(classical music)
- Through your service to your country
as a United States veteran,
you may have questions as a veteran:
what disability benefits do I qualify for?
My name is Lori Underwood.
I'm with Woods and Woods,
and here at Woods and Woods our goal
is focused on helping veterans obtain
and answer those questions
about the VA Disability Benefits
you may be eligible for.
We've prepared this segment
to hopefully answer some of those questions
for you or at least help provide
some insight into the questions you may have.
What is Disability Benefits Compensation
through the VA?
An award of disability benefits compensation
is a monthly payment that can be awarded
to a qualifying veteran
to help compensate for some of the injuries
or impairments that you sustain
during your active duty military service.
These are permanent injuries and limitations
that resulted from either active duty,
either directly or indirectly,
or have resulted from another
service-connected impairment
that you are already receiving compensation for.
Now I said that there's a monthly payment.
So the question you may have
is how much does it pay?
This varies because a veteran can be
service-connected for a whole host of disabilities,
mental and physical.
Some examples include back pain,
knee injuries, headaches,
PTSD, depression,
heart disease, the list goes on and on
and it's indefinite.
Each service-connected impairment
you're compensated for will carry
its own rating.
The VA adds each individual rating
into what is called a combined rating,
and your payment would be based
upon your combined rating.
Now a combined rating is not simple math.
so your monthly payment
for your VA Disability Compensation
is going to be paid based on your combined rating,
which is a combined rating of all
of your service-connected disabilities together.
Now as I said,
this is not simple math.
For example,
a 20% service-connected rating
for a knee injury as an example
and a 20% service-connected rating
for a back injury for example
and a 10% service-connected rating for PTSD
would not equal 50 for one veteran
because the VA combined rating calculator
is not simple math.
So in order to calculate your combined rating,
you can refer to the VA combined rating calculator
through several different websites
to assist you in calculating your combined rating.
We offer one on our website.
You can follow the link below
to help assist you with calculating
your combined rating.
So your next question may be
why is my combined rating important?
Your combined rating is important because
this is the rating at which the VA uses
to determine what compensation to pay you monthly.
Compensation rates vary anywhere
between 0 and 100%.
If you have any questions on how much
these ratings pay,
the VA publishes compensation rate tables
on their website.
It is important for you to remember
that you do not have to be 100%
totally disabled for VA Disability Compensation
to be available to you.
Remember that compensation is paid
as low as a 10% rating.
And it's also important to remember
that this compensation is tax free.
One question that you may have is
am I eligible for VA Disability Compensation Benefits.
There are a few steps in determining
your eligibility for VA Compensation Benefits.
Very quickly I will go over
some of those steps with you.
Number one: you have to be a veteran of military,
naval or air service.
This does include Coast Guard and Reserve
of one of the military branches.
You have to have had active military service,
active full-time duty.
For National Guard,
you would have to have been active
for a federal purpose whenever
your impairment was incurred.
You have to be discharged under conditions
other than dishonorable.
And finally your impairment was caused
or incurred by active military service,
or your active military service
or a directly related military impairment
caused aggravation beyond natural progression
of a non-military related problem.
You may be wondering if your VA Disability
Compensation Benefits vary from state to state.
For example,
does a veteran from Texas paid something
other than a veteran from Florida
other than a veteran from California,
Ohio, New York.
The answer is no.
All veterans are paid the same.
This is a federally appropriated benefit
that applies across the country the same
for all veterans.
If you think you meet these qualifications,
or you may be eligible to pursue
a VA Disability Compensation Benefit,
you need to file a claim for compensation.
There is a form prescribed by the VA
for disability compensation benefits,
and all applications need to be submitted
on this formal application.
We have previously prepared a video
on applying for VA Disability Compensation Benefits
that is available on our website,
and you can refer back to that video
for a more in-depth discussion
of applying for benefits.
(atmospheric music) But always,
if you have any questions,
and we can help you
with VA Disability Compensation Benefits,
please give us a call at the number listed below,
and allow us to serve you.