FEDERAL VA BENEFITS

What is Disability Compensation?

Disability Compensation is a monthly payment made to a veteran who has incurred a service-connected disability rated at 10 percent or more while in the military or who has aggravated a pre-existing condition rated at 10 percent or more. The VA also assists in adapting homes and/or automobiles for veterans who are totally and permanently service-connected disabled.

Eligibility Requirements

You must have a disability that originated while you were in the service or a disability presumed to have been caused by certain risk factors associated with military service.

You must have active military service and been discharged under conditions other than Dishonorable. Types of qualifying service include:

1. Active Duty; or
2. Any period of active duty for training during which the individual concerned was disabled or died from a disease or injury incurred or aggravated in line of duty to include National Guard and Reserves; or
3. Any period of inactive duty for training during which the individual concerned was disabled or died from an injury or aggravated in line of duty.

Presumptive Illnesses

Specific illnesses are presumed to be caused by exposure to certain risk factors such as Agent Orange Herbicide, Hepatitis C, Ionizing Radiation and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Some of the risk factors and their related illnesses are:

Agent Orange Herbicide

Agent Orange Herbicide was used by the military as a defoliant in Korea and Vietnam in the 1960s and early 1970s. Illnesses related to Agent Orange Herbicide are:

• Parkinson's Disease.
• B Cell Leukemia(s).
• Ischemic Heart Disease.
• Chloracne or other acneform disease consistent with chloracne. (Must occur within one year of exposure to Agent Orange).
• Hodgkin's Disease.
• Multiple Myeloma.
• Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
• Acute and Subacute Peripheral Neuropathy. (For purposes of this section, the term acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy means temporary peripheral neuropathy that appears within weeks or months of exposure to an herbicide agent and resolves within two years of the date of onset.)
• Porphyria Cutanea Tarda. (Must occur within one year of exposure to Agent Orange).
• Prostate Cancer.
• Respiratory Cancers (cancer of the lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea).
• Soft-tissue Sarcoma (other than Osteosarcoma, Chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's Sarcoma, or Esothelioma)
• Adult Onset (type II) Diabetes Mellitis.
• Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.
• AL Amyloidosis.

This list may be expanded in the future and all veterans are urged to make application for benefits even for conditions not on the specified list since there is a possibility for retroactive benefits if the condition is later added to the list.

Hepatitis C

If you have been diagnosed with Hepatitis C it may be possible to obtain disability benefits for your condition and any secondary condition resulting from Hepatitis C if you were exposed to the following risk factors while you were in the service:

• exposure to large amounts of blood and body fluid;
• received a blood transfusion or hemodialysis prior to 1992;
• received tattoos or body piercings;
• tried injection drugs or shared needles or snorting straws;
• shared razors, toothbrushes or any item that could carry blood;
• received a vaccination from an air-jet injector.

Ionizing Radiation

Exposure to Ionizing Radiation may have occurred if the Veteran participated in atmospheric nuclear testing; was a POW in Hiroshima or Nagasaki; service before 1 Feb 1992 at a diffusion plant in Paducah, Ky., Portsmouth, Ohio, or Oak Ridge, Tenn.; or service before 1 Jan 1974 at Amchitka Island, Alaska. Illnesses related to Ionizing Radiation exposure are:

• All forms of Leukemia (except for chronic lymphocytic leukemia).
• Cancer of the Thyroid, Breast, Pharynx, Esophagus, Stomach, Small Intestine, Pancreas, Bile Ducts, Gall Bladder, Salivary Gland, Urinary Tract (Renal Pelvis, Ureter, Urinary Bladder and Urethra), Brain, Bone, Lung, Colon, Ovary.
• Bronchiolo-Alveolar.
• Multiple Myeloma.
• Lymphomas (other than Hodgkin’s Disease).
• Primary Liver Cancer (except if Cirrhosis or Hepatitis B is indicated).

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

ALS is a presumptively compensable illness for all Veterans with 90 days or more of continuously active service in the military. The reason for this is that Veterans are developing ALS in rates higher than the general population. This applies to all applications for benefits received by the VA on or after 23 Sep 2008. ALS, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a neuromuscular disease which is often relentlessly progressive, and is almost always fatal.

If you believe that you may have a service connected disability, contact our office to schedule an appointment to file a claim with a Veterans Service Representative.