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July 21, 2010 - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced they are implementing a new rule dealing with veterans' post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) benefit claims. This new rule lowers requirements for those veterans attempting to collect PTSD disability compensation. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki believes this new rule will help more veterans collect the benefits to which they are owed.
The VA's new rule relaxes the burden on what the veteran must prove in order to show he or she is suffering from PTSD. Under current regulations, VA personnel must corroborate a non-combat veteran's account of experienced trauma causing their PTSD.
The new rule no longer requires verification of the event itself. If a VA psychiatrist or psychologist authenticates that the veterans' experience supports a diagnosis of PTSD and the complained of symptoms are tied to the stressor, the VA will grant that veterans PTSD compensation. This will most likely speed up part of the claims process as no longer will inordinate amounts of time be spent attempting to verify accounts of past actions.
The VA already compensates over 400,000 veterans for PTSD, only 19% of which are veterans of the 2 current wars. It is hopeful this new rule will encourage more veterans suffering from PTSD to make claims or convince veterans already frustrated with the VA system to make a new claim.
This new rule benefits not only veterans with lost records, but veterans whose records do not reflect combat operations as well as veterans with combat experience but no record of ever having been in combat.
Soldiers can return home with a number of conditions, injuries, and aggravated preexisting conditions. If you believe you have a service-connected physical or psychological injury you may be entitled to Veterans’ Disability Compensation.
At LaVan and Neidenberg, we are determined to secure veterans their rightful disability compensation and disability rating. We wrote this book for you! In it you will find valuable tips on how to navigate the claims process and avoid common pitfalls. Request your FREE copy today!
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