The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) provides disability compensation to veterans with a service-connected injury, and to receive disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), a veteran must submit a claim or have a claim submitted on his or her behalf. Evaluation of the Disability Determination Process for Traumatic Brain Injury in Veterans reviews the process by which the VA assesses impairments resulting from traumatic brain injury for purposes of awarding disability compensation. This report also provides recommendations for legislative or administrative action for improving the adjudication of veterans' claims seeking entitlement to compensation for all impairments arising from a traumatic brain injury.

"The United States Code is the official codification of the general and permanent laws of the United States of America. The Code was first published in 1926, and a new edition of the code has been published every six years since 1934. The 2012 edition of the Code incorporates laws enacted through the One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Second Session, the last of which was signed by the President on January 15, 2013. It does not include laws of the One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, First Session, enacted between January 2, 2013, the date it convened, and January 15, 2013. By statutory authority this edition may be cited "U.S.C. 2012 ed." As adopted in 1926, the Code established prima facie the general and permanent laws of the United States. The underlying statutes reprinted in the Code remained in effect and controlled over the Code in case of any discrepancy. In 1947, Congress began enacting individual titles of the Code into positive law. When a title is enacted into positive law, the underlying statutes are repealed and the title then becomes legal evidence of the law. Currently, 26 of the 51 titles in the Code have been so enacted. These are identified in the table of titles near the beginning of each volume. The Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives continues to prepare legislation pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 285b to enact the remainder of the Code, on a title-by-title basis, into positive law. The 2012 edition of the Code was prepared and published under the supervision of Ralph V. Seep, Law Revision Counsel. Grateful acknowledgment is made of the contributions by all who helped in this work, particularly the staffs of the Office of the Law Revision Counsel and the Government Printing Office"--Preface.

The author draws from the laws and codes that govern the VA and provides context from his direct experience to illustrate how those rules are applied. The reader will learn when to make claims, what to claim, how to claim, and a host of other common sense VA procedures. When finished, the veteran will have all the knowledge to make the VA function the way it was designed.

Although the rules governing VA disability benefits and the VA disability ratings process often seem unfairly stacked against you, the purpose of this book is to educate you on what is needed and how to properly prepare the NEXUS letter of your Veterans benefits claim so you can level the playing field and WIN YOUR VA DISABILITY BENEFITS CLAIM! As you know, in order to be successful with your VA disability benefits claim, you must meet three specific criteria:* You must have a current, chronic disability; AND* the disability must have been caused by, the result of, or aggravated by your military service or a secondary condition that was caused by an existing service connected disability; AND* there must be a NEXUS or link between the first two criteria. This book explains the goals and anatomy of a NEXUS letter, addresses potential concerns that doctors might have in writing the NEXUS letter and demonstrates how to craft a compelling NEXUS letter that the VA can't deny. As an added bonus, this book will also show you how to locate missing records and utilized creative ways to find information in support of an incomplete claim. My name is Rick Blair and I served nearly 27 years in the U.S. Air Force and then another 10 years in my "second career" as a Veterans Service Officer (VSO.) Now for my third and hopefully final "career," I plan on taking it easy and writing books to continue my advocacy for Veterans, because the knowledge I gained during those 10 years as a VSO, I believe, is far too important NOT to continuing sharing with other disabled Veterans.As a VSO, I spent four years advocating for Veterans benefits at the St Petersburg VA Regional Office, another four and a half years working with patients at the James H. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa, and then the last year and a half providing community-based advocacy for our Veterans in and around Sumter County Florida. As a result of this experience, I not only became familiar with VA law and the VA disability claims and appeals processes, I learned the procedural matrixes the decision makers (Raters, Decision Review Officers, and Judges) utilize to adjudicated disability claims. As a result of that experience, I discovered that by approaching the Veterans benefits process from the perspective of what could be granted, instead of focusing on what would be denied, I could help Veterans become VICTORS instead of victims. As I assessed the numerous self-help books out there related to VA disability claims and appeals, I found several that do a pretty good job addressing the claims and appeals process and how to submit a claim, but I could not find very much specific information on how to address and develop the NEXUS or link necessary for a VA disability claim. This will be the first book of what I am calling "The Veterans Benefits Series." Subsequent books in this series will address such topics as how to submit a fully developed claim, how to prepare for your Compensation and Pension Examination, additional benefits you didn't know you were entitled to, VA benefits for surviving spouses and children, and more. So whether you are seeking a reconsideration of a recent disability claim or your disability claim is currently in the appeals process, this information is vital to ensuring you have the knowledge necessary to win the veterans benefits you deserve!

medical evidence in veteran disability rating. PTSD, sleep apnea, TDIU, unemployability, negligence orthopedic, spine, knee, tinnitus,

This volume of Federal Veterans Laws, Rules and Regulations (FLVRR) first published in 1999. It is designed to make it economically possible for all advocates to have the latest version of statutes and regulations that govern the adjudication of claims for VA benefits.