As part of fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is recruiting volunteers for COVID-19 clinical trials on treatments and vaccines at select VA facilities across the country. Anyone over the age of 18 can volunteer: Veterans, family members and friends. To learn more and to sign up Read more…
Veterans with a service-connected disability rating can enter federal parks for free with a Lifetime National Parks Access Pass, which is not not hard to get. Those with a disability rating of 10 per cent or higher are eligible. Good for entry into over 400 national parks and 2,000 recreation sites across the country, the Lifetime Access Pass is the National Park Service’s way of saying thank you to our veterans for their service and sacrifices. (more…)
We just posted an article on Lehigh Valley Health Network’s yoga class offering. However, we would be remiss if we did not mention Meghan’s Foundation which has been conducting free yoga classes for active duty military, veterans and their spouses for quite some time in the Lehigh Valley. It was probably the first to introduce the idea of using yoga as a way of coping with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the Lehigh Valley. (more…)
Previously, we have reported upon the importance of asking the doctor examining you during a compensation claim if he has reviewed the medical information found in your claims file (c-file) before he starts examining you and follow-on steps to be taken if he/she has not.
On the heels of it, the Department of Veterans Affairs has announced the adding of sixty-eight, new forms to help speed the processing of disability compensation and pension claims. This now brings the total number of these documents known as Disability Benefits Questionnaires (or DBQs for short) to 71. The purpose of the initiative is to better guide physicians in properly completing their reports of medical findings to ensure the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA — the Regional Office located in Philadelphia in our case) has exactly the medical information needed to make a prompt decision. Each questionnaire addresses a specific set of conditions and associated symptoms for diagnosis. (more…)
The Vietnam Veterans of America wants you to know the first question the veteran should ask the VA doctor is, “Have you had a chance to review my claim file?” If the answer is no, the veteran should ask the doctor to first review the claim file. The veteran should only proceed with the exam after the doctor has reviewed all the information the veteran has submitted and VA has received regarding the claim (the claim file or c-file). (more…)