims you are claiming as a result of service-connected diseases and injuries encountered as a result of or incident to your military service. I spent a substantial amount of time searching Title 38, Section 4 in its entirety. I used it to do a side-by-side comparison of my medical records. For example, I was diagnosed with mild-Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). So naturally, I intended on claiming TBI as a disability. What I learned by researching Title 38, Section 4 is the VA doesn’t rate TBI. The VA only rate residuals of TBI. Armed with this information, it was imperative to scrutinize my records again and look for residual issues associated with my TBI (e.g. Mild cognitive impairment, attention and concentration deficit, major depression, etc.). This is exactly why research is so important, or you will miss this type of “fine print” information. Similarly, other experts (VSOs) and/or third-parties who are preparing your claim may miss it as well. Again, the VSO will prepare and file your claim; but it behooves you to already know what you are planning on claiming based on your own research and your own medical history. If the person or persons preparing your claim miss something, you can promptly correct them and update your claim before the VA receives it. Getting it right the first time is paramount.

Step 5 is where all the research, preparation, and time spent on your claim comes to fruition. This is the step where you prepare your official claim. In my case, I hired a paid VA accredited third-party organization to file my claim. Frankly, I would have felt just as comfortable having the VSO do it for free, but I wanted to expedite the process so I paid money to have an accredited organization prepare my claim. In this step, I sent the requested copies of my complete electronic medical record (1995 – 2019) as well as all my personal notes based on my own research. The third-party representative spent two weeks going through my records and preparing my service-connected disability claims. They sent me the file, prepared on my behalf, and I was pleased to see they listed everything I had expected based on my understanding of Title 38, Section 4; and even some items I had missed. I signed all the VA forms they prepared and subsequently mailed my entire claim to the VA for adjudication, ~120-days from my separation date: in accordance with the rules of the Veterans Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) program. If you plan to file a claim under BDD, I highly encourage you to review the BDD requirements here: https://www.va.gov/disability /how-to-file-claim/when-to-file/pre-discharge-claim/. Step 6 of my plan involved preparation for my actual in-person Compensation and Pension (C&P) exams. The C&P exams are, arguably, the most important part of the entire process. The reason it is so important is because it involves a series of third-party VA contracted examinations (dependent on the number of claims you have) for the purpose of determining your level of disability for each and every claim. Step 6 is briefly highlighted in this article, but it is discussed at length in the C&P preparation guide I created; mentioned later in the article if you are interested. My 6 Step plan is something I created out necessity, a desire to manage the information. I encourage you to create your own plan, your own steps, and develop timelines in accordance with your unique situation.

By this point, you may be experiencing information saturation level 100. That’s okay, it is normal. My hope is that you’re more informed and more at ease now in understanding that you too can get a handle on this process and move through it efficiently. Your plan of action and subsequent steps may mirror mine, but, ultimately you must develop some sort of plan, make it your own, and organize yourself for successful navigation of this arduous process. So, let’s recap the overall lessons I learned from start-to-finish.

Lesson 1: I was not going to move the mountain in one fell swoop. I created a game plan and implemented it in small chunks, adjusting it as needed. This was critical to being able to manage the information overload.

Lesson 2: I did my own research—first. Doing your own initial and follow-up research is a vital lesson I hope readers take away from this article; if nothing else. In fact, I encourage you to trust me, but verify; all opinions, claims, and statements in this article for yourself.

Lesson 3: Set up appointments in-person. Appointments in-person were essential in getting information clarified. E-mails, phone calls, instant messaging, and text messages simply was not as effective as actually sitting in front of a human being and connecting. The importance of in-person appointments with the VSO, PCM, and other VA disability subject matter experts cannot be stressed enough. Due to Covid-19, I understand this may not be an option for many of you. We are in uncharted territory here and I have no advice presently available. Be creative and use technology to connect the best way possible.

Lesson 4: I dissected my medical history and learned it was an invaluable piece of the puzzle. Sure, you can take your official electronic records and hand them over to the VSO (at some point you will anyway), and they will do a great job of locating and listing all the disabilities you should be making a claim for with the VA. But, due diligence in researching and understanding your own medical history is, in my opinion, of the upmost importance and a lesson you should heed. Hopefully, you learn from all my "lessons learned" and you use them to your advantage as you begin the process.

To conclude, I want to reiterate the wise words of Confucius, “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” Preparing for your disability clais is a daunting task that is not easily accomplished in one day, or one week, likely not even one month. Stay the course. Meet with experts and VA accredited representatives frequently in order to gain insight and clarify information, in order to adjudicate any concerns you have. Refine, organize, and document your research so you can maintain an edge on the overwhelming flow of incoming information. Manage, organize, and understand your medical history; accomplished by committing the time and resources required to do so. The overarching message here is you must prioritize these tasks and make the effort to see it through to completion. This means stepping away from the job and taking the personal time necessary for YOU to take care of YOU. The VA disability claims process is only one of many aspects of transition, but it requires considerable effort compared to all other transition related activities. After reading this article, my hope is that you are less stressed, more informed, and ready to implement your own plan in the hopes of being able to navigate the VA disability claims process more easily--getting it right the first time. Good luck as you begin your journey in filing your VA disability claim. Now, go and start moving those small stones.

Epilogue

As a result of going through the afore mentioned process, I subsequently created an extensive guide (free) on how I did all of this, in much more detail than is explained in this article. Since version one of my guide was created, I have since collaborated with other veterans, transition experts, and continued to refine the guide; sharing with all whom request it. In addition, I created and circulated a survey intended to collect data from Active-Duty, Guard, and Reserve members for the purposes of sharing the results and ultimatly affecting some change as it relates to the VA disability claims process. If you have not done so, feel free to take the survey at this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QPG95C8.

The results and my data driven conclusions will be posted in an article here on LinkedIn sometime in the beginning of June 2020.