A service connected disability claim for compensation – Rating 10-100% and monthly check – requires the Veteran to take action. If you do not file a claim (VA Form 21-526EZ), the VA will not search for you and file your claim. The VA is not going to reach out and hold your hand and file for you. The VA leaves it to the Veteran to take action and fend for their self. The Veterans Administration does not have the manpower or financial resources to reach out to millions of Veterans.
If you file a VA claim for service connected disability compensation for hearing loss (10% max) and/or for tinnitus (10% max) and VA awards service connection and 10%, all hearing aids are free. Every Veteran in every service that has suffered from loud disabling military noises that cause hearing loss and Tinnitus have a recoverable service connection claim. Such Veterans can make the argument their hearing loss was as a direct result of loud explosions, gun fire, loud aircraft, loud vehicles, or … a loud Master Chief yelling in your ear! Veterans must take action. Veterans can use their hard earned money for other life challenges.
The process requires that Veterans must file Initial Claim form VA 21-526EZ and list “Hearing Loss” and “Tinnitus” among other service connected disabilities they may have and send to VA Regional Office in their county.
If Veterans are interested in the official list of all service-connected disabilities, Google “CFR 38 Part 4 Appendix C.” This is “THE” official 200 plus page regulation the VA uses to adjudicate all VA claims. Within this regulation (Appendix C), Veterans will find a complete alphabetized list of all service-connected disabilities the VA provides monetary compensation and provides lifetime free medical care for those disabilities. Once a Veteran reaches 50% disability rating or greater for service-connected disabilities, all medical costs, treatments, prescriptions, including hearing aids, are free for the rest of the life of the Veteran.
If a Veteran dies from one of the claimed service connected disability claims, the surviving spouse/dependent children can file for Dependent Indemnity Compensation (DIC) and receive $1,254 per month tax free for the rest of the life of the surviving spouse/dependent children.
Keeping Veterans informed with simple, correct, concise information is important when cutting through the confusion with VA claims. If you are interested in other VA benefits download our e-book from the home page and contact Euless, Texas Veterans Benefits Attorney, Antoinette Bone, at (817) 462-5454 or email [email protected]
To comply with the U.S. Treasury regulations, we must inform you that (i) any U.S. federal tax advice contained in this newsletter was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by any person for the purpose of avoiding U.S. federal tax penalties that may be imposed on such person and (ii) each taxpayer should seek advice from their tax advisor based on the taxpayer’s particular circumstances.
Nothing in this message is intended to provide legal advice. This message is for educational purposes only.
(Source: Gilbert M. Martin, Supervisory Resource Management Officer, Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach, CA).