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Thank you Veterans,
America owes you a debt of gratitude. Just a little back ground info.
Lisa, the reason this website was started, is a Disabled Veteran with Multiple Sclerosis, service connected.
Because of the way the VA mistreated her and ignored her symptoms and the diagnosis in her service medical records, I became
very upset with the VA and petitioned the VA Office of the General Counsel to become a Veterans Claims Agent. If you
have any questions, I will do my best to get you some answers, please click here to go to the Contact us web page, there you can ask us questions, we will do our best to answer all question or send you
in the right directions. Find a Veterans Service Officer near you.
VSO are Veterans who are employed by the County to assist Veterans with their claims.
Click here to find a Florida VSO near you. Did you know that in 2002 there were over 22,000 veterans with Multiple Sclerosis? Did you know that you DO NOT need to have a service connected disability to receive your medication
from the VA for $8.00 per month?
Did you know that 38 CFR provides for a 7 years presumption period for the symptoms of MS to manifest itself and it may be service connected? Did you know that 38 CFR does not require a diagnosis within the 7 years presumption period? Only that the symptoms manifest themselves. Please return to this website often as we will be updating it as soon as possible with links and information from 38 USC and 38 CFR, along with M21-1MR (the VA's Compensation and Pension Manual (Rewrite). M21-1MR is the manual the VA uses internally to process service connected claims and non-service connected pensions. This portion of the website is compiled by Gus Garcia, Veterans Claims Agent, certified by the Office of the General Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs, via 38 USC 5904 Just click on the pictures below to go to some of the more common VA websites.
House Committee on Veterans AffairsSenate Committee on Veterans Affairs - Committee Members
Below are some excerts from 38 CFR pertaining to MS.(a) General. A chronic, tropical, prisoner of war related disease, or a disease associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents listed in §3.309 will be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by service under the circumstances outlined in this section even though there is no evidence of such disease during the period of service. No condition other than one listed in §3.309(a) will be considered chronic. (1) Service. The veteran must have served 90 days or more during a war period or after December 31, 1946. The requirement of 90 days' service means active, continuous service within or extending into or beyond a war period, or which began before and extended beyond December 31, 1946, or began after that date. Any period of service is sufficient for the purpose of establishing the presumptive service connection of a specified disease under the conditions listed in §3.309(c) and (e). (2) Separation from service. For the purpose of paragraph (a)(3) and (4) of this section the date of separation from wartime service will be the date of discharge or release during a war period, or if service continued after the war, the end of the war period. In claims based on service on or after January 1, 1947, the date of separation will be the date of discharge or release from the period of service on which the claim is based. (3) Chronic disease. The disease must have become manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more within 1 year (for Hansen's disease (leprosy) and tuberculosis, within 3 years; multiple sclerosis, within 7 years) from the date of separation from service as specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section. 3.309 Disease subject to presumptive service connection. (a) Chronic diseases. The following diseases shall be granted service connection
although not otherwise established as incurred in or aggravated by service if manifested to a compensable degree within the
applicable time limits under §3.307 following service in a period of war or following peacetime service on or after January
1, 1947, provided the rebuttable presumption provisions of §3.307 are also satisfied. Disability in
this field is ordinarily to be rated in proportion to the impairment of motor, sensory or mental function. Consider especially
psychotic manifestations, complete or partial loss of use of one or more extremities, speech disturbances, impairment of vision,
disturbances of gait, tremors, visceral manifestations, injury to the skull, etc. In rating disability from the conditions
in the preceding sentence refer to the appropriate schedule. In rating peripheral nerve injuries and their residuals, attention
should be given to the site and character of the injury, the relative impairment in motor function, trophic changes, or sensory
disturbances. [With the exceptions noted, disability from the following
diseases and their residuals may be rated from 10 percent to 100 percent in proportion to the impairment of motor, sensory,
or mental function. Consider especially psychotic manifestations, complete or partial loss of use of one or more extremities,
speech disturbances, impairment of vision, disturbances of gait, tremors, visceral manifestations, etc., referring to the
appropriate bodily system of the schedule. With partial loss of use of one or more extremities from neurological lesions,
