VA success Stories, Claims Granted for CAD and Agent Orange

When each and every veteran receives this type of quick adjudication of their claims and receives all the benefits to which they are entitled, then this Blog will become history, we hope that history comes soon, but given the over 1.3 million backlogged claims these two success stories are not even a drop in the bucket to the whole problem, though we do not under estimate the significance that it means to these two veterans.

The stories linked to below are VA generated stories.

With that in mind:


Stories from the Field

From A Nashville VA Employee:
Unexpected Retroactive Payment for Coronary Artery Disease
December 17, 2010

Wow, today is a great day at work. VA was able to grant service connection for ischemic heart disease as a new presumptive disability due to service in Vietnam. The Veteran served Honorably with the US Marine Corps and was awarded the Purple Heart for his service. Even though VA did not receive the current claim until March 2010, a complete review of the Veteran's claims file shows a prior claim for herbicide exposure and a diagnosis of coronary artery disease received in July of 1988, which was previously denied. However, based on Secretary Shinseki's announcement VA retroactively granted the claim effective to 1988. The Veteran will receive unexpected retroactive compensation of $74,654.


From A Nashville VA Employee:
Granting Service Connection Using Fast Track Claims Processing System
December 17, 2010

I was able to help another one of America's Heroes. VA recently competed a rating decision granting service connection for ischemic heart disease using the Fast Track Claims Processing System. VA reviewed the claim received in November 2010 and an interim decision granting service connection at 10 percent to an Honorably discharged Vietnam Veteran. VA was able to start paying the Veteran four days after the claim was received. The medical evidence did not provide all of the objective findings to fully evaluate the disability, after additional development, VA was able to assign an effective date of 2006 which increased the Veteran's retroactive compensation from a few hundred dollars based on an effective date of the new law to more than $7000 based on an effective date in 2006.