Veteran Claims

Service connection describes an injury or disease resulting in a disability linked to your service in the military. VA grants service connection when evidence shows a link between a claimed medical condition and military service.

To make this determination, VA reviews all evidence, including service personnel and medical records, medical exams, opinions, and non-federal records such as private medical records and lay statements.

Here are some important facts to note: You must have sustained the injury or disease in the line of military duty. The military must have aggravated a pre-existing injury or illness in the line of responsibility. Veterans may receive additional compensation if rated 30 percent and more for one or more disabilities.

There are several principles VA uses when evaluating evidence. Here we'll cover chronicity and continuity, which help identify the nature of the injury or disease. When determining chronicity for a condition, VA looks for a combination of evidence that shows the claimed condition has been medically diagnosed as chronic and not an isolated finding during service.

A few examples of diseases that are chronic include arthritis, epilepsies, and multiple sclerosis.

If VA can't establish chronicity, then lay statements may consider continuity of a disability or symptoms. 

Let's take Joe Veteran, for example. Joe injured his left ankle in military service; his evidence of record shows constant complaints of the same ankle months after his military discharge. Joe also provides VA with a current medical diagnosis of a left ankle condition. In this scenario, Joe may establish continuity of the injury.

You may be eligible for VA disability benefits or compensation if you have a current illness or injury (known as a condition) that affects your body or mind and meet at least one of the requirements listed below.

Both of these must be true. You:

• Served on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training, and
• Have a disability rating for your service-connected condition

And at least one of these must be true. You:

• Got sick or injured while serving in the military—and can link this condition to your illness or injury (called an in-service disability claim), or
• Had a sickness or harm to your body before you joined the military—and serving made it worse (called a preservice disability claim), or
• Have an injury related to your active-duty service that didn't appear until after you ended your service (called a post-service disability claim)
• Presumed disabilities
• A chronic (long-lasting) illness that occurs within one year after discharge, or
• A condition caused by contact with contaminants (toxic chemicals) or other hazardous materials, or
• A disease caused by your time spent as a prisoner of war (POW)

When considering filing a claim for VA compensation, there are a few things to keep in mind. It's helpful to know what VA compensation is; compensation is a monthly payment made by VA to a Veteran or eligible family member because of a service-connected disability.

There are various types of VA compensation but let's begin with a look at disability compensation. A Veteran may be entitled to disability compensation if he or she is disabled due to an injury or disease while in active military service. 

• Veterans
• Qualified dependents

The VA recently updated its appeals process, meaning different rules now apply depending on when the veteran received the original decision.

Those who received a decision on February 19, 2019, or later can file an appeal in three ways. 

VA appeal options include: 

• Higher-Level Review: With this option, a senior-level VA reviewer will look at the claim. The reviewer will see if an error or difference of opinion caused the claim to be rejected or denied. Veterans cannot submit any additional evidence here, but they may call the reviewer and explain the case to them.
• Supplemental Claim: Here, veterans can submit more evidence to support the claim and send it off for another review. This option can be helpful if the case was missing information or found new evidence to support the claim. A reviewer will then examine the claim alongside the new evidence.
• Judicial Review: This option allows veterans to appeal directly to a veterans law judge. These judges are experts in veterans' laws and sit on the Board of Veterans' Appeals in Washington DC. In a judicial review, a veteran can: Ask for a direct assessment of the case (without new evidence or a hearing) Submit new evidence without a hearing

Submit new evidence and also meet with a veterans' law judge (this meeting does not decide the case — the veteran will explain to the judge why they appealed, and BVA will add a transcript to the case)

When reviewing your VA disability benefits eligibility criteria, find out if you can get disability compensation for an illness or injury caused by—or got worse because of—your active military service.

Compensation may include financial support and other benefits like health care.