rate by comparison with the mild, moderate, severe, or complete paralysis of peripheral nerves] [With the exceptions noted, disability from the following diseases and their residuals may be rated from 10 percent to 100 percent in proportion to the impairment of motor, sensory, or mental function. Consider especially psychotic manifestations, complete or partial loss of use of one or more extremities, speech disturbances, impairment of vision, disturbances of gait, tremors, visceral manifestations, etc., referring to the appropriate bodily system of the schedule. With partial loss of use of one or more extremities from neurological lesions, rate by comparison with the mild, moderate, severe, or complete paralysis of peripheral nerves] [With the exceptions noted, disability from the following diseases and their residuals may be rated from 10 percent to 100 percent in proportion to the impairment of motor, sensory, or mental function. Consider especially psychotic manifestations, complete or partial loss of use of one or more extremities, speech disturbances, impairment of vision, disturbances of gait, tremors, visceral manifestations, etc., referring to the appropriate bodily system of the schedule. With partial loss of use of one or more extremities from neurological lesions, rate by comparison with the mild, moderate, severe, or complete paralysis of peripheral nerves]
30% Service Connected Disability = $376 per month w/o dependants Understanding your disability rating. It may seem confusing
but in the VA Disability system, 10 + 10 does not equal 20, it equals 19, however that is rounded off to 20% disability.
When adding disabilities, you start at the actual disability, not what you are receiving. Example, 10 + 10 = 19 but
rounded off to 20%, two years later you have a secondary claim of 30%, (30 + 19 = 43%) rounded off to 40%. You also start
with the highest disability first then using the chart below add the next highest disability and so on.Table I, Combined Ratings Table, results from the consideration of the efficiency of the individual as affected first by the most disabling condition, then by the less disabling condition, then by other less disabling conditions, if any, in the order of severity. Thus, a person having a 60 percent disability is considered 40 percent efficient. Proceeding from this 40 percent efficiency, the effect of a further 30 percent disability is to leave only 70 percent of the efficiency remaining after consideration of the first disability, or 28 percent efficiency altogether. The individual is thus 72 percent disabled, as shown in table I opposite 60 percent and under 30 percent. (a) To use table I, the disabilities will first be arranged in the exact order of their severity, beginning with the greatest disability and then combined with use of table I as hereinafter indicated. For example, if there are two disabilities, the degree of one disability will be read in the left column and the degree of the other in the top row, whichever is appropriate. The figures appearing in the space where the column and row intersect will represent the combined value of the two. This combined value will then be converted to the nearest number divisible by 10, and combined values ending in 5 will be adjusted upward. Thus, with a 50 percent disability and a 30 percent disability, the combined value will be found to be 65 percent, but the 65 percent must be converted to 70 percent to represent the final degree of disability. Similarly, with a disability of 40 percent, and another disability of 20 percent, the combined value is found to be 52 percent, but the 52 percent must be converted to the nearest degree divisible by 10, which is 50 percent. If there are more than two disabilities, the disabilities will also be arranged in the exact order of their severity and the combined value for the first two will be found as previously described for two disabilities. The combined value, exactly as found in table I, will be combined with the degree of the third disability (in order of severity). The combined value for the three disabilities will be found in the space where the column and row intersect, and if there are only three disabilities will be converted to the nearest degree divisible by 10, adjusting final 5's upward. Thus, if there are three disabilities ratable at 60 percent, 40 percent, and 20 percent, respectively, the combined value for the first two will be found opposite 60 and under 40 and is 76 percent. This 76 will be combined with 20 and the combined value for the three is 81 percent. This combined value will be converted to the nearest degree divisible by 10 which is 80 percent. The same procedure will be employed when there are four or more disabilities. (See table I). (b) Except as otherwise provided in this schedule, the disabilities arising from a single disease entity, e.g., arthritis, multiple sclerosis, cerebrovascular accident, etc., are to be rated separately as are all other disabling conditions, if any. All disabilities are then to be combined as described in paragraph (a) of this section. The conversion to the nearest degree divisible by 10 will be done only once per rating decision, will follow the combining of all disabilities, and will be the last procedure in determining the combined degree of disability. Table I—Combined Ratings Table [10 combined with 10 is 19]
United States Military Academies List of Academies and Contact Information |
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